English Is Still Not Our Official Language, But This Bill Could Change That

Brad Fox | March 11, 2015
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Today, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced S. 678, “The English Language Unity Act” to make English the official language of The United States. This includes governmental operations because, as  ProEnglish, the leading advocate for this cause says:

 “Our national unity and ability to communicate effectively is undermined by the dangerous precedent of bilingual and multilingual communications that are increasing from elected government officials,” says  ProEnglish Executive Director Robert Vandervoort. 

The bill makes common-sense exceptions to permit the federal government’s use of other languages, such as in cases of national security, international relations and trade, tourism, public safety and health, and protecting the rights of victims. 

This bill has been receiving more co-sponsors like Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), David Vitter (R-La.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) proving this could be a good time to pass this type of bill. 

Sen. Inhofe says the bill will help a diverse nation communicate:

“The United States’ culturally diverse population is what makes our nation great, and what helps us move forward together as a society is the ability to communicate to one another,” Inhofe said. “The English Language Unity Act declares English as the official language of the United States and will help set legal immigrants on a path to success as they integrate and work towards becoming citizens. As a nation built by immigrants, this legislation will strengthen the cords of unity that comes from sharing one vision and one official language.” 

The 2010 census reveals that around 60 million people speak a language other than English at home and the expense to taxpayers of multilingual translations is rising at the local, state and federal governmental level,” says Robert Vandervort. 

Thirty-one states already have English as the states official language. 

Rasmussen poll indicates an overwhelming 83 percent of respondents believe English should be the official language of the federal government.

Linguist and poet John Nist’s said in 1966 that language is used "primarily as a means of communion rather than as a means of communication." People seek commonality with others and the basic starting point is speaking the same language. 

If the bill passes both chambers, it will be interesting to see if President Obama vetos it. 

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