Rep. Steve King this week reintroduced legislation that would make English the official language of the U.S., just weeks after being accused of embracing white nationalism.
King has introduced similar legislation in several prior congresses. This time, however, it comes after he spent weeks under pressure from both Democrats and Republicans for speaking the language of white nationalists and arguing openly against “importing” foreigners to populate America.
King was roundly criticized last month after he said in an interview, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
But King has said he was misquoted and was only asking how the term “Western civilization” became offensive. There was no audio of his interview available.
Still, House Republicans removed King from his committee assignments as punishment, and Democrats charged that he was looking to limit immigration to “make America white again.”
This time around, King introduced his bill with four Republican cosponsors: Reps. Rick Allen of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tom McClintock of California, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
A copy of the bill wasn’t available Thursday, but last year’s version of the bill declared that “The official language of the United States is English.”
It also said federal government officials must encourage the use of English and make it easier for people to learn the language. Official functions would have to be conducted in English, and people would have to understand the nation’s founding documents in English before being naturalized.
“The most unifying force in the world has always been a common language,” he said in the last Congress when he introduced his bill. “Almost without exception, every nation state, including the Vatican, has at least one official language — except the United States. My English Language Unity Act requires all official functions of the United States to be conducted in English.”
