I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1984

To reaffirm 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

MAY 24, 2001

Mr. BARR of Georgia (for himself, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. JENKINS, Mr.

SHOWS, and Mr. COBLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 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 reaffirm 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.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘English Language

3 Unity Act of 2001’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds and declares the following:

6 (1) The United States is comprised of individ7 uals from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic

8 backgrounds, and continues to benefit from this rich

9 diversity.

10 (2) Throughout the history of the United

11 States, the common thread binding individuals of

12 differing backgrounds has been the English lan13 guage.

14 (3) Among the powers reserved to the States

15 respectively is the power to establish the English

16 language as the official language of the respective

17 States, and otherwise to promote the English lan18 guage within the respective States, subject to the

19 prohibitions enumerated in the Constitution of the

20 United States and in laws of the respective States.

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

22 STATES.

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

24 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

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

3 ‘‘The official language of the United States is

4 English.

5 ‘‘§ 162. Official functions of Government to be con6 ducted in English

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

8 of the Government of the United States shall be conducted

9 in English.

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

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

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

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

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

15 the press or the public.

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

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

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

19 to—

20 ‘‘(1) teaching of languages;

21 ‘‘(2) requirements under the Individuals with

22 Disabilities Education Act;

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

24 for national security, international relations, trade,

25 tourism, or commerce;
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1 ‘‘(4) actions or documents that protect the pub2 lic health and safety;

3 ‘‘(5) actions or documents that facilitate the ac4 tivities of the Bureau of the Census in compiling any

5 census of population;

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

7 crimes or criminal defendants; or

8 ‘‘(7) using terms of art or phrases from lan9 guages other than English.

10 ‘‘§ 163. Uniform English language rule for naturaliza11 tion

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

13 citizens should be able to read and understand generally

14 the English language text of the Declaration of Independ15 ence, the Constitution, and the Laws of the United States

16 made in pursuance of the Constitution.

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

18 shall be conducted in English.

19 ‘‘§ 164. Rules of construction

20 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall be construed—

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

22 officer or agent of the Federal Government, while

23 performing official functions, from communicating

24 unofficially through any medium with another per-
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1 son in a language other than English (as long as of2 ficial functions are performed in English);

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

4 Alaskan or Native American languages (as defined

5 in the Native American Languages Act);

6 ‘‘(3) to disparage any language other than

7 English or to discourage any person from learning

8 or using a language other than English; or

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

10 the United States.’’.

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

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

13 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 5 the fol14 lowing new item:

‘‘Chapter 6. Official Language.’’.

15 SEC. 4. GENERAL RULES OF CONSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH

16 LANGUAGE TEXTS OF THE LAWS OF THE

17 UNITED STATES.

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

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new section:

21 ‘‘§ 8. General rules of construction for laws of the

22 United States

23 ‘‘(a) English language requirements and workplace

24 policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be
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1 presumptively consistent with the Laws of the United

2 States; and

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

4 the Laws of the United States shall be resolved, in accord5 ance with the last two articles of the Bill of Rights, not

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

7 to reserve powers to the States respectively, or to the peo8 ple.’’.

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

10 at the beginning of chapter 1 of title 1, United States

11 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to

12 section 7 the following new item:

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

13 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.

14 The Department of Justice shall, within 180 days

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, issue for public

16 notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform testing

17 English language ability of candidates for naturalization,

18 based upon the principles that (a) all citizens should be

19 able to read and understand generally the English lan20 guage text of the Declaration of Independence, the Con21 stitution, and the Laws of the United States which are

22 made in pursuance thereof, and (b) any exceptions to this

23 standard should be limited to extraordinary cir24 cumstances, such as asylum.
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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by sections 3 and 4 shall take

3 effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact4 ment of this Act.

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