The English Language Unity Act (H.R. 997) has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to “declare English as the official language of the United States, to establish a uniform English language rule for naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the English language texts of the laws of the United States, pursuant to Congress’ powers to provide for the general welfare of the United States and to establish a uniform rule of naturalization under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution.”
In addition to Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tx, becoming the new sponsor of this “official English in government” bill, two Georgians have just become co-sponsors of H.R. 997: Reps. Jody Hice and Marjorie Taylor Green.
It may surprise many Americans that the United States has no official language of government, although over the past 25 years Georgia and 31 other states have passed such laws designating English.
“The passage of official English legislation in H.R. 997 in the House, as well as in S. 678 in the Senate, will save Americans billions of dollars in current, government-mandated translation and interpretation costs,” says Executive Director Stephen Guschov of the Washington-based ProEnglish organization. “It will also encourage cultural and linguistic assimilation by new arrivals to our nation.”
Guschov says that ProEnglish is working with U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Ok, to attempt to include the English Language Unity Act as an amendment in a larger budget or immigration bill. He says that strategy appears to be the best avenue to move it forward in a Democrat-controlled Congress.
For more information on the legislation, log onto www.proenglish.org
