I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1229 

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

language of the Government of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2009 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 

COBLE, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. CULBERSON, 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. WITTMAN, Mrs. 

MYRICK, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. 

AKIN, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. TAYLOR, and Ms. 

GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition 

to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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

as the official language of the Government of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘National Language 

5 Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. 

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

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

4 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—LANGUAGE OF THE 

5 GOVERNMENT 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘161. Declaration of official language. 

‘‘162. Official Government activities in English. 

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

‘‘164. Exceptions. 

6 ‘‘§ 161. Declaration of official language 

7 ‘‘English shall be the official language of the Govern8 ment of the United States. 

9 ‘‘§ 162. Official government activities in English 

10 ‘‘The Government of the United States shall conduct 

11 its official business in English, including publications, in12 come tax forms, and informational materials. 

13 ‘‘§ 163. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi14 cial language 

15 ‘‘The Government of the United States shall preserve 

16 and enhance the role of English as the official language 

17 of the United States of America. Unless specifically stated 

18 in applicable law, no person has a right, entitlement, or 

19 claim to have the Government of the United States or any 

20 of its officials or representatives act, communicate, per21 form or provide services, or provide materials in any lan22 guage other than English. If exceptions are made, that 

23 does not create a legal entitlement to additional services 


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1 in that language or any language other than English. If 

2 any forms are issued by the Federal government in a lan3 guage other than English (or such forms are completed 

4 in a language other than English), the English language 

5 version of the form is the sole authority for all legal pur6 poses. 

7 ‘‘§ 164. Exceptions 

8 ‘‘This chapter does not apply to the use of a language 

9 other than English— 

10 ‘‘(1) for religious purposes; 

11 ‘‘(2) for training in foreign languages for inter12 national communication; or 

13 ‘‘(3) to programs in schools designed to encour14 age students to learn foreign languages. 

15 This chapter does not prevent the Government of the 

16 United States from providing interpreters for persons over 

17 62 years of age.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap19 ters for title 4, United States Code, is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following new item: 

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

21 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF BILINGUAL VOTING REQUIREMENTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

23 (1) BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

25 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a) is repealed. 


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1 (2) VOTING RIGHTS.—Section 4 of the Voting 

2 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b) is amended 

3 by striking subsection (f). 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) REFERENCES TO SECTION 203.—The Vot6 ing Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) is 

7 amended— 

8 (A) in section 204, by striking ‘‘or 203,’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in the first sentence of section 205, by 

11 striking ‘‘, 202, or 203’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

12 202’’. 

13 (2) REFERENCES TO SECTION 4.—The Voting 

14 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.), as 

15 amended by the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, 

16 and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthor17 ization and Amendments Act of 2006 (Public Law 

18 109–246), is amended— 

19 (A) in sections 2(a), 3(a), 3(b), 3(c), 4(d), 

20 5, 6, 8(a)(2)(A), and 13(a)(1), by striking ‘‘, or 

21 in contravention of the guarantees set forth in 

22 section 4(f)(2)’’; 

23 (B) in paragraphs (1)(A) and (3) of sec24 tion 4(a), by striking ‘‘or (in the case of a State 

25 or subdivision seeking a declaratory judgment 


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1 under the second sentence of this subsection) in 

2 contravention of the guarantees of subsection 

3 (f)(2)’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraphs (1)(B) and (5) of sec5 tion 4(a), by striking ‘‘or (in the case of a State 

6 or subdivision which sought a declaratory judg7 ment under the second sentence of this sub8 section) that denials or abridgments of the right 

9 to vote in contravention of the guarantees of 

10 subsection (f)(2) have occurred anywhere in the 

11 territory of such State or subdivision’’. 

12 SEC. 4. ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT FOR CERE13 MONIES FOR ADMISSION OF NEW CITIZENS. 

14 Section 337(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1448(d)) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new sentence: ‘‘All public ceremonies in 

17 which the oath of allegiance is administered pursuant to 

18 this section shall be conducted solely in the English lan19 guage.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. NONPREEMPTION. 

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

22 shall not preempt any law of any State. 

Æ 


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