Thread: Panel OKs Amendment Making English Official Language

Panel OKs amendment making English official language

By BRIAN FEAGANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/07/07

A proposed constitutional amendment that would reaffirm English as the state's official language took its first step toward the ballot box Tuesday, gaining unanimous approval of a House subcommittee.

English is already the official language of Georgia by statute. But Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica), sponsor of HR 413, said he wants to give voters a chance to cement it into the state constitution in 2008. Protecting English is critical now, he said, in light of the federal government's inability to control the flow of illegal immigrants who aren't assimilating into American society.

"We're all brought together by one thing," Bearden told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee. "It's the bond of the English language."

Some 28 states have an English law, according to U.S. English Inc., which advocates for English as an official language. All eight times the question has gone to voters in other states, they've voted "yes," Bearden said Tuesday.

But high hurdles may await in the General Assembly, where two-thirds of both the House and the Senate must approve the resolution before it can go to voters.

Bearden had been pushing a different bill — HB 21 — that would have required Georgia agencies and communities to print documents in English only. But he dropped that effort after critics, including legal experts, said the bill could bring unintended consequences such as jeopardizing plea deals with defendants who don't speak English well.

The new resolution lays out eight instances in which using languages other than English is allowed. They include protecting public health and safety, guarding criminal defendants' rights, and promoting trade and tourism. An executive order signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 2000 also requires government entities that receive federal funds to provide reasonable access to speakers of other languages.

Even so, Bearden said his resolution would relieve Georgia driver's license officials from having to provide exams in languages other than English. They currently offer the exams in at least 12 languages.

But Allen Shaklan, one of two immigrant advocates to speak against the measure Tuesday, said Alabama's English law was struck down precisely because the state failed to provide driver's exams in other languages.

The proposed resolution in Georgia would harm immigrants who need to obtain a driver's license so they can better integrate into society, said Shaklan, executive director of Refugee Family Services in Stone Mountain.

"This would dramatically affect their ability to find jobs and support their families," he said. "Is this the message Georgia wants to send . . . that people of different backgrounds are not welcome?"

Bearden countered that providing non-English services does immigrants no favors because studies have shown the more English they know, the more they earn. The former traffic officer also said people should be forced to take driver's exams in English to assure they can read road signs and communicate with authorities.

Maggie Garrett, legislative director for the ACLU of Georgia, said the resolution is unnecessary. Studies show immigrants are learning English just as fast today as in the early 20th century, she said.

But anti-illegal immigration advocate D.A. King, president of the Marietta-based Dustin Inman Society, spoke in a language all the legislators could understand. Polls, King said, consistently show widespread support for English as an official language.






http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... glish.html

Durbin wrote me a letter explaining why they had to keep some things in all languages. Like emergency warnings etc and tourists. Problem is....I've lived in alot of different places and there are tons of people from all over the world here......everytime there is an emergency warning on TV for tornados etc. It's in English and Spanish. I have never seen any of it in any other language. Has anyone else?

Imagine if people from all other countries start demanding their language to be in the election ballot ? Can you imagine the size of these ballots ?