Thread: Missouri House backs measure requiring English

http://www.belleville.com/mld/bellevill ... 767762.htm

Posted on Fri, Feb. 23, 2007



Missouri House backs measure requiring English for official proceedings


Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Official state proceedings must be conducted in English under a proposed constitutional amendment approved Thursday by the House.

Missouri law already states that English is the "common language" and that "fluency in English is necessary for full integration into our common American culture."

Sponsoring Rep. Brian Nieves, R-Franklin, said that provision does not go far enough and the state's constitution must be changed to ensure that government decisions are not made in other languages.

The House gave the proposed constitutional amendment first-round approval by a 117-30 vote. If it passes the Legislature, the measure would go onto Missouri's statewide ballot.

According to U.S. English Inc. -- a Washington-based advocacy group -- 27 other states have made English their official language. Louisiana in 1811 was the first, while Arizona in 2006 was the most recent.

A spokesman for U.S. English said the group worked with Nieves to get a proposal that would pass constitutional muster.

"People understand that regardless of how they feel about immigration, there is no doubt that success can't come without assimilation," U.S. English spokesman Rob Toonkel said. "And by the government leading by example, that will propel more people to begin the English language learning experience."

Debate in the Missouri House about the amendment extended over several days, with much of the discussion centering on what constituted an official proceeding. Lawmakers eventually agreed to use the state open meetings law definition to include the deliberations of any public governmental body.

Rep. Scott Muschany said the state already has decided through its Sunshine Law that the public should have access to certain records. He said it made sense that access and comprehension would go together.

"There is a public good when we can understand a public record," said Muschany, R-St. Louis. "The sunshine laws are in place so we can affect that public good."

But Democratic critics said they were concerned that the amendment could prevent court translators for people who do not speak English and bar other services such as printing documents in foreign languages -- concerns Nieves said are unfounded.

The proposed amendment, supporters said, would make English the official -- not the exclusive -- language of the state.

Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal said the measure seemed pointless.

"This is a feel-good bill that does nothing to impact our system, period," said Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City. "It does nothing to address the problems that we're having in our country."

But House Speaker Rod Jetton said he is concerned about how much is spent on translating documents and court testimony into languages other than English. Jetton, R-Marble Hill, said he is not sure whether Nieves' proposals would affect that.

Asked about Jetton's statements during floor debate, Nieves said he "doesn't know what the boy was thinking" because the proposal wouldn't do those things.

There are questions about whether the state could not provide court translators even if it wanted to.

Saint Louis University law professor Frederic Bloom said he doubted the courts would permit the state to put a criminal defendant on trial who does not speak English, without providing a translator.

Bloom likened it to appellate court rulings that those on trial for terrorism-related charges must be permitted into the courtroom. He said it is reasonable that the courts would compare a defendant's ability to understand a trial's proceedings with being physically present in the courtroom.

The measure must be approved again in the House before moving to the Senate.

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Proceedings in English is HJR7

On the Net:

U.S. English Inc: http://www.us-english.org

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov

What slays me is why we need anything in writing to make our language any thing other then the what it is.