ProEnglish

ProEnglish is a self-governing project of the 501(c)(3) private foundation US Inc., founded by nativist activist John Tanton "as an antidote to some of the institutional frustrations encountered in thirty‑plus years of service in the non‑profit sector" in 1981, according to US Inc.'s website. ProEnglish, which is a lobbying group, describes itself as "the nation's leading advocate of official English". The group is dedicated to making English the one and only official language in the United States. It was founded by John Tanton under the name English Language Advocates in 1994, becoming incorporated with a slew of other anti-immigration organizations comprising the John Tanton Network.

There is a discrepancy between the federal lobbying expenditures that ProEnglish reported to the U.S. Congress and what its parent foundation, US Inc., reported to the Internal Revenue Service in 2011. See below for more.

In 2011, US Inc. -- which also incorporates The Social Contract (published by Tanton), The Social Contract Press, The Writer's Workshop annual conference, and support for "independent writers and researchers" -- reported $803,417 in total revenue, $1,617,903 in total expenses, and $$1,593,524 in net assets.

ProEnglish and the 2013 Immigration Reform Bill
In 2013, ProEnglish played a major role in lobbying against the anti-immigration reform movement, along with numerous other groups in the John Tanton Network. This backlash came in response to an immigration reform agenda introduced by a bipartisan group of senators in January.

Lobbying Expenditures
ProEnglish is a project of the 501(c)(3) private foundation U S Inc., which in 2011 filed Form 5768 to report lobbying expenditures. It is not known which of U S Inc.'s projects incorporated these expenses, but in 2011, the foundation reported $21,125 in lobbying expenditures. However, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, ProEnglish.org reported $47,994 in lobbying at the federal level in the same year, 2011, and spends about as much each year. For purposes of these lobbying disclosures, ProEnglish.org designates its "industry" as "Computers/Internet," and in 2011, the group reported lobbying on "Government Issues" and "Fed Budget & Appropriations."

Funding
In 2011, US Inc. -- which incorporates ProEnglish as well as The Social Contract (published by Tanton), The Social Contract Press, The Writer's Workshop annual conference, and support for "independent writers and researchers" -- reported $803,417 in total revenue, $1,617,903 in total expenses, and $1,593,524 in net assets.

ProEnglish received $285,500 from 2000 to 2011 from two Scaife Foundations -- $285,000 from the Scaife Family Foundation and $500 from the Colcom Foundation -- the sole funders of the organization and strong supporters of anti-immigration laws, according to Bridge Project. The Colcom Foundation's 2011 Form 990 lists two grants made to ProEnglish's parent foundation U S Inc.: $160,000 for "public education on the benefit of official English and on the personal value of familiarity with other languages" -- most likely to ProEnglish -- and $50,000 for "public education on the impact of immigration on natural resources, wages, education, infrastructure, and taxes" -- most likely to one of the Social Contract projects.

Board of Directors
As of June 2013:


 * Dr. Rosalie Porter
 * Dr. Cliff Colwell
 * K.C. McAlpin
 * Phil Kent
 * Dr. Asgar Asgarov

ProEnglish Emeritus Board Members:


 * Gerda Bikales
 * Leo Sorensen
 * Bob Park

U S Inc. Board of Directors
As of June 2013:


 * John Tanton, Chairman
 * Mary Lou Tanton, Vice-Chairman
 * Kenneth (KC) McAlpin, President
 * John E. Fought, Treasurer
 * Dale M. Herder, PhD
 * Richard J. Clark, esq.

The foundation's 2011 (most recently available) IRS Form 990 conforms to this list except that it does not list Dale Herder and does list, as Secretary, Niki Calloway.

Contact Details
1601 N. Kent St., Suite 1100 Arlington, VA 22209 Phone: (816) 8821 Fax: (571) 527-2813 Web: http://proenglish.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proenglish Twitter: https://twitter.com/proenglishUSA

Related Sourcewatch

 * John Tanton
 * John Tanton Network
 * Federation for American Immigration Reform
 * NumbersUSA
 * Center for Immigration Studies
 * The Social Contract
 * U.S. English

External Articles

 * Devin Burghart, "A History of Problems with Racism and English-Only Groups", Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, February 10, 2012