H.R. 50 (106th): Declaration of Official Language Act of 1999

Introduced:
Jan 06, 1999 (106th Congress, 1999–2000)
Sponsor:
Rep. Robert Stump [R-AZ3]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 3333 (107th) on Nov 16, 2001.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on January 6, 1999, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Jan 06, 1999
Cosponsors
9 cosponsors (7R, 1D, 1D) (show)
Committees

House Education and the Workforce

House Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the official language of the Government of the United States.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Jan 06, 1999.
6 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

1/6/1999--Introduced.
Declaration of Official Language Act of 1999 - Declares English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that English is the preferred language of communication among U.S. citizens. Requires the U.S. Government to promote and support the use of English for communications among U.S. citizens. Requires communications by officers and employees of the U.S. Government with U.S. citizens to be in English. Directs the Immigration and Naturalization Service to: (1) enforce the established English language proficiency standard for all applicants for U.S. citizenship; and (2) conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in English. Allows anyone injured by a violation of this Act to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action. Authorizes the court in any such action to allow a prevailing party, other than the U.S. Government, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of costs. Repeals the Bilingual Education Act (title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965). Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to repeal bilingual voting requirements.

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)