Thread: 9 Senators: Make English the National Language

9 Senators: Make English the National Language
By Brant McLaughlin
Published Sep 27, 2007
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... ional.html


On Thursday, ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin sung the praises of the just-released letter that nine U.S. senators have sent to President Bush urgning him to be a proponent of four key English language initiatives in America.

The senators want the President to support: making English the official language of all U.S. government operations; make more rigorous that part of the Naturalization Test that measures English speaking and reading proficiency; repeal Executive Order 13166 making mandatory for federal agency workers to provide translations to non-English speakers whom they are serving; and the encouraging of businesses, individuals, government agencies, and the like to adopt measures to encourage more English fluency.

"Enhancing the role of English in our society will strengthen assimilation and preserve our country's unity. This debate is not just about preserving our culture and heritage, but also about bettering the odds of our nation's newest potential citizens," Senator Jim Inhofe said.

Inhofe is a Republican from Oklahoma and one of the drafters of the letter.

"In the decade since the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform urged 'the Americanization of new immigrants,' two successive administrations, one Democrat and one Republican, have utterly failed to strengthen the English component of the citizenship test or to take other steps necessary to enhance the role of English in the assimilation of immigrants," says McAlpin.

In 1981, the now late United States Senator S.I. Hayakawa, an immigrant, college president, and celebrated semanticist, proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would declare English the official language of the land.

Many Americans have been saying for many years that while it is okay to them that immigrants from non-English language countries speak their native tongue in their private dealings between themselves, they should not expect the government to translate everything from manuals to highway signs into other languages for their benefit if they refuse to learn what is truly the de facto language of Americans; and what's more, the general American public has expressed varying levels of irritation and coming across people who have lived in the United States for a year or longer who can barely speak or comprehend English in day to day matters.

Other critics have argued that the federal and state governments' bowing to the trend of "multiculturalism" that is sometimes strongly pushed for by the Left is not only ridiculously costly from an administrative and economic perspective, but also it is fragmenting the United States along ethnic or "tribal" lines, with groups of immigrants who do not, for whatever reason, desire to become fluent in English demanding special privileges or entitlements and flying into outrage and accusing Americans of "prejudice" if it is suggested to them that they should learn English for business, governmental, and common public activities if not for anything else. They point out that if they moved to a foreing nation where some other language besides English was the commonly spoken or official language, they would have to learn that other language or not be able to function that well in society.

Once again Senator Inhofe takes a stand. Love that guy and Sessions

Within the article above there is a link to the following which lists the senators, all Republicans:

Senators Urge President Bush to Promote English



ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "In the decade
since the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform urged 'the Americanization
of new immigrants,' two successive administrations, one Democrat and one
Republican, have utterly failed to strengthen the English component of the
citizenship test or to take other steps necessary to enhance the role of
English in the assimilation of immigrants," says ProEnglish Executive
Director K.C. McAlpin. He praises the just-released letter nine U.S.
senators sent to President George W. Bush that urges him to embrace four
key English initiatives.
The letter was sponsored by Senator James Inhofe, R-Okla., and
co-signed by Senators Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Saxby
Chambliss, R-Ga. Elizabeth Dole, N.C., Richard Burr, R.-N.C., Jim DeMint,
R-S.C., Norm Coleman, R-Minn. and Jeff Sessions, Ala.
"Ten years ago the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, chaired by
the late Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-Tex., made a number of cogent
recommendations for action that have languished while assimilation policy
is stuck in reverse," McAlpin said. The senators' letter urges the
president to:
* Support a law making English the official language of U.S. government
operations;
* Strengthen the English component of the U.S. Naturalization Test. The
letter quotes a Commission recommendation: "The English test should
accurately and fairly measure an immigrant's ability to speak, read and
write; the current practice of dictating English sentences for applicants
to write is not an effective means of testing English proficiency."
* Repeal Executive Order 13166 that requires all levels of government
as well as other federal funds recipients to provide translation and
interpreter services for non-English speakers.
* Support new initiatives to encourage individuals, businesses,
government entities and others to foster English fluency.
"Enhancing the role of English in our society will strengthen
assimilation and preserve our country's unity," Senator Jim Inhofe said.
"This debate is not just about preserving our culture and heritage, but
also about bettering the odds of our nation's newest potential citizens."
McAlpin added, "This letter marking the 10th anniversary of the Jordan
Commission report highlights how much of the Commission's carefully
considered report has been ignored." A copy of the letter is available on
ProEnglish's website: http://www.proenglish.org.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori ... 380&EDATE=

Finally some thinking senators.

According to research by the British Council, "English has official* or special status in at least seventy-five countries with a total population of over two billion. English is spoken as a native* language by around 375 million and as a second language* by around 375 million speakers in the world. Speakers of English as a second language will soon outnumber those who speak it as a first language. Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language*. One out of four of the world's population speak English to some level of competence. Demand from the other three-quarters is increasing."

http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/esc.html

If our government doesn't do something soon, we will be one of the few countries that don't speak English. And, that does not work for me.

These Senators deserve to be supported on this issue.

This is an English speaking country.....no ifs, ands, or buts

Assimilation begins with learning the language. IMHO if you show no desire to learn English, then you show no desire to become American.

I just find it amazing, all people know the American Dollar, yet can get no further than that in understanding America.