New Poll Finds That 79 Percent of Americans Favor Making English Official

Data shows even higher support among first and second generation Americans

More than three-quarters of Americans support making English the official language of the United States according to a new poll conducted by Zogby International for U.S. English, Inc. The poll of 1,001 likely voters found that 79 percent of Americans favor legislation that would make English the official language, with more than four out of five first-generation and second-generation Americans supporting the measure.

The poll found majority support for official English legislation among every subset of the population, including by gender, age, race, political affiliation, religion, marital status, education level and income level. Most notably, 81 percent of individuals who are immigrants or children of immigrants indicated that they favored making English the official language of the United States. Conducted from June 7-9, 2005, the poll has a margin of error of ±3.2 percentage points, with higher margins of error in sub-groups.

“Making English the official language is a widely-supported, common sense policy for a united nation,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English, Inc. “These numbers prove that Americans understand that English is the key to academic success, economic opportunity, and political participation in the United States. As they have at their town halls and at the ballot box, the people have spoken in favor of a common language policy. Now it is time for Congress to act by bringing up the measure for a hearing and a vote.”

In the 109th Congress, 125 Representatives have worked to address the lack of a common language statute, signing on as co-sponsors of H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act of 2005. Introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), this bi-partisan legislation would make English the official language of the United States government while providing common sense exceptions for public safety, trade and tourism. Despite the bill’s ranking as one of the most widely supported bills in the 109th Congress, the House has stalled on bringing the measure up for a vote.

The poll marks the ninth consecutive U.S. English poll to find more than 75 percent support for making English the official language of the United States. Prior polls in 2004, 2002, 2000, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1991 and 1988 all found in excess of three-quarters of the population in favor of such legislation.

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.us-english.org) now has more than 2 million members.