• H.R. 280 (King) – "National Language Act"; would also repeal the Bilingual Education Act; referred to Education & Workforce and Judiciary Committees
• H.R. 1984 (Barr) – "English Language Unity Act"; would also stiffen English literacy requirements for naturalization as a U.S. citizen
• H.J. Res. 16 (Doolittle) – Constitutional English Language Amendment; referred to Judiciary Committee
• H. Con. Res. 9 (Serrano) – English Plus resolution; a nonbinding policy statement in opposition to English Only measures; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H.R. 969 (Stump) – Would overrule President Clinton's Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency"
• H.R. 1 (Boehner) – "No Child Left Behind Act"; closely parallels Bush proposal for elementary and secondary education; PASSED BY HOUSE, 5/23/01; SIGNED INTO LAW, WITH AMENDMENTS, 1/8/02, repealing Bilingual Education Act.
• S. 1 (Jeffords) – "Better Education for Students and Teachers Act"; departs from Bush proposal, largely keeps Bilingual Education Act intact; PASSED BY SENATE, 6/14/01

106th Congress (1999-2000)

• H. R. 123 (Barr) – "Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act"; the lead version of English Only legislation; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H.J. Res. 21 (Doolittle) – Constitutional English Language Amendment; referred to Judiciary Committee
• H.R. 50 (Stump) – "Declaration of Official Language Act of 1999"; would also repeal the Bilingual Education Act; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H.R. 1005 (King) – "National Language Act of 1999"; would also repeal the Bilingual Education Act; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H. Con. Res. 4 (Serrano) – English Plus resolution; a nonbinding policy statement in opposition to English Only measures; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• S. 667 (McCain) – English Plus policy statement as part of a private-school "choice" bill; would also authorize a study of Americans' multilingual proficiencies; referred to Finance Committee

• S. Res. 236 (McCain) – Nonbinding "sense of the Senate" resolution endorsing English Plus; 9 Republican cosposors; 5/22/98 press release.
• H.R. 3720 (DeLay) – Would repeal the Bilingual Education Act and eliminate the federal Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs; would also void Lau consent decrees requiring bilingual instruction.
• H.R. 3892 (Riggs)– English Language Fluency Act (successor to H.R. 3680); would turn Title VII into a state-administered formula grant for school programs designed to teach English within two years and void Lau consent decrees requiring bilingual instruction. PASSED EDUCATION & WORKFORCE COMMITTEE, 6/3/98; Committee Report on H.R. 3892; PASSED HOUSE, 9/10/98
• H. R. 123 (Cunningham) – "Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act"; the lead version of English Only legislation; 165 cosponsors; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• S. 323 (Shelby) – Similar to H.R. 123; 21 cosponsors; referred to Governmental Affairs Committee
• H. R. 622 (Stump) – "Declaration of Official Language Act"; parallels H.R. 123 but with fewer exceptions to the English Only mandate; also would repeal the bilingual provisions of the Voting Rights Act; 38 cosponsors; referred to Education & Workforce and Judiciary committees
• H.R. 1005 (King) – "National Language Act"; a more restrictive English Only measure that would repeal the Bilingual Education Act and make schools return unspent grant funds; 24 cosponsors; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H. J. Res. 37 (Doolittle) – Constitutional English Language amendment; 3 cosponsors; referred to Judiciary Committee
• H. Con. Res. 4 (Serrano) – English Plus resolution; a nonbinding policy statement in opposition to English Only measures; 37 cosponsors; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H. Res. 28 (King) – Nonbinding resolution disapproving of the use of federal funds for school programs that recognize "Ebonics"; 7 cosponsors; referred to Education & Workforce Committee
• H. R. 856 (Young) – Puerto Rico plebiscite bill includes Official English provisions for statehood; passed Resources Committee, 44-1, 5/21/97; discharged by Rules Committee and placed on House calendar, 7/11/97; APPROVED BY HOUSE, 209-208, WITH AMENDMENTS, 3/4/98
• H. R. 1203 (Stump) – Prohibits the use of federal education funds to "promote the teaching or use of regional or group dialects" – e.g., African American Vernacular English; 128 cosponsors; referred to Education & Workforce Committee

• H. R. 123 (Emerson) – Federal English Only bill, passed by the House of Representatives, August 1, 1996
• H. R. 739 (Roth) – "Declaration of Official Language Act"; a more draconian version of the Emerson bill
• H. R. 1005 (King) – An even more restrictive "National Language Act" 
• S. 356 (Shelby) – Companion to the Emerson bill; text is identical to H.R. 123, as originally introduced

• H. R. 123 (Emerson) – First version of "Language of Government" legislation, introduced January 3, 1991

• S. J. Res. 72 (Hayakawa) – A constitutional English Language Amendment; the first Official English bill ever introduced in Congress, April 27, 1981

State Language Legislation – 2001-2002

• Colorado – Anti-bilingual initiative; FAILED, 44% - 56%, 11/5/02 
• Iowa – Official English; ENACTED, 3/1/02
• Massachusetts – Anti-bilingual initiative;  PASSED, 68% - 32%, 11/5/02
• New York – Official English
• Oklahoma – Petition for English-only ballot initiative ruled unconstitutional 
• Oregon – Anti-bilingual education bill

• Arizona – Anti-bilingual-education initiative; PASSES 11/07/00
• Colorado – Anti-bilingual-education initiative; INVALIDATED by Colorado Supreme Court
• Iowa – Official English
• Maine – Official English
• Massachusetts – Official English
• New York – Official English
• Ohio – Official English
• Oklahoma – Official English initiative; FAILS TO BE CERTIFIED FOR BALLOT
• Utah – Official English initiative; PASSES 11/07/00

State Language Legislation – 1999

• Arizona – Bilingual education reform; anti-bilingual initiative
• Connecticut – Official English
• Iowa – Official English; DEFEATED
• Maine – Official English
• Massachusetts – Official English
• New York – Official English
• Ohio – Official English
• Utah – Official English; English Plus

State Language Legislation – 1997-98

• Alaska – English Only initiative on ballot –PASSED
• California – Anti-Ebonics; bilingual education "reform"; anti-bilingual education ballot initiative and proposed counter-initiative
• Connecticut – English Only
• Iowa – English Only
• Kansas – English Only 
• Maryland – English Only 
• Massachusetts – English Only 
• Michigan – English Only
• Missouri – English Only – ENACTED
• New York – English Only 
• Ohio – English Only 
• Oklahoma – English Only
• Utah – English Only 
• Washington – English Only 
• Wisconsin – English Only 

 

 
 


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