News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact:	Tim Schultz
Wednesday, September 18, 1996		or Nicole Duffala
		202/833-0100
		800/787-8216

U.S. ENGLISH CHAIRMAN DESCRIBES POTENTIAL IMPACT OF SUPREME COURT CASE ON OFFICIAL ENGLISH

Washington, D.C. - Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S.ENGLISH, observed today's U.S. Supreme Court hearing involving Arizona's official English law, and made the following comments about the possible impact of the case on the official English movement:

"In 1988, the voters of Arizona passed a referendum making English the state's official language of government. Unfortunately, the voters' will has been held hostage by the legal system and the continuing demands of those who want the government to offer all its services in multiple languages," Mr. Mujica said. "If the Supreme Court upholds Arizona's official English law, it will be a victory for common sense about our common language. Such a decision would build momentum for U.S.ENGLISH as we work to pass a national official English bill in Congress."

Mr. Mujica continued, "In the event that the Supreme Court upholds the lower courts' opinions against the Arizona law, the effects would mostly be limited to Arizona, because the official English laws in other states are not as broad as Arizona's. All this presumes that the Supreme Court does not decide the case on procedural grounds, which would not be surprising since the case should have been ruled moot years ago.

"No matter what the Supreme Court decides, U.S.ENGLISH stands ready to fight for English as our official language," Mr. Mujica concluded.

U.S.ENGLISH was the driving force behind the campaign for Arizona's official English referendum, and has filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the constitutionality of the law. The organization was founded in 1983 by former Senator S.I. Hayakawa, himself an immigrant of Japanese ancestry.

Currently 23 states have enacted legislation adopting English as their official language. In the last two years, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming have enacted official English legislation with the help of U.S.ENGLISH. U.S.ENGLISH is the largest national non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to making English the official language of the U.S. government at all levels. The organization has over 1.3 million members nationwide.

###

Return to list of Press Releases

Return to U.S.ENGLISH Home Page