II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1335 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2007 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

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, 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 ‘‘S.I. Hayakawa Official 

5 English Language Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. 

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

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


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—LANGUAGE OF THE 

2 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. 

3 ‘‘§ 161. Declaration of official language 

4 ‘‘English shall be the official language of the Govern5 ment of the United States. 

6 ‘‘§ 162. Official Government activities in English 

7 ‘‘The Government of the United States shall conduct 

8 its official activities in English, including preparing publi9 cations, income tax forms, and informational materials in 

10 English. 

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

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Government of the United 

14 States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as 

15 the official language of the United States. 

16 ‘‘(b) GOVERNMENT MATERIALS IN ENGLISH.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Unless expressly provided 

18 for in an applicable provision of law, no person has 

19 a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Govern20 ment of the United States or any of its officials or 

21 representatives act, communicate, perform or pro22 vide services, or provide materials in any language 

23 other than English. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF EXCEPTIONS.—If an official or 

2 representative of the Government of the United 

3 States acts, communicates, performs or provides 

4 services, or provides materials in a language other 

5 than English, that exception does not create a legal 

6 entitlement to additional acts, communications, serv7 ices, or materials in that language or any language 

8 other than English. 

9 ‘‘(c) ENGLISH VERSION AS AUTHORITY.—If the Gov10 ernment of the United States issues a form in a language 

11 other than English (or such forms are completed in a lan12 guage other than English), the English language version 

13 of the form is the sole authority for all legal purposes. 

14 ‘‘§ 164. Exceptions 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—This chapter may not apply to 

16 the use of a language other than English— 

17 ‘‘(1) for religious purposes; 

18 ‘‘(2) for training in foreign languages for inter19 national communication; or 

20 ‘‘(3) to programs in schools designed to encour21 age students to learn foreign languages. 

22 ‘‘(b) INTERPRETERS.—This chapter may not be con23 sidered to prevent the Government of the United States 

24 from providing interpreters for persons over 62 years of 

25 age.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap2 ters for title 4, United States Code, is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following new item: 

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

4 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF BILINGUAL VOTING REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 (1) BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

8 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a) is repealed. 

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

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

11 by striking subsection (f). 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) REFERENCES TO SECTION 203.—The Voting 

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

15 amended— 

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

17 and 

18 (B) in section 205, by striking ‘‘, 202, or 

19 203’’ and inserting ‘‘or 202’’. 

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

21 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) is 

22 amended— 

23 (A) in sections 2(a), 4(d), 5, and 13, by 

24 striking ‘‘, or in contravention of the guarantees 

25 set forth in section 4(f)(2)’’; 


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1 (B) in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of sec2 tion 3, by striking ‘‘, or in contravention of the 

3 voting guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2)’’; 

4 and 

5 (C) in section 4(a)— 

6 (i) in paragraphs (1)(A) and (3), by 

7 striking ‘‘or (in the case of a State or sub8 division seeking a declaratory judgment 

9 under the second sentence of this sub10 section) in contravention of the guarantees 

11 of subsection (f)(2)’’; 

12 (ii) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking 

13 ‘‘or (in the case of a State or subdivision 

14 seeking a declaratory judgment under the 

15 second sentence of this subsection) that de16 nials or abridgments of the right to vote in 

17 contravention of the guarantees of sub18 section (f)(2) have occurred anywhere in 

19 the territory of such State or subdivision’’; 

20 and 

21 (iii) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or 

22 (in the case of a State or subdivision which 

23 sought a declaratory judgment under the 

24 second sentence of this subsection) that de25 nials or abridgments of the right to vote in 


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1 contravention of the guarantees of sub2 section (f)(2) have occurred anywhere in 

3 the territory of such State or subdivision’’. 

4 SEC. 4. ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT FOR CERE5 MONIES FOR ADMISSION OF NEW CITIZENS. 

6 Section 337(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

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

9 which the oath of allegiance is administered pursuant to 

10 this section shall be conducted solely in the English lan11 guage.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. NONPREEMPTION. 

13 This Act and the amendments made by this Act may 

14 not be construed to preempt any law of any State. 

Æ 


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