II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 356

To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the official

language of the Government of the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 3 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Mr. SHELBY (for himself and Mr. COVERDELL) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English

as the official language of the Government of the United

States.

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 ‘‘Language of Govern5 ment Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares

8 that—
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1 (1) the United States is comprised of individ2 uals and groups from diverse ethnic, cultural, and

3 linguistic backgrounds;

4 (2) the United States has benefited and contin5 ues to benefit from this rich diversity;

6 (3) throughout the history of the Nation, the

7 common thread binding those of differing back8 grounds has been a common language;

9 (4) in order to preserve unity in diversity, and

10 to prevent division along linguistic lines, the United

11 States should maintain a language common to all

12 people;

13 (5) English has historically been the common

14 language and the language of opportunity in the

15 United States;

16 (6) the purpose of this Act is to help immi17 grants better assimilate and take full advantage of

18 economic and occupational opportunities in the Unit19 ed States;

20 (7) by learning the English language, immi21 grants will be empowered with the language skills

22 and literacy necessary to become responsible citizens

23 and productive workers in the United States;

24 (8) the use of a single common language in the

25 conduct of the Federal Government’s official busi-
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1 ness will promote efficiency and fairness to all peo2 ple;

3 (9) English should be recognized in law as the

4 language of official business of the Federal Govern5 ment; and

6 (10) any monetary savings derived by the Fed7 eral Government from the enactment of this Act

8 should be used for the teaching of non-English

9 speaking immigrants the English language.

10 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments made by sec11 tion 3—

12 (1) are not intended in any way to discriminate

13 against or restrict the rights of any individual in the

14 United States;

15 (2) are not intended to discourage or prevent

16 the use of languages other than English in any

17 nonofficial capacity; and

18 (3) except where an existing law of the United

19 States directly contravenes the amendments made by

20 section 3 (such as by requiring the use of a language

21 other than English for official business of the Gov22 ernment of the United States), are not intended to

23 repeal existing laws of the United States.
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1 SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF GOVERN2 MENT.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 4, United States Code, is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

5 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—LANGUAGE OF THE

6 GOVERNMENT

‘‘Sec.

‘‘161. Declaration of official language of Government.

‘‘162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the official language.

‘‘163. Official Government activities in English.

‘‘164. Standing.

‘‘165. Definitions.

7 ‘‘§ 161. Declaration of official language of Govern8 ment

9 ‘‘The official language of the Government of the

10 United States is English.

11 ‘‘§ 162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi12 cial language

13 ‘‘The Government shall have an affirmative obligation

14 to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official

15 language of the United States Government. Such obliga16 tion shall include encouraging greater opportunities for in17 dividuals to learn the English language.

18 ‘‘§ 163. Official Government activities in English

19 ‘‘(a) CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.—The Government

20 shall conduct its official business in English.

21 ‘‘(b) DENIAL OF SERVICES.—No person shall be de22 nied services, assistance, or facilities, directly or indirectly
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1 provided by the Government solely because the person

2 communicates in English.

3 ‘‘(c) ENTITLEMENT.—Every person in the United

4 States is entitled to—

5 ‘‘(1) communicate with the Government in Eng6 lish;

7 ‘‘(2) receive information from or contribute in8 formation to the Government in English; and

9 ‘‘(3) be informed of or be subject to official or10 ders in English.

11 ‘‘§ 164. Standing

12 ‘‘Any person alleging injury arising from a violation

13 of this chapter shall have standing to sue in the courts

14 of the United States under sections 2201 and 2202 of title

15 28, United States Code, and for such other relief as may

16 be considered appropriate by the courts.

17 ‘‘§ 165. Definitions

18 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter:

19 ‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘Government’

20 means all branches of the Government of the United

21 States and all employees and officials of the Govern22 ment of the United States while performing official

23 business.

24 ‘‘(2) OFFICIAL BUSINESS.—The term ‘official

25 business’ means those governmental actions, docu-
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1 ments, or policies which are enforceable with the full

2 weight and authority of the Government, but does

3 not include—

4 ‘‘(A) teaching of foreign languages;

5 ‘‘(B) actions, documents, or policies that

6 are not enforceable in the United States;

7 ‘‘(C) actions, documents, or policies nec8 essary for international relations, trade, or com9 merce;

10 ‘‘(D) actions or documents that protect the

11 public health;

12 ‘‘(E) actions that protect the rights of vic13 tims of crimes or criminal defendants; and

14 ‘‘(F) documents that utilize terms of art or

15 phrases from languages other than English.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap17 ters for title 4, United States Code, is amended by adding

18 at the end the following new item:

‘‘6. Language of the Government ................................................. 161’’.

19 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION.

20 This Act (and the amendments made by this Act)

21 shall not preempt any law of any State.

22 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

23 The amendments made by section 3 shall take effect

24 upon the date of enactment of this Act, except that no
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1 suit may be commenced to enforce or determine rights

2 under the amendments until January 1, 1996.

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