United States · Bill · HR
H.R. 50 (106th)
Declaration of Official Language Act of 1999
Introduced
6 January 1999
Last action
—
Status
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
Sponsors
—
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
20 August 2025
Summary
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.
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Timeline
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Votes
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Versions
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Documents
3 official files
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House · EN · 6 January 1999
Introduced in House (PDF)
Introduced in House · EN · 6 January 1999
Introduced in House
summary · EN · 6 January 1999
Sponsors
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Related records
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Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/50
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/106/hr/50