National Language

English
From A Way With Words
"Department of Motherhood & Apple Pie:


Official, no wait, National, no wait, Common and Unifying

Is English the national language or is it a common and unifying language? In
a fit of linguistic demagoguery the U.S. Senate would have it both ways.
Within the span of a few minutes the Senate declared English to be the
national language and then the common and unifying language. Not a single
senator voted against both wordings. (Three were not present for the vote.)

On Wednesday, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) submitted an amendment to the
immigration reform bill pending action in the Senate that would make English
the "national language" of the United States. The United States has never
declared an "official" or "national" language, although several of the
individual states have. The amendment passed the Senate on Thursday in a
63-34 vote.

The amendment declared that "English is the national language of the United
States." The original version had "official language," but Inhofe changed it
because a number of senators balked at supporting the amendment with that
wording."