Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 123 - Language of Government Act

(House Rules)
(Emerson (R) MO and 197 cosponsors)

If H.R. 123 were presented to the President, the Attorney General, the Secretaries of Treasury, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education and Labor, and the Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would recommend that the bill be vetoed. H.R. 123 would establish English as the official language of the United States and require the Federal Government to conduct most official business only in English. This highly objectionable bill is unnecessary, inefficient, and divisive. It would:

• Effectively exclude Americans who are not fully proficient in English from employment, voting, and equal participation in society.
• Jeopardize the rights of students with limited English proficiency to equal educational opportunity as well as the ability of schools to communicate effectively with parents with limited English proficiency about the education of their children.
• Be subject to serious constitutional challenge. The bill's provision that it not be construed to be inconsistent with the Constitution is so general as to provide no clear guidance and thereby, would create widespread uncertainty in the Government's day-to-day operation.
• Make it impossible for the Federal Government to conduct required business in writing with the millions of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico and the States who do not read English.
• Effectively repeal the minority language provisions of the Voting Rights Act, limiting meaningful electorial participation by minority language populations. (The proposed Cunningham amendment would actually repeal these provisions.)
• Impair the ability of American Indian tribal governments to engage in self-govemance.
• Significantly increase barriers to effective law enforcement in immigrant communities.
• Create an unnecessary private right of action, inviting frivolous litigation against the Government.
• Potentially eliminate programs that promote the welfare of children and older Americans where an immediate public health risk does not exist. The bill could also prohibit publication in foreign languages of informational pamphlets on subjects like Head Start, Social Security, Older Americans, the Americans with Disabilities Act, child support collection, and child abuse prevention.

English is universally acknowledged as the common language of the United States, but language alone is not the basis for nationhood. Americans are united by the principles enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights: freedom of speech, representative democracy, respect for due process, and equality of protection under the law. H.R. 123 is contrary to each of these principles.