I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1621 

To withhold Federal funds from schools that permit or require the recitation 

of the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem in a language other 

than English. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mr. BROUN of Georgia (for himself, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. 

GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. PITTS, Mr. KINGSTON, Ms. FALLIN, and Mr. 

AKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To withhold Federal funds from schools that permit or require the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or the 

national anthem in a language other than English. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pledge Language is 

5 English Declaration and Government Endorsement Act of 

6 2009’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) One of the fundamental strengths of the 

2 United States is a shared commitment to certain 

3 principles of democracy, freedom, and national 

4 unity, and this commitment is reinforced periodically 

5 by certain officially recognized rituals and practices, 

6 including the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance 

7 and the singing of the national anthem. One purpose 

8 of these officially recognized rituals is national unity. 

9 That goal is expressed in the Pledge of Allegiance as 

10 ‘‘one nation under God, indivisible’’ in section 4 of 

11 title 4, United States Code. 

12 (2) The recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance is 

13 one of these officially recognized national unity rit14 uals. Congress recognized the Pledge of Allegiance in 

15 law in 1942 in section 4 of title 4, United States 

16 Code, and Federal law prescribes certain methods 

17 for reciting and recognizing the Pledge of Allegiance 

18 in English. 

19 (3) Another officially recognized national unity 

20 ritual is the recitation or singing of the national an21 them. Inspired by the sight of the American flag still 

22 waving at Fort McHenry after 25 hours of continual 

23 bombardment by British forces, Francis Scott Key 

24 wrote the words of the Star-Spangled Banner in 

25 English in 1814. In 1931, Congress declared that 


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1 the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of 

2 the United States in section 301 of title 36, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (4) The vast majority of Americans are immi5 grants or the descendants of immigrants, respectful 

6 of their ancestral home, but also proud to be Amer7 ican. According to sections 1423 and 1448 of title 

8 8, United States Code, to become citizens of the 

9 United States, lawful permanent residents of the 

10 United States must, among other requirements, re11 nounce allegiance to the government of their country 

12 of origin, swear allegiance to the laws and Constitu13 tion of the United States, and demonstrate an un14 derstanding of the English language. 

15 (5) Millions of Americans speak or study lan16 guages other than English, but English is the com17 mon language of the United States. The people of 

18 the United States are united, not by race, ancestry, 

19 or origin, but by a common language—English—and 

20 by a common belief and allegiance to democratic 

21 principles prescribed by the founding documents of 

22 the Nation. 

23 (6) The Government may, from time to time, 

24 take steps to reinforce national unity, including 

25 using its funding to promote national unity. The 


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1 Government may also take steps to limit the use of 

2 its resources for purposes that may be seen as un3 dercutting national unity or misrepresenting its sup4 port for those rituals that it believes are essential to 

5 promoting national unity. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro7 tect and to preserve national unity by restricting Federal 

8 funds from being used to undercut national unity. In par9 ticular, this Act withholds Federal funds from schools that 

10 permit or require the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance 

11 or the national anthem in a language other than English. 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION, ENFORCEMENT, AND PRIVATE RIGHT 

13 OF ACTION. 

14 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—No State educational agency 

16 or local educational agency may have a policy or 

17 practice that requires or permits the Pledge of Alle18 giance (as defined in section 4 of title 4, United 

19 States Code), or the national anthem (as defined in 

20 section 301 of title 36, United States Code) to be re21 cited or sung in any language other than English in 

22 any elementary school or secondary school under its 

23 jurisdiction. 

24 (2) EXCEPTION TO PROHIBITION.—The prohibi25 tion in paragraph (1) shall not apply to the authorVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:13 Mar 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1621.IH H1621

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1 ized meetings, events, or unofficial activities held by 

2 individuals or organizations that are not affiliated 

3 with, or sponsored by, a State educational agency or 

4 local educational agency, unless such individuals or 

5 organizations reasonably give an impression to an 

6 objective observer that a State educational agency or 

7 a local educational agency has required the recita8 tion or singing of the Pledge of Allegiance or the na9 tional anthem in any language other than English at 

10 such authorized meetings, events, or unofficial ac11 tivities. 

12 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY THE SECRETARY OF EDU13 CATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, after notice and a reason15 able opportunity to respond, the Secretary of Edu16 cation finds that a State educational agency or local 

17 educational agency has violated subsection (a)— 

18 (A) no Federal funds appropriated by Con19 gress for the next fiscal year after such finding 

20 may be provided by grant or contract to such 

21 State educational agency or local educational 

22 agency; and 

23 (B) the Secretary shall— 

24 (i) submit a report, entitled ‘‘Report 

25 to Congress of State Educational Agencies 


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1 or Local Educational Agencies that have 

2 Violated Protection for Pledge of Alle3 giance or Star Spangled Banner’’, of such 

4 finding to each House of Congress; and 

5 (ii) publish in the Federal Register a 

6 list of each State educational agency and 

7 local educational agency that is subject to 

8 the withholding of Federal funds under 

9 paragraph (1). 

10 (2) EXCEPTION TO WITHHOLDING OF FEDERAL

11 FUNDS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State educational 

13 agency or local educational agency that the Sec14 retary has found under paragraph (1) of this 

15 subsection to have violated subsection (a) shall 

16 not be subject to a withholding of funds under 

17 such paragraph if such funds are contained in 

18 an appropriation enacted after the date of the 

19 Secretary’s finding and such funds are appro20 priated specifically for such State educational 

21 agency or local educational agency. 

22 (B) NOTATION REQUIREMENT.—The ap23 propriation in subparagraph (A) shall contain a 

24 notation of the date on which the report relat25 ing to such State educational agency or local 


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1 educational agency was submitted under para2 graph (1)(B)(i) and the page number of the 

3 Federal Register on which such State edu4 cational agency or local educational agency was 

5 listed under paragraph (1)(B)(ii). 

6 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person injured 

7 by a violation of section (a) may obtain appropriate relief, 

8 including a declaratory judgment under chapter 151 of 

9 title 28, United States Code, in a civil action. 

10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act, the following terms apply: 

12 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen13 tary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 

14 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

16 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

17 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

18 such term in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

20 (3) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec21 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 

22 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

24 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Education. 


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1 (5) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘‘State education agency’’ has the meaning given 

3 such term in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

Æ 


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