I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 997 

To declare English as the official language of the United States, to establish 

a uniform English language rule for naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the English language texts of the laws of the United 

States, pursuant to Congress’ powers to provide for the general welfare 

of the United States and to establish a uniform rule of naturalization 

under article I, section 8, of the Constitution. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2009 

Mr. KING of Iowa (for himself, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 

LUETKEMEYER, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. COBLE, Mr. 

CULBERSON, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. DREIER, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. HERGER, Mr. 

INGLIS, Mr. JONES, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. PAUL, Mr. ROE

of Tennessee, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. 

MCHUGH, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BILBRAY, 

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. WOLF, Mr. 

FLEMING, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. SHUSTER, Ms. FOXX, Mr. POE

of Texas, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. GARY G. 

MILLER of California, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. MARCHANT, Mrs. 

LUMMIS, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. AKIN, Mr. 

HUNTER, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. WAMP, Mr. 

PITTS, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. WESTMORELAND, and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) 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 declare English as the official language of the United 


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States, to establish a uniform English language rule for 

naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the 

English language texts of the laws of the United States, 

pursuant to Congress’ powers to provide for the general 

welfare of the United States and to establish a uniform 

rule of naturalization under article I, section 8, of the 

Constitution. 

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 ‘‘English Language 

5 Unity Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds and declares the following: 

8 (1) The United States is comprised of individ9 uals from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic 

10 backgrounds, and continues to benefit from this rich 

11 diversity. 

12 (2) Throughout the history of the United 

13 States, the common thread binding individuals of 

14 differing backgrounds has been the English lan15 guage. 

16 (3) Among the powers reserved to the States 

17 respectively is the power to establish the English 

18 language as the official language of the respective 

19 States, and otherwise to promote the English lan20 guage within the respective States, subject to the 


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1 prohibitions enumerated in the Constitution of the 

2 United States and in laws of the respective States. 

3 SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED 

4 STATES. 

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

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

7 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—OFFICIAL LANGUAGE 

8 ‘‘§ 161. Official language of the United States 

9 ‘‘The official language of the United States is 

10 English. 

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

13 ‘‘Representatives of the Federal Government shall 

14 have an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the 

15 role of English as the official language of the Federal Gov16 ernment. Such obligation shall include encouraging great17 er opportunities for individuals to learn the English lan18 guage. 

19 ‘‘§ 163. Official functions of Government to be con20 ducted in English 

21 ‘‘(a) OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS.—The official functions 

22 of the Government of the United States shall be conducted 

23 in English. 

24 ‘‘(b) SCOPE.—For the purposes of this section, the 

25 term ‘United States’ means the several States and the 


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1 District of Columbia, and the term ‘official’ refers to any 

2 function that (i) binds the Government, (ii) is required 

3 by law, or (iii) is otherwise subject to scrutiny by either 

4 the press or the public. 

5 ‘‘(c) PRACTICAL EFFECT.—This section shall apply 

6 to all laws, public proceedings, regulations, publications, 

7 orders, actions, programs, and policies, but does not apply 

8 to— 

9 ‘‘(1) teaching of languages; 

10 ‘‘(2) requirements under the Individuals with 

11 Disabilities Education Act; 

12 ‘‘(3) actions, documents, or policies necessary 

13 for national security, international relations, trade, 

14 tourism, or commerce; 

15 ‘‘(4) actions or documents that protect the pub16 lic health and safety; 

17 ‘‘(5) actions or documents that facilitate the ac18 tivities of the Bureau of the Census in compiling any 

19 census of population; 

20 ‘‘(6) actions that protect the rights of victims of 

21 crimes or criminal defendants; or 

22 ‘‘(7) using terms of art or phrases from lan23 guages other than English. 


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1 ‘‘§ 164. Uniform English language rule for naturaliza2 tion 

3 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM LANGUAGE TESTING STANDARD.—All 

4 citizens should be able to read and understand generally 

5 the English language text of the Declaration of Independ6 ence, the Constitution, and the laws of the United States 

7 made in pursuance of the Constitution. 

8 ‘‘(b) CEREMONIES.—All naturalization ceremonies 

9 shall be conducted in English. 

10 ‘‘§ 165. Rules of construction 

11 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall be construed— 

12 ‘‘(1) to prohibit a Member of Congress or any 

13 officer or agent of the Federal Government, while 

14 performing official functions, from communicating 

15 unofficially through any medium with another per16 son in a language other than English (as long as of17 ficial functions are performed in English); 

18 ‘‘(2) to limit the preservation or use of Native 

19 Alaskan or Native American languages (as defined 

20 in the Native American Languages Act); 

21 ‘‘(3) to disparage any language or to discourage 

22 any person from learning or using a language; or 

23 ‘‘(4) to be inconsistent with the Constitution of 

24 the United States. 


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1 ‘‘§ 166. Standing 

2 ‘‘A person injured by a violation of this chapter may 

3 in a civil action (including an action under chapter 151 

4 of title 28) obtain appropriate relief.’’. 

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

6 at the beginning of title 4, United States Code, is amended 

7 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 5 the fol8 lowing new item: 

‘‘CHAPTER 6. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE’’. 

9 SEC. 4. GENERAL RULES OF CONSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH 

10 LANGUAGE TEXTS OF THE LAWS OF THE 

11 UNITED STATES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 1, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new section: 

15 ‘‘§ 9. General rules of construction for laws of the 

16 United States 

17 ‘‘(a) English language requirements and workplace 

18 policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be 

19 presumptively consistent with the Laws of the United 

20 States; and 

21 ‘‘(b) Any ambiguity in the English language text of 

22 the Laws of the United States shall be resolved, in accord23 ance with the last two articles of the Bill of Rights, not 

24 to deny or disparage rights retained by the people, and 


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1 to reserve powers to the States respectively, or to the peo2 ple.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 at the beginning of chapter 1 of title 1, is amended by 

5 inserting after the item relating to section 8 the following 

6 new item: 

‘‘9. General Rules of Construction for Laws of the United States.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS. 

8 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, within 

9 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, issue 

10 for public notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform 

11 testing English language ability of candidates for natu12 ralization, based upon the principles that— 

13 (1) all citizens should be able to read and un14 derstand generally the English language text of the 

15 Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and 

16 the laws of the United States which are made in 

17 pursuance thereof; and 

18 (2) any exceptions to this standard should be 

19 limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as asy20 lum. 

21 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 The amendments made by sections 3 and 4 shall take 

23 effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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