English Language Unity Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 678 To declare English as the official language of the United States, to establish a uniform English language rule for naturalization, and to avoid mis- constructions 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 THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 10, 2021 Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. ROUNDS, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 678 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘English Language 2 Unity Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds and declares the following: 5 (1) The United States is comprised of individ- 6 uals from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic 7 backgrounds, and continues to benefit from this rich 8 diversity. 9 (2) Throughout the history of the United 10 States, the common thread binding individuals of 11 differing backgrounds has been the English lan- 12 guage. 13 (3) Among the powers reserved to the States 14 respectively is the power to establish the English 15 language as the official language of the respective 16 States, and otherwise to promote the English lan- 17 guage within the respective States, subject to the 18 prohibitions enumerated in the Constitution of the 19 United States and in laws of the respective States. 20 SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED 21 STATES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 4, United States Code, is 23 amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 678 IS ‘‘CHAPTER 6—OFFICIAL LANGUAGE 1 ‘‘§ 161. Official language of the United States 2 ‘‘The official language of the United States is 3 English. 4 ‘‘§ 162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi- 5 cial language 6 ‘‘Representatives of the Federal Government shall 7 have an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the 8 role of English as the official language of the Federal Gov- 9 ernment. Such obligation shall include encouraging great- 10 er opportunities for individuals to learn the English lan- 11 guage. 12 ‘‘§ 163. Official functions of Government to be con- 13 ducted in English 14 ‘‘(a) SCOPE.—For the purposes of this section— 15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘official’ refers to any function 16 that— 17 ‘‘(A) binds the Government; 18 ‘‘(B) is required by law; or 19 ‘‘(C) is otherwise subject to scrutiny by ei- 20 ther the press or the public; and 21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘United States’ means the several 22 States and the District of Columbia. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 678 IS ‘‘(b) OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS.—The official functions 1 of the Government of the United States shall be conducted 2 in English. 3 ‘‘(c) PRACTICAL EFFECT.—This section— 4 ‘‘(1) shall apply to all laws, public proceedings, 5 regulations, publications, orders, actions, programs, 6 and policies; and 7 ‘‘(2) shall not apply to— 8 ‘‘(A) teaching of languages; 9 ‘‘(B) requirements under the Individuals 10 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 11 1400 et seq.); 12 ‘‘(C) actions, documents, or policies nec- 13 essary for national security, international rela- 14 tions, trade, tourism, or commerce; 15 ‘‘(D) actions or documents that protect the 16 public health and safety; 17 ‘‘(E) actions or documents that facilitate 18 the activities of the Bureau of the Census in 19 compiling any census of population; 20 ‘‘(F) actions that protect the rights of vic- 21 tims of crimes or criminal defendants; or 22 ‘‘(G) using terms of art or phrases from 23 languages other than English. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 678 IS ‘‘§ 164. Uniform English language rule for naturaliza- 1 tion 2 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM LANGUAGE TESTING STANDARD.—All 3 citizens of the United States should be able to read and 4 understand generally the English language text of the 5 Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the 6 United States, and the laws of the United States made 7 in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States. 8 ‘‘(b) CEREMONIES.—All naturalization ceremonies 9 shall be conducted in English. 10 ‘‘§ 165. Rules of construction 11 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall be construed— 12 ‘‘(1) to prohibit a Member of Congress or any 13 officer or agent of the Federal Government, while 14 performing official functions under section 163, from 15 communicating unofficially through any medium 16 with another person in a language other than 17 English (as long as official functions are performed 18 in English); 19 ‘‘(2) to limit the preservation or use of Native 20 Alaskan or Native American languages (as defined 21 in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 22 2901 et seq.)); 23 ‘‘(3) to disparage any language or to discourage 24 any person from learning or using a language; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 678 IS ‘‘(4) to be inconsistent with the Constitution of 1 the United States. 2 ‘‘§ 166. Standing 3 ‘‘A person injured by a violation of this chapter may 4 in a civil action (including an action under chapter 151 5 of title 28) obtain appropriate relief.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 7 at the beginning of title 4, United States Code, is amended 8 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 5 the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘CHAPTER 6. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE’’. SEC. 4. GENERAL RULES OF CONSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH 11 LANGUAGE TEXTS OF THE LAWS OF THE 12 UNITED STATES. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 1, United 14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘§ 9. General rules of construction for laws of the 17 United States 18 ‘‘(a) English language requirements and workplace 19 policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be 20 presumptively consistent with the laws of the United 21 States. 22 ‘‘(b) Any ambiguity in the English language text of 23 the laws of the United States shall be resolved, in accord- 24 ance with the last two articles of the Bill of Rights, not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 678 IS to deny or disparage rights retained by the people, and 1 to reserve powers to the States respectively, or to the peo- 2 ple.’’. 3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 4 at the beginning of chapter 1 of title 1, United States 5 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 6 section 8 the following: 7 ‘‘9. General rules of construction for laws of the United States.’’. SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS. 8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 9 of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 10 for public notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform 11 testing English language ability of candidates for natu- 12 ralization, which shall be based upon the principles that— 13 (1) all citizens of the United States should be 14 able to read and understand generally the English 15 language text of the Declaration of Independence, 16 the Constitution of the United States, and the laws 17 of the United States which are made in pursuance 18 thereof; and 19 (2) any exceptions to the standard described in 20 paragraph (1) should be limited to extraordinary cir- 21 cumstances, such as asylum. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 678 IS SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 1 The amendments made by sections 3 and 4 shall take 2 effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact- 3 ment of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S678.IS S678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS