{
  "id": "97-383",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "97-383",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 316325,
      "date": "1997-03-14",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:59:15.253941",
      "title": "Legal Analysis of Proposals to Make English the Official Language of the United States Government",
      "summary": "This document also available in  PDF Image .\n  A contemporary political movement to install English as the official language of the United\nStates has continued to gather momentum since Congress in the mid-1980's first held hearings on\nvarious proposals to amend the Federal Constitution to achieve that end. Although federal efforts\nto date have fallen short of their goal, greater success has been achieved in promoting official\nEnglish laws at the state level. Presently, twenty-one states have laws declaring English to be the\nofficial state language. These state laws have usually been enacted by direct popular votes on\nreferenda by substantial margins. In response, renewed congressional efforts to codify English as\nthe official language of the Federal Government by statute have displaced the constitutional\namendment approach of earlier years. This trend continued in the 104th Congress when the House\npassed  H.R. 123 , declaring English the official language of the United States\nGovernment and restricting other linguistic usage in the conduct of \"official\" governmental business.\nThe measure died in the Senate but has been reintroduced in the current Congress along with other\nHouse and Senate proposals. \n   H.R. 123  and  S. 323 , the principal measures before the current\nCongress, require that all \"official business\" of the Federal Government--including any \"enforceable\"\ndomestic \"governmental actions, documents, or policies\"--be conducted in English. These bills\nwould also create a private \"entitlement\"to \"communicate with\" and \"receive information from\" the\nFederal Government in English and an \"affirmative obligation\" on the part of governmental\nrepresentatives \"to preserve and enhance the role of English.\" A third bill,  H.R. 622 ,\nwould commit the Federal Government to \"promote and support\" English usage \"among United State\ncitizens\" and to \"enforce\" naturalization requirements of English proficiency. It would also repeal\nfederal bilingual education and voting requirements.\n  The Bill Emerson Language Empowerment Act of 1997, as carried forward from the substitute\nversion of  H.R. 123  which passed the House last year, differs considerably in scope and\nexceptions to coverage from its Senate counterpart. Thus,  H.R. 123  specifically covers\n\"publications, income tax forms, and informational materials\" while it may be questioned whether\nall such documents would be \"official\" government business under the general definition in\n S. 323 . Similarly, the House bill adopts a \"rule of construction\" permitting oral\ncommunications by federal \"representatives\"--meaning federal officers, employees, and Members\nof Congress--in languages other than English. Consequently, only governmental information in\nwritten or documentary form would be subject to the House bill's official English requirements while\nthe status of oral communications under the  S. 323  is less clearcut. Exceptions written\ninto both bills, however, would permit linguistic diversity in governmental communications\nconcerned with teaching of foreign languages; national security and international relations, trade, or\ncommerce; compilation of census information; public health and safety matters; and the conduct of\ncriminal proceedings.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/97-383",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Constitutional Questions"
  ]
}