English Language Unity Act: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:43, 24 July 2019

Revision as of 12:34, 15 August 2019

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The English Language Unity Act is based on a similar bill, "The [[Bill Emerson]] English Language Empowerment Act", which passed in the House of Representatives in 1999. However, it never became law. It tried to amend Federal law to declare English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. If it became a law, it would have required state representatives to conduct official business in English. It would have required that all officials conduct naturalization ceremonies entirely in English as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h106-123|title=Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act of 1999 (1999 - H.R. 123)|website=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

Conservative Republican lawmaker Representative [[Steve King]] introduced this act to the House of Representatives on March 1, 2005 it was known as the English Language Unity Act of 2005. Before the 109th session ended of congressCongress ended, the bill accumulated 164 sponsors. The last action on this bill was the introductory remarks on the proposed bill on May 19, 2006. The bill did not come up for debate during this session of [[United States Congress|Congress]], so it is said to have died.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-997|title=English Language Unity Act of 2005 (2005 - H.R. 997)|website=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

Representative King reintroduced the bill as the English Unity Act of 2007 on February 12, 2007. This time it gained the support of 153 cosponsors. The last action on this proposed bill was on June 5, 2007 when the [[United States House Committee on Education and Labor|House Committee on Education and Labor]] referred the bill to the subcommittee on Early Childhood Education, Elementary and Secondary Education. Congress adjourned before further action could be taken, so the bill died again in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-997|title=English Language Unity Act of 2007 (2007 - H.R. 997)|website=GovTrack.us}}</ref>