Push for Official Language Policies Continues to Grow in Congress, States

H.R. 997 now has support of one-third of House of Representatives

With 144 co-sponsors of H.R. 997 in addition to lead sponsor Steve King, support for official English has now reached one-third of the U.S. House of Representatives for the second straight Congressional session. The growing list of co-sponsors, which represents both parties and nearly 40 states, reflects a continued push for common language legislation at every level of government.

The English Language Unity Act of 2007 would require the United States government to conduct official business in English. Specifically, H.R. 997 would limit routine government operations to English, while giving government agencies common sense flexibility to protect public health and safety, national security, and to provide for the needs of the commerce and criminal justice systems.

H.R. 997 is just one of many efforts to enact common sense language policy as our nation works to assimilate millions of new immigrants. In each of the past two years, the Senate has approved amendments making English the "national language" of the United States and reducing multilingual entitlements. Despite passage by margins of 62-35 (2006) and 63-34 (2007), the Senate has not passed the bills to which these measures were attached.

At the state level, 13 states have pending measures related to official language policies during the early stages of the 2008 session. Measures in Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin would make English the official language of those states, while bills pending in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia would strengthen existing law. The Missouri legislature has already passed strengthening legislation that will appear on the Nov. 2008 general election ballot.

"National polls have shown that more than 80 percent of Americans favor official English legislation," said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English, Inc. "The number of pending official English bills demonstrates that many legislators are listening to their constituents, but there are plenty more who need to understand that Americans from all walks of life want the government to do business in English. In an election year, I hope that American voters will hold the politicians' feet to the fire on this unifying and necessary matter."