Support for H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act, grew on Friday when Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson added his name as a co-sponsor. The Democrat from Minnesota’s Seventh Congressional District is the second member of Congress this year and fourth in six weeks to become a co-sponsor of the official English bill.

During his ten terms in Congress, Rep. Peterson has been a champion of making English the official language. In addition to his numerous co-sponsorships, he was one of 259 members to vote in favor of official English when a bill came to the House floor in 1996. Rep. Peterson’s commitment to upholding the bond of the English language and efforts to reduce government multilingualism during the 110th Congress earned him an “A in English” award in May 2008.

Rep. Peterson is the third Minnesota legislator among the 132 bi-partisan co-sponsors of the measure. H.R. 997 was introduced by Rep. Steve King in February 2009 and is currently pending in the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.
 
According to recent polls, more than 80 percent of Americans favor making English the official language of the U.S. government.