H.R. 997, legislation to make English the official language of the United States was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Steve King and 26 of his colleagues yesterday. The effort to make English the official language, supported by more than four-fifths of all Americans and nearly two-thirds of Hispanics according to polls taken in 2006, is expected to play a key role within the ongoing assimilation debate in Congress.Unfortunately, House Democrats will continue their Hispandering...
"There will be many sides to the debate on immigration, but there remains little debate about the need for assimilation in the United States," said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. "Our long tradition of encouraging English fluency and avoiding a multilingual government has allowed us to forge a common identity in a land of diversity. Americans want this tradition to continue, and they have selected a group of leaders that will achieve that goal."
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 commerce and criminal justice systems.
H.R. 997 looks to build on the success of a similar measure in the 109th Congress (also H.R. 997), that received the support of 161 members. With the support of more than one-third of the House, last session's measure ranked as one of the most widely supported bills in the 109th Congress. Both bills are also comparable to the "Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act of 1996," which passed the House by a bi-partisan vote of 259-169 that year.
"I want to thank Congressman King and his colleagues for their continuing support of this important issue," continued Mujica. "I look forward to working with these members to grow our sponsorship ranks and educate the public on the need for a common language for government. Only by working together will we achieve what the American public truly wants - to bring this bill up for a vote and to pass it into law."
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. now has more than 1.8 million members nationwide. U.S. English, Inc. can be found on the web at: http://www.usenglish.org. [Link]
UPDATE: Newt Gingrich is on board... (HT: NRO's The Corner)
