H.R. 739



104th Congress H. R. 739 As Introduced in the House



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The printed Bill and Resolution produced by the Government Printing

Office is the only official version.



VERSION As Introduced in the House

CONGRESS 104th CONGRESS

1st Session

BILL H. R. 739

TITLE To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the

official language of the Government of the United States.

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 30, 1995

Mr. Roth (for himself, Mr. Packard, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Bartlett of

Maryland, Mr. Parker, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Coble, Mr.

Archer, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Bunning of Kentucky, Mr. Goodlatte,

Mr. Stump, Mr. Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Rogers, Mr.

Sensenbrenner, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Royce, Mr.

Hutchinson, Mr. Ney, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Kingston, Mr.

Rohrabacher, Mr. Oxley, and Mr. King) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and

Educational Opportunities

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TEXT A BILL

To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the

official language of the Government of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the

United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Declaration of Official Language

Act of 1995`.

SEC. 2. ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.

(a) In General . - Title 4, United States Code, is amended by

adding at the end the following new chapter:

`CHAPTER 6 - LANGUAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT

`Sec.

`161. Declaration of official language.

`162. Preferred language of communication

`163. Preserving and enhancing the role of the official language

`164. Duties of citizenship.

`165. Reform of naturalization requirement.

`166. Exceptions.

`167. Preemption.

`168. Construction.

`169. Enforcement.

`Sec. 161. Declaration of official language

`English is the official language of the Government of the United

States.

`Sec. 162. Preferred language of communication

`English is the preferred language of communication among

citizens of the United States.

`Sec. 163. Preserving and enhancing the role of the official

language

`The Government of the United States shall promote and support

the use of English for communications among United States

citizens. Communications by officers and employees of the

Government of the United States with United States citizens shall

be in English.

`Sec. 164. Duties of citizenship

`All United States citizens should be encouraged to read, write,

and speak English to the extent of their physical and mental

abilities.

`Sec. 165. Reform of naturalization requirements

`(a) It has been the long-standing national belief that full

citizenship in the United States requires fluency in English.

English is the language of opportunity for all immigrants to take

their rightful place in American society.

`(b) The Immigration and Naturalization Service shall -

`(1) enforce the established English language proficiency

standard for all applicants for United States citizenship, and

`(2) conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in

English.

`Sec. 166. Exceptions

`This chapter does not apply to the use of a language other than

English for -

`(1) religious purposes,

`(2) training in foreign languages for international

communication, or

`(3) use of non-English terms of art in government documents.

`Sec. 167. Preemption

`This chapter preempts any State or Federal law which is

inconsistent with this chapter.

`Sec. 168. Construction

`This Act is not intended to affect programs in schools designed

to encourage students to learn foreign languages.

`Sec. 169. Enforcement

`(a) Cause of Action . - Whoever is injured by a violation of

this chapter may, in a civil action, obtain appropriate relief.

`(b) Attorney`s Fees . - In any action under this chapter, the

court may allow a prevailing party, other than the United States, a

reasonable attorney`s fee as part of costs.`.

(b) Clerical Amendment . - The table of chapters for title 4,

United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following

new item:

`6. Language of the Government 161`.

(c) Repeals . -

(1) Bilingual education . - Title VII of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965 (other than sections 7201 through

7309) is repealed.

(2) Bilingual ballot . - Section 203 of the Voting Rights

Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa-1a) is repealed.

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