Federal
HR 254 Would Prohibit Use of Foreign Languages in Federally Funded Scientific Research
HR 254, the American Science First Act, would restrict federally funded scientific research to materials and communications conducted in English. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. No committee vote or further action has been recorded.
✓ REASONS TO SUPPORT
- Requiring English in federally funded research could make results more accessible and consistent for American policymakers, agencies, and the general public who fund the work.
- Standardizing the language of research outputs may reduce translation costs and administrative complexity for federal grant programs.
- Supporters argue that a common language requirement could strengthen domestic scientific identity and ensure taxpayer-funded work is directly readable by American oversight bodies.
✕ REASONS TO OPPOSE
- Many leading scientists working on U.S.-funded projects are non-native English speakers; a language restriction could limit who can participate or collaborate on federally funded research.
- International scientific collaboration often involves researchers from multiple countries; requiring English-only communication could reduce the pool of global partners and slow progress on complex research problems.
- Some fields rely on materials, data sets, or literature in other languages; restricting research to English could cut scientists off from relevant existing work and reduce the quality of findings.
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