by Frank Holmes, reporter
Are you tired of having to “press 1 for English”? Those days could be coming to an end, thanks to an America First U.S. senator who has decided it is long past time to make English our official national language.
Senator J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, has introduced the English Language Unity Act, which he calls a “commonsense” bill that should cause no controversy.
“The English language has been a cornerstone of American culture for over 250 years. It is far past time for Congress to codify its place into law, which is exactly what this bill does,” said Vance.
The bill would establish English as America’s official language, saying that officials, bureaucrats, and government employees must perform all official government business exclusively in English.
It also says immigrants who apply for U.S. citizenship should know the English language well — and that the naturalization ceremony only take place in English.
The bill waves the English-language requirement if the government official’s job involves teaching people foreign languages, guiding tourists, engaging in business with foreign companies, protecting defendants who can’t speak English in court, or making any “communication necessary for national security.”
It also lets government employees speak to people in a foreign language while taking the U.S. Census.
The act is clear that officials shouldn’t discourage people from learning another language or speaking a foreign language in their own home, it’s a purely positive bill that tells the government to speak a language we understand.
The bill serves an important purpose to protect freedom as America becomes increasingly diverse: If voters can’t read English, they can’t read the Constitution. “Our Founding Fathers used English to create the most precious and fundamental document of all time,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, Senator Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
If waves of new U.S. citizens can’t read the Constitution, how can they protect the freedoms promised in it—the freedoms many of them came to America’s shores to enjoy? That’s why Vance’s legislation demands of government officials, “All citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance of the Constitution.”
Vance pointed out that “the overwhelming majority of the American people support this proposal” — and they always have, by a margin of about 8-to-1.
He pointed to a new poll showing 78 percent of Americans currently support the measure…but the margin has hardly changed nearly 30 years. 81 percent of Americans wanted the government to institute official English in 2018, according to a Rasmussen poll. Similar numbers supported the idea in 2010.
Almost 90 percent of U.S. citizens said, “to be truly American it is very or somewhat important that a person speak English,” in a 2016 Pew Research Center poll.
All the way back in 1996, 82 percent of Americans supported English as America’s official language. “President Clinton seems to be leaning against the bill. Bob Dole, should he become president, would approve it,” reported the Christian Science Monitor at the time. (Well, we know how that came out.)
In fact in 2008, two-thirds of people believed English should be the official language… of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a coalition of Arabic nations in the Middle East.
In fact, more than 60 foreign countries—including Nigeria, Singapore, and Belgium—already have declared English one of their official languages… but not in the United States, at least not nationally.
But 31 states in this country already make English the official language for government work, and supporters say it pays off for everyone.
Promoting the use of English helps legal immigrants advance and get ahead in their new homeland, said a Republican congressman.
“It is also in the best interests of our legal immigrants, as proficiency in English helps them assimilate into our culture, succeed in the workplace, and reach their greatest potential,” said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who the House of Representatives’ version of the bill, H.R. 997.
Far from being a “racist” measure, Good points out that this turns Americans from all over the world into one people.
“In the melting pot of the United States of America, our common English language promotes unity and fosters cultural integration,” Rep. Good said.
That may explain why elites in both parties oppose it: Democrats hope to wall off new immigrants to keep them dependent on the government; Big Business Republicans hope to wall off new immigrants to keep them working low-paying jobs instead of Americans.
That’s why the legislation keeps coming up, and keeps going down, year after year.
The exact same legislation was introduced last year by then-Congressman Louie Gohmert in the House and then-Senator James Inhofe, R-Okla.
In fact, this bill goes back to 2003, when then-Rep. Steve King of Iowa introduced it with bipartisan support and the backing of 108 co-sponsors… and the party leaders wouldn’t even bring it up for a vote.
The behind-the-scenes forces affecting both parties’ leadership always managed to stop the bill in its tracks, even though it’s supported by the vast majority of Americans.
Do you think it’s time America made English its official language?
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”