ernment of the United States), are not intended to
repeal existing laws of the United States.
SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF GOVERN-
MENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 4, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:
‘‘CHAPTER 6—LANGUAGE OF THE
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.
‘‘§ 161. Declaration of official language of Govern-
ment
‘‘The official language of the Government of the
United States is English.
‘‘§ 162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi-
cial language
‘‘The Government shall have an affirmative obligation
to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official
language of the United States Government. Such obliga-
tion shall include encouraging greater opportunities for in-
dividuals to learn the English language.
‘‘§ 163. Official Government activities in English
‘‘(a) CONDUCT
OF BUSINESS.—The Government
shall conduct its official business in English.
‘‘(b) DENIAL OF SERVICES.—No person shall be de-
nied services, assistance, or facilities, directly or indirectly
provided by the Government solely because the person
communicates in English.
‘‘(c) ENTITLEMENT.—Every person in the United
States is entitled to—
‘‘(1) communicate with the Government in
English;
‘‘(2) receive information from or contribute in-
formation to the Government in English; and
‘‘(3) be informed of or be subject to official
orders in English.
‘‘§ 164. Standing
‘‘Any person alleging injury arising from a violation
of this chapter shall have standing to sue in the courts
of the United States under sections 2201 and 2202 of title
28, United States Code, and for such other relief as may
be considered appropriate by the courts.
‘‘§ 165. Definitions
‘‘For purposes of this chapter:
‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘Government’
means all branches of the Government of the United
States and all employees and officials of the Govern-
ment of the United States while performing official
business.
‘‘(2) OFFICIAL BUSINESS.—The term ‘official
business’ means those governmental actions, docu-
ments, or policies which are enforceable with the full
weight and authority of the Government, but does
not include—
‘‘(A) teaching of foreign languages;
‘‘(B) actions, documents, or policies that
are not enforceable in the United States;
‘‘(C) actions, documents, or policies nec-
essary for international relations, trade, or com-
merce;
‘‘(D) actions or documents that protect the
public health;
‘‘(E) actions that protect the rights of vic-
tims of crimes or criminal defendants; and
‘‘(F) documents that utilize terms of art or
phrases from languages other than English.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap-
ters for title 4, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following new item:
‘‘6. Language of the Government .................................................
161’’.
SEC. 4. PREEMPTION.
This Act (and the amendments made by this Act)
shall not preempt any law of any State.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by section 3 shall take effect
upon the date of enactment of this Act, except that no
suit may be commenced to enforce or determine rights
under the amendments until January 1, 1996.
Æ