Results 1 to 1 of 1
Thread Information
Users Browsing this Thread
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
-
04-22-2016, 11:13 PM #1
GOP takes on Library of Congress on immigration terminology
GOP takes on Library of Congress on immigration terminology
Posted: Friday, April 22, 2016 3:40 pm | Updated: 4:02 pm, Fri Apr 22, 2016. Associated Press |
FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2013 file photo, the Library of Congress is seen in
Washington. Congress may not be able to reform the immigration system, fix
the broken tax code or even pass a budget. But it’s telling the Library of
Congress how to label immigrants living in the country illegally. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress may not be able to reform the immigration system, fix the broken tax code or even pass a budget. But it's telling the Library of Congress how to label immigrants living in the country illegally.
That's how conservative Republicans are responding to a move by the library to drop the term "illegal alien" in favor of "noncitizens" or "unauthorized immigration" for cataloging and search purposes. The move came in response to a petition from the American Library Association to change immigration-related search terms to make them less judgmental.
The library's move, announced in a three-page statement last month, was met with outrage from conservatives, who asked that a provision to block it be added to legislation that funds the legislative branch and its agencies, which include the Library of Congress.
"This needless policy change by the Library of Congress embodies so much of what taxpayers find enraging about Washington," said Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., in a statement introducing similar legislation. "By trading common-sense language for sanitized political-speak, they are caving to the whims of left-wing special interests and attempting to mask the grave threat that illegal immigration poses to our economy, our national security, and our sovereignty."
The library makes cataloging changes 3,000-4,000 times a year, says Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the top Democrat on the legislative funding panel. She says the move inserts a "poison pill" into a normally nonpartisan annual funding bill.
"The Library is in the business of language and nomenclature and should be free to make these decisions outside of the political spectrum," said Wasserman Schultz. She likened it to dropping archaic words like "negro" and "oriental."
"What is so controversial about asking the library to use references that are found in the United States Code?" countered Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., who inserted the provision into the spending bill this week
In fact, the library said in a March 26 statement that "the phrase illegal aliens has taken on a pejorative tone in recent years" and added that "aliens" can be confusing since it can also mean beings from another planet.
The bill funding the operations of Congress is the most obscure and little-watched of the 12 annual appropriations bills, making news only because it contains a freeze on lawmakers' pay and permits sledding on the Capitol grounds. But the legislative branch measure is closely watched by congressional leaders and is one of a handful of the bills that's usually guaranteed to enjoy bipartisan support. Injecting politics into it is frowned upon.
The immigration issue is but one of many policy topics that are added to the annual spending bills. As the appropriations work gets under way, the Senate is in the unusual position of taking the lead. The appropriations process, once a dominant feature of Congress' annual schedule, has withered in recent years, with Congress resorting to rolling the traditionally separate measures into a single giant, must-pass spending negotiated in secret at year's end, rather than through open debate and amendment over many months.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has made reviving the appropriations process a priority. The first few bills to make it through the Senate pipeline have been mostly free of what Democrats call "poison pill riders," despite opportunities to try to block environmental regulations or President Barack Obama's mostly symbolic executive order on gun violence.
© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Similar Threads
-
What Not Even the King of England Could Do: Law Library of Congress
By ALIPAC in forum illegal immigration News Stories & ReportsReplies: 2Last Post: 01-15-2015, 03:46 AM -
Library worker takes plea to lesser charges, waits on Immigr
By FedUpinFarmersBranch in forum illegal immigration News Stories & ReportsReplies: 1Last Post: 08-08-2008, 08:53 PM -
Immigration Terminology 101
By zeezil in forum General DiscussionReplies: 12Last Post: 10-16-2007, 02:05 PM -
Gov Henry asked to watch terminology on immigration issue
By kniggit in forum illegal immigration News Stories & ReportsReplies: 15Last Post: 11-13-2006, 02:17 PM -
Hickenlooper takes on Tancredo over library letter
By tms in forum illegal immigration News Stories & ReportsReplies: 0Last Post: 06-24-2005, 12:53 PM
Mike Johnson betrays border security for more foreign aid
04-18-2024, 10:31 PM in illegal immigration News Stories & Reports