The Inhofe Amendment was an amendment to the

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, ) was a United States Senate bill introduced in the 109th Congress (2005–2006) by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) on April 7, 2006. Co-sponsors, who signed on the same day, were Sen. Chuck Hagel (R- ...

, a

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

bill that would have changed current immigration law allowing fewer immigrants into the United States. The amendment was passed by the Senate on May 18, 2006 by a vote of 62–35. The bill did not pass the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. According to the amendment, written by Sen.

James M. Inhofe James Mountain Inhofe (; ; November 17, 1934 – July 9, 2024) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was the longest serving U.S. senator from Okl ...

(R-Okla.), the Federal government will no longer provide

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

communications and services, except for those already guaranteed by law. It would also make

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

the "

national language '' '' A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...

" and require new citizens to pass a test of their English proficiency and knowledge of American history. Key portion of the final amendment, section 770 of the bill (titled "PRESERVING AND ENHANCING THE ROLE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE"):

The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the national language of the United States of America. Unless otherwise authorized or provided by law, no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services, or provide materials in any language other than English. If exceptions are made, that does not create a legal entitlement to additional services in that language or any language other than English. If any forms are issued by the Federal Government in a language other than English (or such forms are completed in a language other than English), the English language version of the form is the sole authority for all legal purposes.

Shortly after the approval of the Inhofe amendment, the Senate voted for another bill by Sen.

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as United States ambassador to Mexico from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administ ...

(D-Colo.), according to which English is the "common unifying language of the United States," but mandated that nothing in that declaration "shall diminish or expand any existing rights" regarding multilingual services. It passed 58–39.

Supporting reasons for the amendment

Inhofe proposed his amendment, saying that there should not be a right to demand that government business be conducted in any other language, that there is a unifying effect with a common language, and indicating the importance of knowing English to get ahead in America.

Criticism of the amendment

Senator

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, called the amendment "racist" in a speech before the Senate, arguing that it targeted speakers of Spanish.

Votes of Senators on Amendment

{, class="wikitable" !Yeas (63)!!Nays (34) !Abstentions (3) , - valign="top" , *

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(R-TN) * Allard (R-CO) *

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(R-VA) * Baucus (D-MT) * Bennett (R-UT) *

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(R-MO) * Brownback (R-KS) *

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(R-MT) * Burr (R-NC) *

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(D-WV) *

Carper Carper is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jean Carper (born 1932), American medical journalist *Tom Carper Thomas Richard Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician and former military officer who served fr ...

(D-DE) * Chafee (R-RI) * Chambliss (R-GA) * Coburn (R-OK) * Cochran (R-MS) *

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(R-MN) * Collins (R-ME) *

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(D-ND) * Cornyn (R-TX) * Craig (R-ID) * Crapo (R-ID) * DeMint (R-SC) * DeWine (R-OH) * Dole (R-NC) * Dorgan (D-ND) *

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(R-NV) * Enzi (R-WY) * Frist (R-TN) *

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(R-SC) * Grassley (R-IA) * Gregg (R-NH) * Hagel (R-NE) * Hatch (R-UT) * Hutchison (R-TX) * Inhofe (R-OK) * Isakson (R-GA) *

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(D-SD) * Kyl (R-AZ) * Landrieu (D-LA) *

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

(D-AR) *

Lott Lott as a surname or given name may refer to: Surname * Barbara Lott (1920–2002), British actress * Bret Lott (born 1958), American author * Bushrod W. Lott (1826–1886), American politician * Cara Lott (born 1961), pornographic actress * ...

(R-MS) * Lugar (R-IN) * McCain (R-AZ) * McConnell (R-KY) * Murkowski (R-AK) *

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

(D-FL) *

(D-NE) * Pryor (D-AR) * Roberts (R-KS) * Sessions (R-AL) * Shelby (R-AL) *

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

(R-OR) * Snowe (R-ME) * Specter (R-PA) * Stevens (R-AK) * Sununu (R-NH) * Talent (R-MO) *

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(R-WY) *

Thune Thune may refer to: * Thune (company), a Norwegian manufacturing company * Thune (surname), a Norwegian name (includes a list of people with the name) * Thune (station), light rail station on the Oslo Tramway * Thune (Lippe), a river of North Rhine ...

(R-SD) * Vitter (R-LA) * Voinovich (R-OH) *

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(R-VA) * Wyden (D-OR) , * Akaka (D-HI) * Bayh (D-IN) *

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(D-DE) * Bingaman (D-NM) *

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(D-CA) * Cantwell (D-WA) * Casey (D-PA) *

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(D-NY) *

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(D-MN) * Dodd (D-CT) * Domenici (R-NM) * Durbin (D-IL) * Feingold (D-WI) *

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(D-CA) *

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(D-IA) * Inouye (D-HI) * Jeffords (I-VT) *

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(D-MA) * Kerry (D-MA) *

Kohl Kohl may refer to: *Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic *Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. ...

(D-WI) * Lautenberg (D-NJ) *

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(D-VT) * Levin (D-MI) * Lieberman (D-CT) * Menendez (D-NJ) * Mikulski (D-MD) *

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(D-WA) *

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(D-IL) *

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(D-RI) *

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(D-NV) * Salazar (D-CO) * Sarbanes (D-MD) *

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(D-NY) * Stabenow (D-MI) , * Bunning (R-KY) * Martinez (R-FL) * Rockefeller (D-WV)

References

External links

US English
- Supports English as official language. English-only movement United States proposed federal immigration and nationality legislation Jim Inhofe

Supporting reasons for the amendment

Criticism of the amendment

Votes of Senators on Amendment

See also

References

External links