Nicole Fuller / The Balitmore Sun
02/05/2012
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County Councilman Jerry Walker plans to introduce a bill at Monday night's council meeting that would declare English the official language of Anne Arundel County.

The Gambrills Republican said the bill is the first in a series he plans to press that will attempt to stem illegal immigration locally. The bill, co-sponsored by Walker's three Republican colleagues, would require that all official county documents, communications and agreements be in English.

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Thirty-one states have passed laws designating English as their official language, said Robert Vandervoort, executive director of ProEnglish [emphasis added], an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit that urges governments to designate English as the official language.

"It helps to clarify the common language of our country," Vandervoort said. "Especially since America has such a rich tradition of being a melting pot. There are hundreds of languages that are spoken in homes, and we think that having an official language to do government work in would be very helpful in letting people know English is the language that we're all expected to know and work with."

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