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Immigration. The House has not yet officially appointed its members to the Conference Committee that must work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of legislation designed to reduce illegal immigration. Once the House appoints its members, the Conference Committee must finish its work within one month.

Much of the Congressional discussion of immigration in August was among Republicans, and it centered on whether the Gallegly amendment that would permit states to deny public education to unauthorized children should be in the final version of legislation expected to become law in 1996. The Gallegly amendment is in the House bill, but not the Senate version.

Three options were debated: Congress could require or allow states to educate unauthorized children (current practice), ban them (original Gallegly proposal), or bill them for educational services (compromise).

In early August, Gallegly agreed to a compromise to permit previously enrolled illegal students to remain in US schools for up to seven years, allow illegal immigrants to pay tuition and remain in US schools, and subject this provision of the immigration law to congressional review twice during the next five year. If the Gallegly amendment becomes law, the General Accounting Office would study its educational and crime consequences, and then it could be repealed by a vote of Congress, the same as the procedure included in IRCA to repeal employer sanctions if the GAO found that they led to discrimination.

With the acceptance of these modifications by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the Republicans were believed to have enough votes to keep the Gallegly amendment in the final immigration bill that is expected to emerge from the House-Senate conference committee.

However, on August 2, President Clinton threatened to veto the immigration bill if it contained the Gallegly amendment in any form: "the proposed compromise... will still...permit states to exclude those who cannot afford to pay tuition--is as objectionable as the original provision... If the immigration bill contains this provision [the Gallegly amendment], I will veto it."

Official English. On August 1, the House approved HR 123, the Language of Government Act, which designates English to be the official language of the United States, by a vote of 259-169. The bill also repeals the bilingual ballot requirements of the Voting Rights Act.

The House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee approved the "English-only" bill by a vote of 19-17 along party lines on July 23, with Republicans arguing that the bill was needed to prevent "language ghettos."

According to proponents, the bill seeks to "help immigrants better assimilate" and "empower" them with new language and literacy skills by designating English as the official -- and sole permissible -- language of US government, with exceptions for security, diplomacy, and public safety. If enacted into law, there would be no more non-English tax materials or voting forms.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich argued for the bill, noting that California public schools teach academic subjects in more than 80 languages, and Chicago schools teach in 100 languages. He warned that a continuation of such trends would lead to "decay of the core parts of our civilization." However, the English-only mandate would not apply in the case of language education, meaning that bilingual education programs would not be affected.

Democrats countered that the most pressing need was for more classes for immigrants who were eager to learn English.

A similar bill, S. 356, is pending in the Senate. President Clinton, who signed an English-only law as governor of Arkansas, has not indicated what he will do if official English legislation is approved by Congress. Across the US, 23 states, 41 counties, and 15 cities had passed official English laws as of August 1996.


William Branigan, "Education Clause Delays Illegal Immigration Bill," Washington Post, August 3, 1996. Brian Blomquist, "Changes in illegal immigration bill don't satisfy Clinton, Nation, August 3, 1996. Marc Lacey, "Illegal-Immigrant Bill Gets a Key Ally," Los Angeles Post, August 2, 1996. Eric Schmitt, "House Panel Approves Bill Making English Official Language," New York Times, July 25, 1996.