Legislations in Cong to make English official language of US

WASHINGTON: Two Republican lawmakers have introduced legislations in the Congress to establish English as the official language of the United States government.

The English Language Unity Act of 2011, requires all official functions of the United States to be conducted in English, establishes a uniform language requirement for naturalization, and places an obligation on representatives of the federal government to encourage individuals to learn English.

In the House of Representatives, the legislation was introduced by Congressman, Steve King, while in the Senate it was introduced by Senator Jim Inhofe.

"A common language is the most powerful unifying force known throughout history," King said. "We need to encourage assimilation of all legal immigrants in each generation. A nation divided by language cannot pull together as effectively as a people," he said.

"This legislation will provide much-needed commonality among United States citizens, regardless of heritage," Inhofe said. "As a nation built by immigrants, it is important that we share one vision and one official language," he said.

Both King and Inhofe have been champions of promoting English as the official US language, having previously introduced this legislation in 2009. As a member of Iowa's Senate, King led successful effort to enact legislation establishing English as Iowa's official language.

According to Washington-based US English Inc, an advocacy group, efforts to make English the official language of the US date back to 1981, when Senator S I Hayakawa introduced legislation to emphasise English acquisition and reduce government multilingualism.

Since that time, more than 700 members of Congress have co-sponsored or voted for pending measures, including five which passed the Senate and one which passed the House of Representatives.

In the 111th Congress, there were nearly 140 bi-partisan co-sponsors of The English Language Unity Act, marking the ninth time in the last nine Congresses where an official English bill has garnered co-sponsorships from more than 100 Representatives.

"After years of discussion and debate, the time has come for Congress to show real leadership and promote our common language by making English the official language of the United States," said Mauro E Mujica, Chairman of the Board of US English, Inc.

English is the de facto national language of the United States, with 82 per cent of the population claiming it as a mother tongue, and some 96 per cent claiming to speak it well. However, no official language exists at the Federal level.