Rep. Shadegg Becomes Newest Co-Sponsor of H.R. 997

Rep. John Shadegg became the newest co-sponsor of H.R. 997 yesterday, the 17th member to sign on to legislation to make English the official language this month. The addition of Rep. Shadegg increases the number of co-sponsors to 109 in just seven weeks since the bill was introduced by Rep. Steve King.

Rep. Shadegg, who supported official English legislation since his first term in Congress, is now in his ninth term representing more than 500,000 Arizona constituents. Originally elected from the Fourth Congressional District, he has represented Arizona's Third Congressional District since redistricting in 2003. Arizona citizens have long supported government policies that promote English acquisition and reduce government multilingualism, voting by a near 3-to-1 margin to make English the official language of the state in Nov. 2006.

Reps. Westmoreland, Campbell Become Co-Sponsors of H.R. 764

Also yesterday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia and Rep. John Campbell of California became co-sponsors of H.R. 764, legislation to reduce the provision of multilingual ballots. The support of these two representatives brings the number of co-sponsors to 26. H.R. 764, the American Elections Act, was introduced by Rep. Dean Heller in February.