Posted on 06/05/2011 3:30:04 PM PDT by beejaa
"...the U.S. is one of less than a dozen countries in the world without an official language.
"Requiring the use of English does not mean that our society does not value the preservation of cultural heritage. However, the ability to communicate in one standard language in the workplace, in our schools, and in official settings not only improves our efficiency as we carry out our daily activities, but it more importantly builds unity among citizens and creates a sense of national pride. That is why I have consistently advocated for making English the official language of the United States.
"English Language Unity Act: I have cosponsored legislation, H.R. 997, which would establish English as our nation’s official language. This bill requires all official functions of the U.S. to be conducted in English, establishes a uniform language requirement for naturalization, and places an obligation on representatives of the federal government to encourage individuals to learn English.
"National Language Act: I have also cosponsored a bill, H.R. 1164, that requires that all official business, including publications, income tax forms, informational materials and public ceremonies where an oath is administered, to be conducted in English. This bill also repeals bilingual voting requirements."
(Excerpt) Read more at thomas.loc.gov ...
Gracias Senor.
Do you withdraw pesos?
De nada amigo.
I donate regularly to a group called “U.S. English’’, an organization pushing to make English the official language in America. Hard to believe we’d have to do this but there it is. You can thank Bill Clinton and the Dems for this. In one of his last official acts Clinton somehow got language called a ‘’civil right’’ and so H.R.13166 became his gift to the nation. This House Resolution made it law that just about every foreign jabbering illegal/legal alien has to have a government appointed translator at taxpayers expense.
A nation’s currency is a nations language and ours is printed in English, reason enough Hispanics should learn it. It isn’t to be paid in their own currency they’re here for. I’m sick of hearing Spanish too. The reason people flee Mexico, Central and South America is because Spanish is spoken there. Should say all there is to make English the official language. BTW. The official language of the island Madagascar is English.
You don’t know the half of it. Did you know that your policemen must advise people of their legal rights in their native language if their english isn’t up to snuff? I know that there are all kinds of cops that speak Tagalog, Ukrainian, Mandarin Chines, etc.
English should be the official language of government, with one exception. I would allow ballots and what not in Spanish only to people born in Puerto Rico only. A result of our unique relationship with the island. As per private business, its none of the governments business.
Here is the beginning that I left out plus what I posted. I cut it just to get to the point. I directed people to the bills because the bills were the point of my post. I don’t have an address to the e-mail. How was I directing traffic away from Free Republic? I don’t get it.
“Building Unity Among Americans
English is the official language of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Kiribati, Liberia, Nigeria, St. Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is not, however, the official language of the United States. In fact, the U.S. is one of less than a dozen countries in the world without an official language.
“Requiring the use of English does not mean that our society does not value the preservation of cultural heritage. However, the ability to communicate in one standard language in the workplace, in our schools, and in official settings not only improves our efficiency as we carry out our daily activities, but it more importantly builds unity among citizens and creates a sense of national pride. That is why I have consistently advocated for making English the official language of the United States:
“English Language Unity Act
I have cosponsored legislation, H.R. 997, which would establish English as our nation’s official language. This bill requires all official functions of the U.S. to be conducted in English, establishes a uniform language requirement for naturalization, and places an obligation on representatives of the federal government to encourage individuals to learn English.
“National Language Act
I have also cosponsored a bill, H.R. 1164, that requires that all official business, including publications, income tax forms, informational materials and public ceremonies where an oath is administered, to be conducted in English. This bill also repeals bilingual voting requirements.
Gutsy wrote: “English should be the official language of government, with one exception. I would allow ballots and what not in Spanish only to people born in Puerto Rico only. A result of our unique relationship with the island. As per private business, its none of the governments business.”
If we allow that for Puerto Rico, how about New Mexico (which originally included Arizona), whose leaders in Santa Fe, during the Mexican-American war, decided they’d get a better deal from Washington DC than Mexico City and didn’t fight the Americans? General Kearney was quite interested in making sure property owners in New Mexico didn’t get abused, and American citizenship was automatically extended to New Mexico residents unless they specifically renounced it and wanted to remain Mexican citizens.
And what about ballots in Native American languages?
While there may be important symbolic benefits in making English the national language, I’m not sure this is something that can be legislated effectively on the national level. As much as I dislike certain things being done by some of our states, such matters as voting rights and driver’s licenses are matters for the states, not the federal government, and I don’t think we want to have the federal government any more involved than it already is in trying to tell states how to run their elections.
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