Sen. Inhofe Leads Official English Push in U.S. Senate

S. 1335 would make English the official language of the United States

Adding to the growing call for an official language, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe introduced legislation today that would make English the official language of the United States. S. 1335, the S.I. Hayakawa Official Language Act, would make English the official language of the United States, reducing the legal entitlement of government services in another language.

“If Senators are as committed to assimilation effort as they say they are, I hope that we will soon see a flurry of support for Senator Inhofe’s legislation,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. “Our nation has become a model for the world not because we are all of the same nationality, but because our common language of English has allowed us to assimilate those differences into a shared nationality called ‘American.’”

Last year, Sen. Inhofe introduced an amendment to the Senate immigration bill to make English the “national language” of the United States. This measure passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 62-35, but was held up as part of the stalled immigration reform effort. Nationwide polls have found that 85 percent of Americans support making English the official language of the United States, with high degrees of support from immigrants, Hispanics, and among Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

S. 1335 is one of many bills pending on the federal and state levels to reduce government multilingualism and stress the importance of English learning. In the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 997 has nearly 100 co-sponsors, while 20 states have seen official English legislation introduced in their chambers in 2007. In March, Idaho became the 29th state to enact official English legislation, following Arizona’s enactment in 2006.

“In this age of increased immigration, it is time for the government to focus on making sure that new immigrants quickly become part of our society,” added Mujica. “Government multilingualism provides a harmful, long-term crutch that keeps immigrants from learning English and achieving the American dream. S. 1335 provides a pro-immigrant, pro-American policy that will serve our nation well, and I look forward to its consideration in the Senate.”

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.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.