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Text
,f\rkansas English-Only statute
Governor Clinton signed into law in
19~7.
"That legislation l which Clinton later expressed second thoughts
about signing l "required Eng\ish to be used to transact all
official state business in Arkansas which has fewer Hispanic
residents than most states. ~ But it did not" prohibit schools in
the state from providing bilingual education."
Gannett News Service ~/2/92
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"In Arkansas I" legislators who support the effort say they" wanted
to avoid being required to produce" official documents in,more
than one language. They also minimized the bill's importance 1
likening it to symbolic legislation that declared milk the state
beverage 1 the fiddle the state musical instrument, the pine the
state tree and the apple "blossom the state flower."
The Associated Press 2/9/87
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AR ST § 1-4-117
AC.A § 1·4·117
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ARKANSAS CODE OF 1987 ANNOTATED
.TITLE 1. G;ENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 4. ST:ATE SYMBOLS, MOTTO, ETC.
Copyright © 1987·1993 by The State of Arkansas. All rights reServed.
CUITent through Act 1319 of the 1993 Reghlar Session
1·4·117 Officihllanguage.
(a) The English laitguage shall be the omciallanguage of the State of Arkansas.
(b) This section shall not prohibit the p~blic schools from performing their duty to provide equal
educational opportunities to all children. :
History. Acts 1987, No. 40, § 1;,1987, No. i77, § 1.
AC.A § 1·4-117
AR ST § 1-4·117
END OF DOCUMENT
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AR ST § 16-10-107
A.C.A § 16-10-107, .
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ARKANSAS CODE OF 1987 ANNOTATED
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Copyright @ 1987, 1988 by the State of Arkansas, All rights reserVed.
TITLE 16. PRACT~CE, PROCEDURE, ANi) COURTS
SUBTITLE 2. COURTS AND COURT OFFICERS
CHAPfER io. GENERAL PROVISIONS
SUBCHAPfER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
16-10-107. Process and proceedings to ~ in English language..
All writs, process, proceeOings, and iecor~ in any court shall be in the English language" except that the
proper and knoWn name of process and technichl words may be expressed in the language commonly used. They
shall be made out on paper or parchment, in a fair and legible character, in words at length and not abbreviated;
but such abbreviations as are commonly used in; the English language may: be used. Numbers ~y be expressed by
Arabic figures or Roman numerals in the customary way.
History. Rev. Stat., ch. 43, § 18; C.& M. o,ig., § 2102; Pope's Dig., § 2706; A.S.A. 1947, § 22-108.
A. C. A. § 16-10-107
. AR ST § 16-10-107
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DRAFT TALKING POINTS O~POSING ENGLISH~ONLY LEGISLATION
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English is the languagei of the United states.
Of course, it
is.
That is not the issue.
The i
is whether children
who come here, while th~y are learning English, should be
able to learn other things. The issue ~s whether
rican
c izens who work hard and pay taxes and are older and who
haven't mastered English yet should be' abl~ io vote like
other citizens.
President Clinton, September 27,
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1995
The Administration strongly opposes "English-only" Legislation
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The Administration strongly opposes
lish-only legislation
such as S. 356 that gen~rally seeks to eliminate
governmerital actions cOQducted in any language other than
English.
Such restrictions are unnece$sary and threaten the
Constitutional iights, ~ealth, safety, ieducation and
economic advancement ofIU.S. citizens.
English-only leg lativ~ mandates will hinder the
government's essential ~bility to fulf~ll its
responsibilities and fully protect the interests of U.S.
citizens.
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Such restrictions raise ,serious constitutional issues.
English Already Is The Natiort's Cominon Lang~age
English,-Only Is. Unnecessary
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Over 97 percent of Amer{cans speak English, according to the
1990 U.S. Census.
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all of Federai goverhment's business is conducted
in
lish and 99.9% of :Federal government documents are in
English, according to a :recent GAO report.
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For the rare exception when other langdages are used,
promotes important national and commun
interests.
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These interests inclu~e: riational
ity; law
enforcement, including c~mmunicating with crime vict
witnesses'and defendanti; border control, and informing
indi duals about their ~ig~ts-- such
voti~g rights
- or
how to access importaht ~ervices, such as police protection,
public safety, and health care.
People are learning Eng sh faster than ever before.
Everyone recognizes that, English language skills are
necessary to advance economically and s6cially in our
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CI.INTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY
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FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION COVER SHEET
TO:
Cec(.~,--
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FAX NUMBEB:
TELEPHONE NUMBEB:
FRO~~~~t/~,·~~(4~·~j~~~A~aJi~·____~~_______
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
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PAGES (INCLUDING COVER): _____
L_____,,----,-_ _ _ __
. COMMENTS:
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OFFICE OF LEGISLA riVE AFFAIRS
RoilrlNG SLIP
DA TE:_
~ \ dO \ C( b
vFor YOu~ information
=For nec~ssary action
_For comment
Per conversation
- Per you) request
=For sign~ture
FROM:
TO:
John Trasviiia
202/514-2111-phone
202/514-5499-fax
)~-u~ L,)(\.;v'r-~4
0y
ee-
�'-lLeadership Conference
on Civil Rights
1629 "K" St., NW, Suite 1010
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone:202/46~3311
Fax: 202/46~3435
lTV: 202/785-3859
FOUNDERS
Arnold Aronson
A. Philip Randolph'
Roy Wilkins'
OFFICERS
Inte~ested
TO:
VICE CHAIRPERSONS
Antonia Hernandez
Judith L. Lichtman
William L. Taylor
SECRETARY
Horace Deets
TREASURER
Gerald W. McEntee
LEGISLATIVE CHAIRPERSON
Jane O'Grady
COUNSEL EMERITUS
Joseph L. Rauh.Jr.'
HONORARY CHAIRPERSONS
Marvin Caplan
Benjamin L. Hooks
Clarence M. Mitchell. Jr:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Barbara Arnwine
.
FROM:
LC<fR Language Rights Task Force
DATE:
AugUst 16,"1996
RE:·
Info'rmation Packet on English-Only Initiatives
CHAIRPERSON
Dorothy I,. Height
Persons
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As you knoW, the House ofRepresentatlves recently passed H.R. 123, The
English Language Empowennent Act, which designates English the 'official'
language of the United States Government and also repeals Sections 203 and 4(f) .
and other anti-discrImination provisions of the Voting Rights Act for language
tiunorities. The Senate will likely address similar legislation when it reconvenes in
September. The enclosed materials provide background infonnation on
English-Only legisl~tion pending before the. 104th Congress.
Lawyers' Committee For
CMI R£ghts Under Law
Becky Cain
.While we agree that English proficicimcy is very important for success and
full participatjon in American'society, the overwhelming evidence suggests
N.IiOn~~~~.fn~r~~I~C~~%~~~~ English-Orily initiatives like S. 356 and HR. 123, are misguided solutions to a
.
Matthew Finucane
Asian PacifiC AmelJcan LaborA1Iiance
problem that simply does not e,clst. The overwhelming percentage of Americans
.
Keith Geiger
NatlonSI Education Association
(97 percent) speak English "well" ·or "very well" and nothing in such legislation
Euoene Glover
Netional Council of'Seniqr Citilens
would do anything to further an individual's ability to learn English.
Marcia Greenberger
League of Women Voters
Jackie DeFazio
American AssocIation of University Women
National Women's Law Center
Rebecca Isaacs
People For The Amertcan Way
Kweisi Mfume
NAACP
Patricia Ireland
National OtgaflllBlion for Women
Elaine Jones
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. Inc:
. JOseph Lowery
Southem Christian LeedefS!'IIp Con/gronee
Leon Lynch
United Sreelworkers of America
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Laura 'Murphy
American Civil Liberties Union
Robert L. Polk
National CounCil of Churches
Hugh Price
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.The Leadership Conference 'on Ci~il Rights believes English-Only measures
like S.· 356 and H.R. 123, target individuals for discriminatory treatment based
solely on their language- minority status. In a nation comprised of immigrants,
there will always be people making the transition from their native language to
English. Refusing serve these individuals until they master the English language
unnecessarily constructs artificial walls, ra~her than fostering unity and building
bridges. We strongly urge the Senate to oppose any measure that attempts to
make English the official language of the United States Government.
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National Urban League
David Saperstein
Union 01 Ameffcan Hebrew Congregations
Richard Womack
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AFL·C/O
Patrisha Wrioht
DissbililY Rights Education and Defense
Hmd
Stephen P. Yokich
IfIlernafions/ Umon 01
United Automobile Workers
Aaul Yzaguirre
National Coune!' of La Raza
Daniel Zingale
Human RightS Campaign
COMPLIANCE/ENFORCEMENT
COMMITTEE
Karen Narasakl, Chairperson
STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Wade J. Henderson
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Usa M. Haywood
POLICY/RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Karen McGill Lawson
Should you have any questions or need additional infonnation, please
contact any of the following individuals:
Wade Henderson or Brian Komar, Leader~hip Conference on Civil Rights
(LCCR), (202) 466-3311.
Georgina Verdugo,' Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
(MALDEF), (202)1628-4074.
Karen Narasaki or Rich Albores, National';Asian Pacific American Legal
Consortium (NAPALC), (202) 296-2300.
Cannen Lepe, National Council ofLa Raza (NCLR), (202) 776-1753.
Jim Lyons or JaimefZapatta, National Association for Bilingual Education
(NABE) (202) 898-1829.
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(ODeceaseOl
"Equality In
dFree, Plural, Democratil; Society'''
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Leadership ~onference
on C,ivil Rights
1629 "K" St.,NW, Suite 1010
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: 202/466-3311
Fax: 202/466-3435
1TY: 202/785-3859
LCCR INFORMATION ON ENGLISH-ONLY INITIATIVES
August 1996
Contents ofPacket
LCCR, Cover Memo
Letter from President Clinton Opposing H.R. 123 arid Adjoining 9MB Statement
United States Department ofJustice, Office ofLegislative Affairs;" Administrations Summary Opposing
English-Only Amendment'"
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Summary ofH.:R. 123,
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Talking Points On English-Only
LeCR, Language Minority Voting Assistance Enjoys Widespread Bipartisan Support and
English-Only Initiatives Enjoy Widespread Bipartisan Opposition
Letter from Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) on English,-Only Legislation
Government Accounting Office, GAO Study Identifying the Number of Documents Written in
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Languages Other than English
United States Department of Commerce, B,ureau of the Census, Let~er on Number of Citizens
Who Speak English
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. What if S. 356. Passes?
LCCR, List of National Organizations' OPRbsed to English-Only Initiatives
NAPALC, "H.R. 123 -- The English Lang~age Empowerment Act" '
ACLU, "Myths and Realities About Repeal ofVoting Rights Act Protections For Language Minority
Citizens".'
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MALDEF, "MALDEF Opposes Official E~glis~ Movement"
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, S. 356, The Language of Government Act of .1995
H.R. 123, The English Language Empower;rnent Act, as passed by the House 8-1-96,
'Newspaper Articles on the,Subject
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EditoriaL "The Good, the Bad, the Ridiculo,us," New York Times; August 3, 1996. '
Editorial. "Bad Law in Any Language," Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1996.
Editorial. "Phony Solution in Search of an Imaginary Problem,1/ USA TODAY, September 7, 1995.
Editorial. "Will We Ever Get Over Our Fe~ of Foreign Languages?" USA TODAY, Apri16, 1995.
Associated Press. "PracticallyEnglish-Only~" Washington Post, September 27,1995.
Luis E. Rumbaut. "English-Only -- Let's Go, All the Way," letter to the editor Washington Post,
September 16,' 1995.
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Christi Harlan. "Lawmakers Target Bilingu~l Ballots -- Political Parties, However, Speak En Espanol
When They Court Hispanic Voters," Austin American.;.Statesman, June, 17, 1996.
Mark Falcoff. "Our Language Needs No Law," New York Times, August 5, 1996. '
Steve Twomey. "In Plain English: Chill Out," Washington Post, September 18, 1995.
,Gerald Parshall. IIA Glorious Mongrel," U.S. News and World Reports, September 25, 1995.
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ITHE WHITE HOUSE
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Dear Hr. Speaker:
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I stronql~urge the icongress to reJ~ctpassage of H.R; 123,
the English Lanquage Empowerment Act. English is currently
,acknowledqed 'as the common 1anquaqe, of t,he United States
throughout'the world. There is no need ::for this divisive
provision that seeks', to, require the Fed~'ral Governmen,t to conduct
the vas~ majority of offilcial business in English only and I
intend to veto it if pass~d.
Thi~,bill ~ould,have\ numerous high1~ objectionable ~esults.
It would effectively exclhde Americans who are not fully
proficient, in English fro~ ~qual participation in society. For
example! our nationlschildren whoposse_s limited English
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profici.ncy, would bedeni~d,equ~l opport4nities in education.' In
addition, 'the most basic tenet of participatory democracy -- a
citizenls right to vote, would be infrinqed by limiting the
provisidn of assistance to exclusiv~ly Eftqlish sp~akinq citizens.
Also, our ability to effectively conduct'required business, in
writing 'with themillions':of u.s. citizens in Puerto Rico and the
States who do not re,ad En911sh 'would be severed.
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Weare a great: nati'oJ of, m~ny voice$;. The Constitution and
the Bill of Rights serve ~o unite a~l Ame,;ricansand seek to'
guarant:ee freedom, ofsp'eec.h, representative democracy I respect
for due process, and equal:ity of protecti;on under the law. This
propos,al l contradicts thes~~ principles.. 'T,he congress should
rej~ct, t~is misquided prop~sal;',
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The Honorable Newt Gingrich
Speaker cif the
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WashingtQn, D.C. 20S15 'I
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Execunve OFFIce OF THE PRESIDENT
, OFFiCIi OF t.WWlliMENT' ANO Buooer·
\ 'NASHIN<ilt:lN. D.O. ~
July 31, 1996
(House Rules) .
STATEMENT OFf ADMINISTRATION POLICY
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('l'.Hla ~'T HAS IEIiN ~JNI.Dt) BY OMS wtt1I THE CONC::!3Nm A.O'BKCIZI.), .
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123. LaniuaiO ofGoyCmmcot Act .
(Emerson (R) MO and 197 ~spon$ors)
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IfRR. 123~ere presented to' the President, the Attomey,General, th~ S~rewi~'~fT~WYJ
Health and Human Services,,, Housing and Urban Development, Education and Labor, and the
Chainn!n ofthe Equal Employment Opportunity Commi~sion would rccorrunend that the bill be
vetoed. H.R. 123 would establish Engnshas the o:fficiallariguagc oftho United States and require
the Federal Goven,.ment to cpnducqnost official businessonIy in English. This highly
objectionable bill is unnecessary. hidncient, ;nd divisiVe. It would:
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Effectively exclude AmeriCahs who are not fully proficient in English from employment,
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voting, and equalpa:rticipati~n in' society.
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.JeQ,pardize the tights of studenu with limited English proficiency to equal educatiohal .
opportunity.as well as the' abillt¥·ofschool$ to COnlmunicate effectively with parents with
limited English proficiency a,bout the education ortheir cbildren.
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Be subject to serious constitutional challenge. The.bill's provision that it not be constnled
to be inconsistent with tho Constitution is so general as to provide no clear guidance and
thereby. would create widespread uncertainty in the Govemmen·es day-to.day operation.
Make it impossible for the F~era1 Government to conduct required busines$ in VtTiti:ng
Vt'ith the millions ofU.S. citizens in Puerto Rico and the States who do'not read Bnglish.
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E.fFectively repeal the nUnol#:y' language ptovisio~ the Voting Rights· AI:t, limiting
meaninglbl electorial panicipation by minority language populations. (Tho proposed
Cunningham amendment would actually repeal these provisions.)
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Impair the ability of Ameri~ Indian tribal governments to engage in solf-governance.
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Sig&'1iflcantly increase
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Create an unnecessary priv~e right ofaction. in\'it~g friVolous litigation against the
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barrier:s to effective law enforcement in immigrant communities.
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.Potentially elirnin.ate 'programs that promote the welfare of children and' older Americans
. where an immediate public health risk does not exist. The bill could also proruoit
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publication in foreign languages of inform~tional pamphlets on subjects like Head Start,
Social Security, Older AmericanS. the Americans with Disabilities ~, child support
, collection, and child abuse prevention.
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Ens1i$b is universally acknowlcdSed u' the common language oltho United States. but language
alone is DOt the basis for nationhood. Americans are united by the principles enumerated. in the
Constitution and the Bill ofRights: ft'eedom of'speech, representative democracy, respect for due "
process. and equality ofproteotion under the law. H.Il. 123 i.contrary to each of these
principles.
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Office of. LegiJlative Affairs
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Offici of Ibe ~!2IK A1I:I:l11llS), GuIlriol .
Adm1ni8trat~on summarY opp~sing English Only kme~dmeftt
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We unde:rstand that S.~356, "The Language of Government' Act
of 1995 1 " will be offered as a.n amendment to S. 1664, the
. ImmigrAtion Cont.rol and. Fln~Cial Respllnsi(biliey, Act of 1996.
For· the::easons set forth.~elow,,~h. Adrni~,iatration strongly
opposes S. 3~6 and itladdition to S. 1664.
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S. 356 would d&clare English the official language of the
Government and require the Government to conduct all of its
official bUsinela in English. S. 35G defines "official business
generally as "9'Qve~nmentaliaction8,.docum.nt9, or policies which
are enforcaable with the f~ll weight. and ~u.thorit¥ of the
Government.- It would eliminate all gove~mental act10ns tha~
are conducted. in lang-uages other tban English I except: . (1)
teaching foreign languagesi(2) actions,doc:uments, or policies
not enfC!~c:;ea.ble in the United Statesj' (3) :actions, documents, or
policies necessary for international relations, 'trade, or
commerce,: (4) act. ions. or documents that protect .che public:
health; '(5) actions that protect, the rights of victims of erima&
or crimtnal defendants; ana: (6) d.ccument!il that use t.erms of art. .'
or paraaea fr~m languAges other than English.
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S. ,356 proposes to fi=!, a problem :hat doei not exist. As
the President has stated., there has 'never, Dsen a d.lspu,ts that
English ~ia ,the common and primary language of the United Stat.es.
According to the 1990 Censlls, 94% of all .;,esidents speak English
well or verY'well and of t:.he 13.8\ o.f resid.eu"ltll who speak.
languages other than E;nglfsh at home, 7~t'above the age of four
apeak Englilh ."well" or "v~rt well".. In face, . there :i.e .
overwhelming demand for. ,adult 'English lang\,;l.age· class!!! in
. comtnunit·ias with large /' la~gua:ga minority;:populations. For
example,' in LOI Angele" the demand for these classes is so great
that some sphoola' operate 24 hours per ,day and SO,OOO stuQents
are on the wlliit.ing lists city.. wide. !n New York City, an
individual can wait,up to lSmontha for ~laasas. To help meet
this need, the President'a, fiscal year 1997 ~udg&t proposes a 13\
increase over lS95 fo~ adulc'~nglish education.
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The overwhelming majority of' Federal\,ffici&l ~usin.ss is
in f:ngIiah. Acoording-to a. recent GAO studYI only
0.06' of'Fedc::-al doc\:.ments are in a lanSUage other t?an Engli5h
- 'a.nd thes!! are tranalatioflsof English documents. These non
En91i.~ :documents. such as: incQ~. tax forms, voting assistance
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�information, decennial. census forme, and medical care
information. assist taxpaying citizens and residents who have
limited EngliB~.. proficiency ,{LEPJ .-and. are subject to the 1.\18 of
this country. ·rn those very few ~nstancea where the Government
Uses languages other than English. the U8age ~rornotes vital
intare.ts. such as national 'sec:uritYi lawenfot'cement; border
enforcement: civil rights; communicating with witnesses,
priloners ,or parolees: protecting and promoting pubic health; and
inform1ng people of their legallrights ana ~eepon9ibilities.
S. 356 would. invite frivolous litigation a.gainst the
Government:. It would create' a vague, pri vat! cause of action
and a.llowattorneyfeee -- for anyone who believed t.hat·he or she
had been injured bY the Government'. commun::j.cat:ion in a language
other than English . . Act:ual injury due to .ifailure to r:onduet:
ill activities in English
iI, highly eonjectural since virtually
all of the Go-..rernment's business iaeonauct:ed in Ertgliah.
would impede Federal agencies performing ·vital tasks and
delivering impo~tant information.
S. 356
Although it is difficult to predict ,how the supreme Court
ultimately would resolve arguments tha~ S. 356 viola~es
const.itutional protections I ,Yniguez ".. Ari;onans· for Official
Enqlj sh, 69 F.. 3d 920 (9th Cir. 19515), cert:. granted, 64 O. S. L. W.
3635 I 36:a9 (U.S. Mar .25. ·19.96) (No. 95-974·) a case raiSing
constitutional challenge.. to a similar State sta.tute, 18 now
pending before t.he Court.· In that: case, a divided Ninth circuit
Fedmral court of Appeals ruled that the English-only requirl!tments
in the Arizona.coDst:l.tution were facially overbroad in violation
of the free .peech rights of Sta.te government employees.
Although the dissent·'. ar9Ument in YniQuez'lis not without force,
the existence of the Ninth Circuit's ~ ~ aeciaion raises a .
eoncern that the bill is vulnerable to First Amendmen~ challenge.
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If s. 356 applied. to the legislative franchise of Mernhers of
Congre.8,it WQ~ld·violate the Speech or. Debate' Clause of the
conatitution; If it prevented a Fed@ral legislator. or t.he
President or other Executive ~ran.eh Officials from communicating
effectively with the persons ne or sne·represented, a court might:
conclude that it interfered. with a core el.ment ofrepreaentative
government. establiehedby the Constitution: Since several 'eth.~ic
And. national ori.gin'minority groups in th.i~, country include large
numbers of people with limit;ed English proficieney. S. 356 could
be challenged under the E:qu,l l?rote.c:tion Clause of the
Constitution, which prohibita discrim~nation on the basis of
ethnic1ty. or national origin. S. 3SIi alsowoula be 8ubjeet. to
att.ack on the grcund that: it violated the due prec.ess rights of
non-Eng-lien speakers who were partie. to ~1"il and. administrative
p~cceedin9.' such as deportation proceedings.
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The c:oad lang'U.age of S. ·35.6 ill at: ,oc1~s withth~· .
lbngstanding principle of gQvernment-to-gove:nment relatio~s
between t.,he Federal gove::rnment ana Indian tribee. If ):)roaQ~Y
construed, S. 3SG could rep~e.l th.e specific tr..lndates fcund lon the
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Native American Languages A·ct.. 25 U.S. C. i §§2901-290S, and .related.
statutes. Reco;r..izing that Indian language.s :are an essential
aspect :cf
tri:b~.
culture,: the Nat:1ve American Lan9uages Act
authorizes t.ribes ~o "presenr. protect;.,: and ,promo.te the right: 51
an~ freedom of N.t1ve Americans eOuBe. ~r&ctica, and ae~elop
Mative AJ'r'uarican languagfls.. II
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S., 356 would threaten che right of United States citizens to
vote. It would. effectively repe;al the .minorit:y language
provis;l.QnB ~f t.he· vQt.ing Right.s Act.(VRA), which req'J1::e the use
of langua,s;ee othllr than English in, enforcement effort.s, ~,
checking the accuraey of trans'lations. The VRA also requires '
covered j urisdicticns to prov:i:de elect.ion informat.ion and voting.
asSi8tanca to minor1tylangUage citizens in a language they can
better understand, ec 'enable them t:.Q partieipate. in the elac:t!oral
proceas a.s effectively 'as English-speaking.. VQt.era. The VRA helps
many Native American. and some other langUage minority citizens.
especially elder individual., who cont1nuEll. to. speak t:.heil"
traditional languages and to be a£feceed ~y the lack of
meaningful educat.ional opportunities auring their school years.
In addition, over 3.5 million Puerto Ricans born and educated on
the island are Qiti~ens by'!birth but 6ften lack full Bnglish
proficiency.
' .
'.
S. 356 could threaten public health. : Although seotion 3 of
the bill ("creating Bection HiS CiD (D) excludes from its'
application "actions or d.ocuments that protect tr.e public
health, " ' the "public health" ia not defined and. might net
includ@ programs. within ehe'Department of Health and Human
Services Ums) that promote' the welfare o!children ana adults
where an in:.mediate publio health risk does not exist, ~, o2der
Americans
ana
APOC recipients.
'
.
.,
S. lSS's mandate for lI!nglish oniy" would prevent the
Government from making- particular12ed judgments about the need to
use language.e in ad.di tion to'. English to provide 01:' to obtain
essential information. It is in ~he beet interest of the
Gov@rnment -- as well as its, customers
for the public to
understand clearly Government services and processes, and their
-4
rights."
,
S. 356 would hinder law: enforcement. and other gov·ernmental
programs, such as ·tax collection i rUl~ural resource conservation;
census data collection and other surveys; ~na promoting
, compliance with the la.w.S. ;356 coula aftect lUIS' abilitr to
proviae Medicaid and Medicare interpreter services) to pr~nt
materials on HIV t.ransmiS8ion, organ transpl,antation, food
.
labeling ,:!:ood sa.f,ety, safe use of mediCines.' and medical devices;
and. to proQut;eHead Start VJ.blications, chiI'd IJupport ccllection
pamphlets, and. child. abuse prE!)vention pamphlets in ~on-Eng~ish
languages. ·S. 356 CQuld hamper enforcement of hous1ng ant1
.discrimination laws by limiting the ability of the Department of
Hous:i.ng a.mi Urban Development' (HUn 1 to make complaint; forme
a~ailable in 2angu8ges in addition ~o English.
It eould prevent
"
.
�interviews with witnesses in languages ether than English. It
would limit HOD's abili~y to prov1~e houi1ng ~ounaeling eo many
low-income and Jtlinority families and. ';0 people who use oth=r: .
languages,sucfi·~8 sign language.
s. J56 would promote division ana discr.imi:tation rather than
foster unity
Arner~ca.
It would exacerba~e national origin·
ciiscrimir.. ation and. intolerance against ethnh: minorities who look
or sound. nforeign ti and may not b~ English proficient. It:: would
keep many Ame:ricans from the politieal and~Ocial mainstreams.
It would undermine efforts l~ke .thoseof the Justice Department's
Community Relations Service t'o ease communit,¥" an.d racial·
conflicta through conciliation and'community out=each. Thus, the
Administration strongly oppoaes·S. 3SSand it. addition to S.
16'64, illegal immigration enfcrc;ement leg1s1ation the
Administrat.ion supports,
'
in
:"
,
�SUM1\'IARYOF ENGLISH-ONLY BILL, HR j-;...'3
,
(7/30/96 Update)
TITLE I:
' ENGLISH-ONLY REQlJIREMENTS ,
the
Establishes Official English: Amends the United States Code to deSignate English as
-ofticiallanguage of
Ihe federal Government. - Adds new Chapter to United States Co(fe - -Chapter 6: Language of the Federal
OovernmeDt-
" "
&iabUsbes Fedetal -aftinnatiWObHeatiopil to preserve Soe Usb aD~ encourage Em~!jsb learning; no e.dUCitjQcaJ
funds proyjded: While the bill e$t1blishes a federal obligation to encourage -greater oppol'blllities for
individual. to learn the English language- It does not authorize funds to teach English to minority language
persona or off~ other specifi~ guidance. , ' '
' "
"
Establishes FedmJ Goyemmem ·EnKljsb"1'oJy· mand31~: -'Representatives of rhe Federal Govc:mment shall
conduct its official business in English.- '
'
,
•
Def"mes ·oftidal business- to man '-government actions. documents, or policies which are enforceable
with the full weight and authority of the Federal Govemm~t. and includes publicadcms, income tax
follDl, iDformation malerials~ aDd the COD1eDt of franked mail- ~
•
"
j
,
••
&cludes, from defiDitionof ·official business-:
teaching of languages;.
,
.", . '
,
acUODS, documents, or policies necessary for intemation:a1 relations, trade, or commer:ce; ,
;
,
aaioaa or documeuts that procect public bealth aDd wetY;,'
actions, documents. or policies that ~e DOt enforceable ib. the United States;
acUoaa thai ptOleCt the ripta of victims of crimes or crin1ina1' defeod~ts;
,documeats ~ utilize tenDS of art or phrases, from languages other than English; aDd
uDspecified malW'I reladog to the Ceasus. '
;
,
•
·'Rules of construction- ,specify thai, English-<Jnly mandate shall DOt be COl1SU'U~ to:
apply to oral communication in a foreign language;
todisaiminau'apimt or restric:t the rights of any individual in this country;
to discourage or prevent the use of languages other than Englisb in auy nonofficial capacity; or
to repa.l eXisting Federal laws. acepc where 'in ClI:isting federal law direa1y CODtraveaes the
ameDdments ,- such as by requiring the use
language orher than English for official business of
cbc Federal (joVenuDent.
'
I
ot.-
, . Establishes Protections fur Enelish speakea:' ProtectiOG slamst the d~ of -services, assistance or facilities,
directly or indirea.y provided by the Federal Government, solely because the person coml:ouDicates in
EngIish.-
,.
'
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Establishes a new -entitlement- for ail persons living in the United States: '
to collinlUDi.d1;e with the Federal Gova:nmeot in English;
.
,
to receive information from or !;Ontribule information to the Federal Government in ~glisb; and
to be informed of or be SUbjected to official orders in English.
•
Maodates ihat all -DalUralizatioo-ceremonies be conducted :entirely in English-•
Establishes legal tight of 11dL2n: Persons whO claim their English I~guage rights have been violated may file a
civil adion suit and obtain, appropriatere1ief. Confers standing in the feder&l courtS.
�REPEAL OF BILINGUAL VOTING REQUIREMENTs
TITLE U:
.'
Repeal! BlIImrual voting Ballot:!: RepealJ Section 203 of th.e Voting Rights Act (VRA) establishing bilingual
voting ballots. The VRA sought to elimilWe barriers 10 these rights. such as illiteracy aDd r.he lack of
proficiency ill the English language that impede meaningful participation in the electoral proc:ess. lbe minority
langmge provisiOns added 10 the VRA iIll97S I1J.af8:Dt~ the right to, vote to United States citlzeas who are not
yet fully proficient ill English.
Sm! Federal anti=discrimjnation protection related to voting fur lanKuue mjnotitv cltizeal: Tule a repeals
VRA Section. 4(f)(2) which provides thal -00 voting qualification. or:prerequisite to voting. Ot SUDdard,
pnaiee, Ot procedure shaJl be impos~ or applied hy any State or subdivision. to deny 9f abridge the right of
any citizen of the Unit~ States to vote because s/he is a member of:a language miDoritj lIOup.· Section
.
4(f)(l) is mcorpontl!ld by reference in numerous sedions of the VRA. effectively stripping Dearly CYf!lrJ anti
discriminatiQn procection for language mi.norities~, .
TALKING POIN'l'S'" ENGUSH-ONLY IS UNNECESSARY
,
English bOOS threatened as gur pdml[! Jan""I": According to the Census Bureau, 97~ofthe US populatioD
apeak& Englisb. Funhermore, only 0.06 percent of federal doeumer;tts are in languages 0~Cl' thaD English,
&ea3rding to tile General Ac:couDting Offi~ (GAO). Newcomers to our country are learning English faster
than ever before. ' III fact. recent estimates ift4icat.e that only 135 of the demand for Eaglish-u-a-Sec.oDd
Language (ESL) classes is being met - waitiDg lists iD some major e~es exceed 40,000 •
.
BUin2Ual VOdDC baJlots are critical for minority lanaau popgJations: Title n would bave a dcvasti1ing impact
OD the rights of language miDority populations to panic:ipate fully in ~e demoeratic process. Removing
language bmie:rs is a wgetecl, low-cost; common sease solution to achieviD& wormed participation,
considering the QOmplClt language of ballot propositions and voting issues.
•
Native Americans aDd Alaskan Natives, PucrtDRicaus. The p,eople of Guam aDd. otber U.S. territories,
aDd elderly D.1turalized citizeus will be particularly impacted. '
• AccordiDg to the Government Accounting Office, the average'cost of providing written 'assistance is
minuscule. coating an average of 1.9 ~ Ofe1ectioD expenses o~ Jess.
.
• Also. according to the JU5tice Department, since 1975, voter registration aDd voter turDOUt have
increased substantially as I direct result of existing minority language provisions•
.'
i·
ynconstitutipnal and makes government jnefficient and ineffective: The Arizoaa -English-only"
initiadve has heeD found to be unconstitutioftal by the Ninth Circuit ~rt in Yniguez. v. ~ for OjJlcUzl
EnglWl. AcaxdlDe 10 the Courts, it violates the Pint Amendment rigbt to free speech. The 9th Clrcuit Court
wuDd that employees' kDowledge of divase languages made goyemm~t more efficient aDd less costly. :tbe
Arizona law aDd legislation pending in Congress ~uld oudaw collUDUJlication between elected officials aud
their constimems in my language but English.
'
En~Iisb::()nJy is
Engljsb·smJv restricts access to services and government: MUlions of tax-paying eitizens and resident! would
be unable to actesS and communicate with their lovemment. Thai woUld include residents of Pueno IUca,
Native American reservations aDd U.S. territories in the Pa~ific. whose right to communicate in a natlve
language is protected by treaty or custom.. English::()nly has nothing tDdo with improving education or .
educational opporcunities. Instead of facilitating learning 'and communication, proponents of English--only focus
OD prohibit~s the use of other languages.
Dis is contrary 'to the American traditiOU and is djyisiv;: It is not the English language thatunites:us, but
ramer Our democratic system based on our rights eStabJished by the Constitution of the United States.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt onCe said,: ·We. are'a nation of
nationalities, many nces. m.a.ay
'religions - bound together by a single unity, the. unity of freedom and equality.·
my
�,Talking ,Points on Englis'h..;Only
A Dangerous" ~olution to a Non-Existent Problem
~
' .
·Official English" is English-only. '.
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.
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The explicit purpose of every ,"official English" proposal is to prohibit the'
government from using any langu~ge but English. Thus a government that
approves "official English" measdres is'an EnQllsh-only government.
'
,
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"
English-only is transparent political pandering and an issue with no substance.
,
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1',1
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Language-minorities don't n~ed to be coerced ~y the federal government to
learn English: they already ·are.~~ "' Over 95 percei:)t of Americans speak ".
Engl~sh, according to the Ce'nsus. And current generations of language
minorities are learning English faster than p~evipus generations, writes
res~archer Dr. Calvin Veltman. In fact, language-minorities are literally
losing sleep in an effort to learn learning English. In Los Angeles; demand
for English classes is so great that some schoo)s run 24 h04rs a day and
'50,000 students are on waiting lists. Clearly, language-minoriti~s do not
need government telling them the obvious: that learning English is
imperative. "
•
Only 0.06 percen~ of federal documents are in languages other than' English,
according to GAO. The GAO found of the over'400,000documents
produced by the federal government in the past five years, only 265 were
printed in languages other English. Even of th~ few foreign language
documents printed by the federal government, "almost none were low
incidence languages. More than 8 of every 10 foreign language dO'cuments
,
-- 21:7 of 265 -- were printed in Spanish, understandable given. the nearly
3.6 million American citizens on Puerto Rico who speak Spanish as their
first language. Low-incidence languages, "suc~as Italian, Ukrainian, or
Tagalog, were each used inpririting only 1 of 400,000 known federal'
documents during the past five years.
"
American ideals of freedom, democr~cy, and" to"lerance .,.- not language-:-have
been and always will be the bonds t,hat hold America together .
•
America has remained strong and united because we share a common set 6f
ideals and values. Approach virtually any Ame~ican on the street and ask
what it is that makes an American an "Americ~n": you would hear about
American values anQ ideals like freedom, democracy, equality, tolerance,
and opportunity. Conversely, approach an Ani,~ricanWorld War II veteran
1
�· ":
the process of learning English from communicating with the,ir government.
For example, English-only laws would forbid a Department of Agriculture
bulletin on pesticide use, an INS pamphlet for recent immigrants on where
to find English classes, a government insuranc,e adjuster from using Spanish
to talk to citizens about claims, Congressional :staff from speaking, to
constituents in their native languages, and federal law enforcement agents
from using languages other than to"English t() gather information on a crime.
Communication between the govE~.rnment and tax-paying citizens should be
!
.
encouraged, not prevented~
I
•
It is manifestly inhumane to prohibit the disabled from communicating with
the government in any language but English.' A. disabled language-minority
American, for whom learning English would be 'extremely difficu,lt, would be
unable, to receive the assistance of a translator, when communicating with
the government. English-only laws would forbid official use of American
Sign Language' (ASL), preventing go.vernment communication' with the hard
of hearing."
.
English-only laws would prompt e,xtensive, frivolous litigation.
•
English-only proposals allow anyone who believes they have been
discriminated against for speaking English to sue the federal government.' It
is absurd to suggest that anyone has been harmed for trying to
communicate with the government in English. It would only give anyone
with an axe to grind against the federal government a opportunity to pursue
frivolous and costly litigation.
America should be thinking how to learning more,
•
nc:j~less,
lan,guages.
Four of five jobs in the US are created througti: exports, and the majority of
exports jobs are service-related. To succeed, :American business must'
follow the credo of a sag~ Japanese salesman'. When asked if English was
the most important language to know in international business, he replied:
"Not necessarily. The most important language to know is the language of
the customer. In this regard, the 32 million American who speak
languages in addition to English are a competi~ive advantage.
It
3
�Leadership Conferenc2
on Civil Rights
1629 "I(" St.. NW. Suite 1010
Washington•. D.C. 20006
Phone: 202/466-3311
fax: 202/466-3435
TTY: 202 / ~85·3859
Language Minority Voting Assistance Enjoys Widespread Bipartisan Support and English-Only
Initiatives Enjoy. Widespread Bipartisan Opposition
The following prominent national leaders are on record either as. supporting the bilinguaI voting
assistance provisions ofthe Voting Right,s Act ~r'opposing En~sh-On1y legislation:
liThe English~On1y issue has been arou~d for years. It will be around for years ,and it will riot be enacted
into law and I think the good sense of the American people will, prevail, that it won't happen. So I
understand again how it angers you to think: that people will not Iallow Navajos to speak and conduct
official business in their own' langUage; but let me just say, i don't think: that that's a problem that you've
got to face. I think: we can beat it back .. Senator Strom Thurmond who is now 93 years [old] has the
record for filibustering the Unit~d States :Senate. He talked for 24 hours and 3 minutes, which is no mean
feat. I would, along with several of my colleagues, do everything we could to prevent that kind of
legislation from passing. "
-- Senator John McCain (R-AZ)":'- before the Navajo Nation Council, January 18, 1996
. III don't think: we need any laws that say English is the official language of the United States."
-- Governor .Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ) - November 4, 1995 article in the record'
"The Governor supports English Plus. He wants to see every Texan fully proficient in English ... but
because of the richness of our culture, and particularly with our Hispanic influences and proximity to
Mexico, it is important for all Texans to learn other languages. He would be opposed to English-Only
legislation."
"
--Governor George W~ Bush (R-TX)-:- as per Ray Sullivan (press secretary), October, 1995
"So-called 'English':'only' initiatives are ~ot what New Mexicans: want, andJ:ve joined them in this view."
-- Senator Pet~nomenici (R-NM) - article in Albuquerque Journal, September 6, 1995 .
.
.
:
"I come before you today to reiterate the [Justice] :bepartment'~longstanding support for the minority
language provisions ofthe Voting Rights Act, and to oppose H.R. 351 in the strongest terms. The initial
enactment of the minority language provisions with the support: of the Ford Administration and the
subsequent extensions of those provisions with the support ofthe Reagan and Bush Administrations
enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress. The Clinton Administration proudly joins this bipartisan
tradition. The interest in a vital democracy -- through access to the ballot box -- knows no party."
-- Deval Patrick, Assistant Attorney General, Department o'f Justice Under President Bill Clinton
April 18, 1996 in testimony before the Subcommittee on the Constituti9n, Committee on the Judiciary.
"We cannot he reminded too often that the right to vote is preservative ofthe other rights that we cherish
in this country. It is the first obligation of our democracy to insure that our citizenry is given the
opportunity to cast informed ~nd effective ballots. That is the g9al of section 203. It seeks to ensure that
citizens have the information they need to participate effectively in the political process. I, therefore,
,
strongly urge Congress to act promptly to eXtend section 203: ": i. '
-- John Dunne, Assistant Attorney General, Department' of;Justice Under President George Bush
April 8, 199,2 in testimony before Subc6rrirnittee on Civil and ~onstitutional Rights, Committee on the
Judiciary.
i ! , , ' .
�BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBElL
COLORADO
~nittd
';etatts
~tnatt
WASHINGTON. DC 20510-0605
"
November 6, 1995
Ms., Dorthy I . Height
, Chairperson
'
Leadership'conference On Civil Rights
1629 K St. N.W. Suite 1010
Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Dorthy:
,
"
'I
Thank you for contacting my office with :your concerns regarding
legislation to make English the "official" language of the united
States.
As you may know, there are two bills in the Senate, S. 356 and
S.175. that would amend Title 4 of'the United State Code, to
declare English as the official language of the Government of the
united States. ,Upon introduction, both of these bills were
referred to the Senate Gover:nmental Affairs Committee.
.
English Only bills are legislation in search of a problem that
does not exist. In fact, 94 percent of United States residents
speak English. according to the 1990 Census. An English Only law
seeks not to, promote national unity, but.: to" restrict the
constitutional rights of limited or non~English speaking persons
in the areas of education and employmerit.
,
'In a society which is becoming increasirfty'global. the expansion
of markets beyond U.S. borders has indicated that those 32
million Americans who speak languages in addition to English are
at a competitive advantage. This should:be indicative to America
that learning more languages. not less i's what should be
.
encouraged. America's, strength and cultural vii::.alitystems from
it's diversity and pluralism, thus we should strive ,to preserve
this linguistic and cultural diversity <;ind pr'omoLe mutual respect
for all Americans.'
,
As a p~rson of color myself, I can assure you that I will. vote
against any attempt to make English,the'''official'' language of
the United States~ Again,: thank you for'writing.
'129 PENNSYLVANIA STREET
DENVER. CO 80203
303/868-1900
'9 OLD TOWN SQUARE
Sum: 238. #33
FT, CDWNS. CO 80&24
3031224-1809
143 HORIZON CT.
SUm: 366
lOll Eo VERMUO
SUm: 800
8311 Eo 2nd AVENUE
SUITE 228
GRANO, JUNCTION. CO 811\08
COLORADO SPRINGS. CO 80903
DURANGO. CO
711/B38-9PS2
3031247-1601
30312410.8831
•
PRIHTtD ON RECYClED PAPER:
at 30 1
720 N, MAIN STRff
SUITE 402
PUalLO. CO 11003
711111420.8987
�.
..
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'; ~'
. ' ;
~DngrtSg
of tfJe Wnttf:b ~tattS
~ouse af !\eprtStntatib£5.
..
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:
flJasf)ingtc;t, 13£ ?0515
, '
March 10. 1995
,
,
,
Mr. Bernard L. Ungar
Director. Federal Human Resource.:
Management Issues
U.S. GcneraJ AccounringOffice
441 GSt., N.W. Room 3150
Washington D.C. 20543
Dear Mr. Ungar: '
.
We are writipg to n:quest a Ge.neml Accounting O~ (GAO) S'Illdy to iLU:Dtify and
quantify those rederalgovemment services provided in languages other than &gUsh.
Specifically, we woUld ask the GAQ to assess tile pn:cise impas;t of fa=gn Iau~
opcralions and ~rvic:cs on the budget.....
,
,
,
{
.
of
As supponers [be ..1..anguage.of Governin=ut;\J;t,'. a bill wbicb wouhi req,ain: tbac
official operations of the fede.ral goveminem be conducted. in Euglish, we a= .i.arJ:n:ste:d in
fmding our the exact COS[ of aU se~ices cuITelttly offc:.rcd by govcmm.c::ut·ag=u:ie:5 ;.a
languages other (han EngJish (excluding, ~bose o{f~ by the Depan.mc:ut of State and
Defense.) Some of these might include 'any faX fotm:l or c.tcaunems pri.med ill fon:ign
languages and services offcn:d by the' Immignuion aad .ti~w Se:rvice in languages
other than English. Your prompt assistance would be.most appl"C:l;ia.ted..'
,
Thank. you for your aaen£iQ~ to this matter and we
~oak furward to ~ from you
soon.
Sincerely.
:
~
~
. .
.
'.
RlCSAJID C. SBELBY
U.S. Senator
Member of Congress
'
~{~
WIiUAM F. CUN
•Member of Congre~s'
Chairman. House Government Reform aM .
. Oversight Committee·
�UaitedStar.es
Ge:ler8l Acc:oallting 0if1ce
WulW;agtQn, D.C. 20548
Karch 20. 1995
The.HonorableRichard c. Shelby
UniteQ States Sena~e
,Dear Senator ShelbY:
w~
have re~eivea y'our.le~ter o£ ~rch 10, lS9S, jOintly
by Re~resentat~ve Sill Emerson and Chairman
William F. Clinger. Jr., House C,ommittee on Government:
s~gned
Refor.Q
~~d
OVersight,
r~esting
the General Accounting
Office ::0 conduct a study to iden.1:ify and quantify
fe;daral govehmtent' servi!=es provided in languages ocher
than English..
your
We have forwarded
DivisiQ:l..
letter to our General Government
Sta.ff' ~rom tl't..a.e, Division, will contact your
office to disCuss this matter fUrther.
Sincerely yours,
I
W~()j~
william A. Gerk.e!:!.s '
LeqislativeAdvisor
�.
.
r'~,--------~------------~------------~--~---------------t1tUted. St2tea'
GAO
GeaenJ Aeea1l.Zldq Of5a:
Waabbu;tol\, .D.C. z05i8
8-266194
.
-.
September 20~
.
1~95
I
~C! Hcnol'.'able Ricl1a.l:tL
U:u.ted. States Senat.e'
c.
Shelby
: he lfonOl.;a.bl.e Wl111~ r. Clingar" Jr.,
T
Cbai:;:m.an, Cctmlli ttee' ell Governm~nt:.
Refcr.mand OVersight
aouae
Qf
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Repr~aantatives
'1'ha .aonorabla Bill '!marson
Rouse of Repl'.'eEeneat1ves
, I
This let~er respo~'
dcc:umczn.t~
to
yeur l'.'eqriast", that: we 'ident.Lfy fecia:'al '
Depart:i~r.;i:s af
Defan.se a.ad St.a1;Ii2) t.h.a;t: are pl.1bll.shed 111 languages Qtl.\er tnan
Engl.i.etl. We found. :that. lltI sin'll.: I (;cmp::ahe:r.r.si ve data source
eX1ste~ within the fede~al qo~rnman~ that could iden~fy ana
quc:z.ntJ.fy the t.ot.~.l n'WI:ICe.!: o£ £o:e:.it;:a. language pabll.catic:n::t.s ana
clcJI:uments iss'Iled both intar.na.lly and.. azternally b? fGderal
1J~t. agencies a.c.d orqan.i.zai:.:.ioJ1s.
HowG'9'ar, tIC! ~ez:e c..bla
to id.cmt1fy bIo c:cmPuteriaed d.a.tGlbasas C:C21.taining ..!.nfc;z::::nation
on publicly o1va11al:)le pu.bl.icat,1ons anc1 cl.cc:umsnts lssnec1 ~
, !ad,Qral I1gencielil :mel o%'qanizations. , The databases we .
Id.t!ntlf.1ed wet:'o (1); the Gcve:r:E!Bl<&nt F:dnti.ng O%l:lce"s(SPC)
monthly cat.a.lgq of Publications ar!d,(:2) the Batigzz.al. Tecbn:i cal
gcwe:z:nm.ant,
(e:z.cludi.nq c:wcU':Ienb, of the
Information service,' 5 {NTJ:Sl bibl.icc.:rraphiliP dat.a..basa. In tctai"
, fo.= the 5-yea,l: pericd, 1990 through' .U9", the ,t.'Yo dat:.c!l:asl::..!!
ccntairuild. over 400,,000 .:"'ec:::J:rr:i.s ~e:rt.aininq to !ecie~al a~nc::i.as"
repc::i:.::i ¥' , s1:l1dies, fa.ct sheata I lIIc:Cls. .hanCl.boc1:.s. confuenc:a
prcceecUngs. etc •
,;: T:J:lle 1 presents tllQ rasult:s of 'ocz searching thesa b:m
, d.ati:.basas for the ~-yeal'; period .. '~,9S0 thrcuqh 1994.· We
ident.ified. 26-' .fed~ral fOJ:eiqn lanqllaqe c1ac:um.ents in t.bIia
da1:a.bues ~, The, t~le ptesents" by fecleral ci9pa:z::t:m.ent or
a~enc:y"
t:.he
:n~er :~:lDd
percenta.ge oi f02:'sign la..nqu.age OOC'..::.::ll2l:lt.s
published ana availabla far distribution from thaae ~o data
sow:ces. As indicated. in tabl.e 1, t.he federa.l agen.cv t.~t
issued t.b.eq.reatest ntmll:lerof' 'f~ral doca.ments primad. i::. a
fOt:"e1qn lan~qe' was t::.he Soc1al Se.c'U.'!:'1't.y Ad:lD.inistrat1on.. rtla
identifie~ SO documsnts, or 19 p~~e9nt o~ tha 355 fo~a~gn
" l~qe dQCt=ents;. as issued. by the SOc:ielSecurity
Adm1n1sUa,;ian..,
:
"
GAA::l/GGD-9S-24:3R, 'E'ederc.l Fo:r:eign La.ngu.L\qe D.!IC:".!lte!'!.r.s
�a-266194
'r@le 1 : Foreign LanguaCJQ Doc:uments IssUed,
E'ed.era1 Agencies, calencLa~ Taa.z:s
1990 ~Qugh 1994
by
e
Agr1cul~ure Dep~ent
9u~e ..u of t.l\e Census
P:oduc:t Safety COmmission
Consume~
CUs1:cms Sanice
Edu~ation
Equal
Department
EmploYmentOppart~ity
EDerqy
De~nt
'
Commission
'
Environmental Protectiaa Agency
Fead. and. O:r:'ug Administration
Health ana Haman
Serv1~es
K~J.n,'.:mel Ur}.}an
Department
Developant Depa.;r;t:ment
tmmiqrat1cn ana Natu:a11zati~ service
,Inte:-i\meric:.an ,rau.nd.a~on
Internal Revenue Se:?ice
Jaatlce
Da~a:tmant
LalJor De~!1t
,
9 "
8
16
S,
4,
419, "
l6
4
4':,
Pe!:'Cent:. a:f ,.
tcrt;.a.! dacB!lfUli:.S
3.0'
3."
3.4
3.0
6.0
3.'0
1.S
1.5
1.2
9.S '
1.5 '
8
1.5
3.0
146
2.3
5.l
8,
3~Q
14
laticnal. IAS1:i "CUi:es Qf Health
sac::ial. security Aclmin1strat.ioll
Ot:her" '
TOtal
S.l
IB.S
SO,
Jfi:
365'
17.4
lOO.O~
"A tot.al of 30 fecb;ralciepa.l:'tmeni:S 'and;i..genc.ies are ,1.ncluc!ed in tl-..is
categoty.
Source t QlC anal.Y3is of, t.beGt'O Md. "ll.."l!IS cioc:Ument. o,a:t:a.l:Iases,.
tM fO:l:aign lanqt!.s.qe docwrtenta issallXi 'by th:a
varioua feclgral der;sartmcm1:S anc1 agcmcit2s caV'ez;e,c;l s~ject matt3r and
topiC::D related to their operating m.iss1ons and. f11I1Ct1cm.s. For ex.a.mple,
the Soc:i.a.l 8ec:u:.1ty lWm1~~t:at:icn ioreign lanquaga dOcumant:.s .utc1reBsed
such top.;f.ca afS KedJ..cua, ~ suPPlem.entsJ. 5ecur1 ty Inccmae P=CJr!!1l1.
cUsability ins't1ra.:a.ce, workers cc:aapensat1on, anc:L vou::ioas t:.a.-sa.tion
Aa one miqht. expec:t.,
topics. '!Js,a fo:eigrl lanqaaqe dccum.ent2, 'of 'tha R'at!.!aca.l Il\St:!tatea of
H841th included. suc:h t.cpl,es ali caru:e.r l Utl'I.ma., tcot.h care; and
radlat1en therapy.
"
,Ou.r c!a.tabase c1OC:UII.e.n:t.- seareh identified Span.i.Sh as the mast ~1c!ely used. -,
to%'(u.. gn lanquaga 1n' d.cx:umeat:i lssued.. by federal dspartments a:a.c1
aqenciee. AS' 1nd.1~tc=d ..1.n t';u':'l.a :2; of the )Ui5 f=e.1~ ~~
doc:w:att:t..s we 1deut.::i.f.1.ed, 221, or 83 perc:C;:%1e, were \1ft'.l.tte1'l il1 Spanish.
The next meat frequGn:.ly used lan~qe ua:: Fnllch, in whiCft II
d.ocWD.enu, or 5 parcent, wz:e tlrittan.
'.'~-'
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2,
�:" .
. 1,
B-2661,94
'l'a.ble :I: .Sl:eakou1; of l"ac:iSral t)QCam.ents
by Type of l'Q:eign La.nguaqe, c:aleni:W:
1'eB.rS 1990 1:!U:augh 1 9 5 4 ; .
Nw=er of
lcreiG lmcrqage
C::ambQd.:La.n.
dOSS.'ler1t3
,
,
eh:1J1e$8
...
,
T'
-
12
1
F:vnch
Geman
Italian
po:tuguese
1
3
i
.,
Rom.an.1a.n
2
samaritan
1
au.stan
lexcent of·
total . ~ocUm.a!ti:§, ..
0.4' .
0.9
4.!
0.'
0.4
1.1
0 .. 9
0.8
o.. ~
8J .. 4
spa.uLSh·
1
n,galcg"
, 1
U1c::r:'a1nian
Kaltlple.languaqes4
17
~65
Tatal
'!)Ot::'WlliU\U in 'I:.h.i.a c:at:G9oz=y inclu.cia taJ.."i::.
Bnqlish~:,'
one la.1:lguaqe--e. 9'. SpaniSh and.
that was
0.. 4
Q.4
6.4
100t.A
~.z:in'ted
l.n more tha,"l
"'rota.J. ~oes n.ot: ad,a tc lOa ciu.e to rcur.cil."lq. .'
sou:cg:
h'
~a a:rialysis of: the GPO anc1 ft~ d.o~nt dAtabasEls ..
It' should lJe' 1'1C1teci that: the abo,""El infQ:tmat1.on. "as ollea1ned. trc:l. a
c::o.mp1.f:erizad !n:form:!lt.t.ell query O:f the twa aatsbcu:a. d.tad.•. l'h• .
dcc:waeZltSJ id~21t.ified. in the sea.:r:c:h were: not ve:i£ieQ !mel!:: to tha
pubLished source 'ccument.. Also, accordinq to a GPO official, net all
federal. £c%eiqn l.lmc.;uag9 pal:)1.!.c:a1::l=:S ~d dCU:=aAts JnSY bel inc:.lud.QQ', in
the GPa lnCInthly c:a1:alog"Ua data!:ase. APParently, federal deps:::::t:ne:!:ts
anda9C1rtc:1es; have t:b,a dJ.sc::et1on ta print. and d.istr1l:n.1te sc:m.e d.c~nt .
that: are not to be 1ncJ.llcled in the GPO database. Tl11.l.5,. the 26.5 iorei~
languaqa cioc:umant:s ,.,. .i.d.etu:ifled shQuld. n.ot be ccns1.d.ezed to :bs a tete
fadKu qave:z:maen:br1de (em:luc:U.nq theOepa.~n'CS of 61:.41:.6 ucl ol;::!a"lS(
figt.U:e fl'J: t:lle c::Lt:ad. S-yaar period..
,.
I.
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�&-466194.
We ere senalng c:opiElIS· of th1s1et,1:.ar ~ i:.he c:l::tai=aa., Sena.t.e Comrni ttaa
OR (Ja'll'az:::IZIlCIDtAl Affai.%'!; r anci, w111.
~est~
'taa.ka it a.vililsbla to
Clt.her~ uPon
. .
We t:.:z:u:51t C!2at. t.h19 information. sat.ls£actC1:1.1Y respon<1S 1:.0 you:: :r:eque:st.
!l~se call me on, (2D2) 512 .. 3511 if you have ,any ~urther questions.
tmaihy P.
ASsQc~Ce
Bowlin
Dlrec&or
Federal. Jfana.gemen1:. anI:!'
WIC)::I:'ld!f.';r:ce Issue:
. (966661)
4
�·UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census
.
Washingt~n.
DC 20233-0001
November 27, 1995
Ms. Karen Hanson
National Council of La Raza
1111 19th Street N.W. Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. 20036
Dear Ms. Hanson:.
Thank you for your letter, coauthored with Rick Lopez of the National
Association for Bilingual Education, regarding the 1990 cerisus data on
language ,other than English spoken at. home.
.
You asked that the Census Bureau verify two statistics. The first is
about projections of the numbers of persons who will be unable to
speak English by 2050. The Census Bureau has not made projections of
the numbers of persons who speak a language other than English or
about their English speaking ability. There are no plans to do so.
The second misinterprets published 1990 census;data. In the 1990
census about 32 million persons 5 years old and over reported that
-they speak:a language other than English at home. The majority of
those who speak another language also reported ;,speaking English "very
·well." In. fact, .only 1.8 million.persons reported that they do not
speak English at all. . The following table shows numbers of persons
who reported speaking a language other than English at home and their
ability to: speak EnglIsh.
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All persons 5 years old and over
Speak only English at home
Speak another language .
Speak English "very well"
'I
Speak English "well"
'
Speak English "not.. welt"
Speak 'English "not at a:ll u
230~445,777
198',600,796 '
31,844,979
17 ~ 862,477
7;,310"301
. 4',826,958
1;.845,243
If I can be "of further help,. please call me at i(301) 457-2464.
Sincerely,'
a~n?ICY;;:;~VT-d' .
Rosalind R.. Bruno
Education and Social
Stratification Branch
Population .Division
cc :
Mr.
Lopez'
).
�WHATIF' S. 356 PASSES?
•
A Doctor in a Veterans Hospital treating a Puerto Rican veteran of combat could be
prohibited from communicating with the Spanish-speaking family of the veteran unless
it were determined that the communication had all impact on "public health."
•
A federal law enforcement officer could not solicit information from witnesses or, victims
who didn't speak English if the matter were not a ,criminal case.
•
An investigator of the Department of Labor could not interview employees of sweatshops
to identify unlawful employment pIjictices if the mdividuals didn't speak English. ,
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A teacher's ,aide in a Head Start program could nq,t speak to the family of a participant
, in 1IDY language other than English., What if the c~ld were sick, and needed to be picked
up? How would that aide let the family know? :
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A Senator or Congressperson or their staff could not respond to a constituent's inquiries
in any language other than English. No newsletter, no "town hall " meeting, no speech,
could be conducted in any language other than English.
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hiring
Th~ Census Bureau could be prohibited from
bilingual census-takers or producing ,
bilingual materials, thereby producing an inaccurat~ count and costing taxpayers money
by having to conduct costly re-counts or other speCial sampling surveys.
Ariy monolingual Spanish speaker of the island of Puerto Rico (which is populated by 3.6
,,' million U.S. citizens)would be effectively cut off from the U.S. government -- they
could not get information in Spanish from the Social Security Administration (SSA), the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or the Selective Service Adniinistration (SSA).
,
,
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An inspector for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) could be
prevented from communicating with migrant fa~workers in any language other than
English.'
,
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A q.otice from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could ~ot be translated into
any' language other than English, which could undermine efforts to conserve water or the
environment in areas where there are non-English speaking tou~ists or residents.
•
Th~ ImmigratiOIl and Naturalization Service (INS) could be prohibited from interviewing
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asylum seekers in any hlOguage other thail English.'
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The Border Patrol could be prevented from communlcating with immigrants to 'determine
if they were in possession of valid visas or. not.
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The U.S. would be v.iolating international treaties to which it is a signatory -- including
the Unive~sal Declaration of Human Rights, which interprets the United Nations Charter.
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The government would have to create a new layer of bureaucracy to determine whether
desired uses of languages other than Engiish were exempt under the law.
�Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights
1629 "K" St.. NW. Suite 1010
, Washington. D.C. 20006 '
Phone: 202/466-3311
F811: 202/466-3435
TrY: 202/185-3859 ,
ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSING "ENGLlSH'·ONLY" INITIATIVES·
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS
A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE
ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN OF NEW YORK
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION
AMERICAN ARAB ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMIITEE. '
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
AMERICAN ETHICAL UNION- WASHINGTON ETHICAL ACTION OFFICE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR- CONGRESS ON INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF -rEACHERS '
, " j"
AMERICAN JEWISH COMMIITEE
AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION, AFL-CIO
AMERICANS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LABOR ALLIANCE
ASPIRA ASSOCIATION, INC.
'
CENTER FOR LAW AND EDUCATION
CENTER FOR WOMEN POLICY STUDIES
CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL COUNCIL
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR POLICY STUDIES
HISPANIC ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGESAND UNIVERSITIES
INTERNATIONALASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRONIC WORKERS
LABOR COUNCIL FOR LATIN AMERICAN ADVANCEMENT
MANA: A NATIONAL LATINA ORGANIZATION
:
MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND
MISSISSIPPI HUMAN SERVICES AGENDA
MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION, TRAINING AND ADVOCACY, INC.
NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CONSORTIUM
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE ADMISSIONS COUNSELORS
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ,MIGRANT EDUCATORS
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOG'ISTS
NATIONAL BLACK CAUCUS OF STATE LEGISLATORS
'
NATIONAL CENTeR FOR FAMILY LITERACY"
I
NATIONAL COALITION OF ADVOCATES FOR STUDENTS
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SENIOR CITIZENS
" NATIONAL DENTALASSOCIATION,INC.
- ~\Ol~-
LCCR~
8/9/96
�NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE'
NATIONAL INDIAN' EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL LEGAL AID & DEFENDER ASSOCIATION
NA'"IONAL PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL PUERTO RICAN COALITION, INC.
, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE, INC.
NAVAJO NATION
ORGANIZATION OF CHINESE AMERICANS ,
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY
PHI BETA SIGMA FRATERNITY, INC.
I'
PUERTO RICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND
STATEWIDE YOUTH ADVOCACY, INC., (NEW YORK)
, ,
TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES :
UNITE- UNION OF NEEDLETRADES, INDUSTRIAL AND TEXTILE EMPLOYEES
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST- OFFICE FOR CHURCH IN SOCIETY
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH- 'GENERAL BOARD OF CHURCH AN~) SOCIETY
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON OFFICE
'"
WOMEN'S AMERICAN ORT
Y\NCA OF THE USA
* These organizations have gone on record as opposing "English-Only" proposals, or have
endorsed the English Plus Resolution introduced by, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), which
recognizes the importance of multilingualism and,opposes "English-Only" measures.
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LCCR- 8/9/96
�NAVAJO NATION
WASHI~GTON
OFFICE
. JU.lmN AVERY
laI:CUT1V8 DIRECTOR
ALBERT A. HALE
'BESIDENT
THOMAS E.. Al'Cl"lTY
VlCE·PRESIDENT
1101 1T1'11 STREET. N.W.. SUITE 250
WASHINGTON. DoC. 20036
ftLEPHONE C2Q2) m0393
FACSDULE C2Q2) m.IO'75 •
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the Navajo Nation and 'President Albert Hale, I respectfully request tha'
you oppose any amendments to S. 269, the Immigration Reform bill, that would declare
English the official language of the United States. Additionally, we are seriously concemec
about S. 175 and S. 356, the "Language of Government Act," and other English Only
legislation ~rrently pending before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. While.
the Navajo Nation does not oppose the use of English, which is and has long been the
common language of this country, we do however, 9Ppose any move to suppress the
teaching and'utilization of the Navajo language.
In :1984, the Navajo Nation Council called fo~ the teaching of both Navajo and
English in all schools located on the Navajo Nation. In doing so, they r~cognized the
need to provide a solid social, educational, and cultural foundation to Navajo children.
Further, we must not forget the useful purpose the,Navajo language served during World
War II. As you may know, dedicated Navajo "Code Talkers" vitally contributed to the war
effort, using the Navajo language to transmit and receive messages in the South Pacific.
When-freedom and the future of,Am.erica were hanging in a precarious balance, the
unified efforts of the Navajo people and other AmeriCans exemplified that diverse
cultures and languages of this land can cooperate ai;\~ f~ght for a gre,,:ter purpose.
We sincerely hope that rather than focus on the differences, which this proposed
amendment and legislation dearly does, we can unite and face the enemies we share.,...
poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and alcohol and substance abuse. As Navajo people,
we must be afforded' the right and the ability to practice and preserve our cultUre and
tradition., I appreciate your support of our request. 'If you have further questions, please
contact the Navajo Nation Washington Office at (202) 775-0393. Thank you.
rtiri Averv
xecutive Di~ector
�H.R. 123 -- THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EMPOWERMENT ACT
1001 Conneclicul Ave NW
H.R_ 123 declares English the "official" language of the United States,and mandates
that all government business be conducted in'Englishv(ith very few exceptions. H.R.
123 grants st;uldillgto sue iri rederal district court to a'1yone \,vho alleges injury from
,
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the violation of its f(!quirements; '.
Suo'''' 522
"'~shinlllOn 1)(; 20036
I-LR. 123 is extreme and should be opposed for the following reasons:
,
TELEPHONE
202 296-2300
English-only laws, like H.R. 123 are ta~geted at r~cial and ethnic
'minorities. . H.R. 123 effectively preveri~ limited-Englishproficie~t
Americans
commUnicating with the government According to the 1990
Census, only 6% ofthe ,U.S. population, or 14 million Americans, do not speak
English "very well." , However,persons of Asia!+, HispaniC, or Native
American descent constitute over ·70 percent of limited-English' proficient
.
,
Americans (more than 10 million persons); ,:.
fACSIMILE
202 296-2318
from
E-"'AIL
IIN5598Q, !lANDSNET.ORG
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Moreover, Asian Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are far
more likely to live in Iinguisti~ly ,isolated hous~holds where no one
over the age oft 3 is able to fluentlY,speak English.
H.R. 123 will' adversely ,affect neidy 2.5 miliion Asian Pacific
Americans,7~7 miIIion Hispanic Aplericans, and 170,000 Native
Americans by denying them the ability to communicate with
government in;a language other than English.
.
."
H.R. 123 is not merely a sy~bolic declaration that English is the official
language of government., To date, 18 states (AL,AR, AI<., CA, CO, FL, GA,
· Ill, IL, IN, KY,MS, NE, NC, ND, SC, IN, and VA) have enacted some form
or'legis1ation that declares English to be. the officiallangtiage ofthe state. In
a majority ofthese states, the official Englishdectarations are Symoolic like the
...
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designation ofthe official state bird or flower and do 'not; contain the extreme
, . prohibitionsoncomriiunieations contained, in H.R. 123,. , · . :);~ ...' ,': ",
',: EDg1ish~DIy:,:"'J8wS.Jillcli, '",u:.'1LR. . .• 123 '.~ have i b~D fouD~ ·"to be
unconstitutioriat The Nmth GircliitCourtof Appe8ls, en bane, has found that
similar legislation'pasSed by the
ofAriZOna violates the First Amendment
guarantees of free speech. The Court found that. the public had a right to
· receive information protected by the Constitution and concluded that the
Arizona law would require that government "employees remain mute before
members of the non-English speak:iIig public .who seek their assistance."
"
· Similarly, H.R. 123 will muzzle government o~cials and restrict the
'. public's right to receive information fronlthem.' The Supreme Court will
review this case in its Fall term.
"
state
AfFll..IATES
Los AnI/111ft
Asian ~ad~mencaJI
l.egaI 'CColer~
\~
New York
Asian Amenb LcgaI ,
:Defense &\. ~ucation Fund:,
v
San Francis/'
Asian "G-;'; Ctucus
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H.R. 123 creates private "language police" who will but-den the Federal courts with
, frivolous litigation. 'Fhe "language police" that H.R: 123 deputizes~ll clog the courts with
untold numbers of frivolous actions challenging any' govemni:ental usc of foreign languages,
even when such use serves the public interest in health,: safety, law enforcement and
edi.ication. Government agencies will; spef)?milIions ofdoll,ars in litigation, promulgating
regulations, and monitoring to clarify the breadth and scope'ofH.R. 123.
, En'glisbis'not'i~ jeopardy of extinction in Ameri~. English continues to be th~ rommon
language qfgovernment and 'Commerpein the U.S. A Goven¥nent Accounting Office report
,states that, less than one-tenth percent 'of all federal docUments are printed in foreign,
languages '(99.3% are printed in English).
'
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Measures like H.R.123 are not necessary to "encourage;' ",hem t9learn English. Many,
studies,including on by the UniverSity ,of Southern CalifQrnia's Lusk Center Research
Institute; i.ndicate that immigrimts todkyare learning Engli*:as quickly as prior generations.
The demand for Englisbclasses 'inl:-O~ Angeles where classes run 24 hours a day, and
New York where the waiting lists number over 40,000 is ~verwhelming. These figures
demonstrate that,no legislative "encouragemenC' to learn English is necessary.
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Punishing minority famllies for not b~ing fluent hi Engli~h, as H.R. 123 does, will not
help any~ne learn English. SUPpoI1ers ofH:R 123 are seeking to punish individuals for
not being able to speak English fluently. These individuals already have economic and other
incentives to learn English; the demand for English classes: are proof of that. IfH.R. 123
supporterswant to encourage English, they should make more resources availablefor ESL
classes, rath~r than cutting the budget as they have been doibg over the pasttwo
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years. '
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H.R. 173 is unfair and dangeroUs to hardworking immigrants and Native A,mericans
.'who 'pay taxes and contribute to the community. The bill would mean that taxpayers
would not have ad~uate access to government serviceS, even when the government itself
would othermse determine that it woUld be more efficient an~ effective to provide language.
aSsistance to them. W8rning signs .would only be in English. I.mnligrants and Native
, Americans whowant to enforce labor, safety and ,antidiscrimination laws would be unable
to do S(). Busmessmep would be Unable t9 defend themselv~s adequately in regulatory and
administrative hearings~
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Rather than unify the country,H.R.123 will legitimize racial and ethnic discrimination
and emboldenanti~immigrant vigilantes. When California passed Proposition 187, a law
that bars government services to anyone suspected ofbeing' an undocumented immigrant,
white restaurant workers and others refused to serve anyone W,ho looked Hispanic unIessthey
could prove their citizenship. Citing .the passage of Pn;)position 187, private citizens
, harassed Hispanics and Asian Pacific Americans. .Hate, crimes against Asian Pacific
Americans rose over 80% in Southern California in ,1995.
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WASHINGTON NATIONAL OFFICI
Laura W. Mur;lt'l
Dirrct,
(202) 54':-i681 Fa.x(202) 546-073
August 13, 1996
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. . MYTHS AND REALITIES ABOUT REPEAL OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT
. PROTECTIONS FOR LANGUAGE MINORITY CITIZENS
to
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The Senate is about consider legislation that would partiali'y dismantle prohibitions the
Voting Rights Act ag-din~t artifidal and discriminatory barriers to voting. Styled as English Only
legislation" H.R 123, the "Sill'Emcrson Engli !;h' Language Empowerment Act of 1996" as
passed by the House, or S. 356. "The Language of Govemment Act" the legislation may come to
the Senate floor either as a free standing bill or as an amendment to other legislation. Title II of
H.R. 123 would explicitly repeafprovisions of the Voting RiWtts Act that protect language
mlnority citizens of the u..S. against discrimination· at the ballot box, including its bilingual
ballot provisions. S. 356 may be interpreted to override bilingual ballot provisions of the Voting
Rights Act because it repeals any existing law that "directly contravenes" its mandate that the.
federal Gov.enlment conduct official business only in English.
to
The Voting Rights Act was passed in response widespread!:practices such ·as poll taxes and
arbitrary tests that denied millions of Americans access to the ballot Sadly, this legislation ,
would n:surrect the notion that such ohstacles to voting are acceptable.
This m~morandum refutes· the myths~vjng rise to this misgUided piece of legislation as it
relates to protection of language minorities' voting rights. Note that though this memorandum
focuses on bilingual ballots, ACLU strongly opposes the other English Only mandates of Title 1
ofH.R: 123 and ofS. 356..
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MYTD #1: Title U ofB.R..U3 only repeals the provisi~ns of the Voting Rights Act that
sometimes require that ballots be printed inJanguages other than English.
REALIn": Title II ofH.R.123 also repeals the pro"ision ofthe Voting Rights Act that
ban states from discriminating against language minority citizens at the
ballol box. One provision Title II ofH..R. 123 would repeal reads:
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teNo voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or
. standard, practice, or procedure shall b,e imposed or 'applied
'by any State orpoliticalstibdivisitmtodeny or abridge the
right of any citizen of the United State~ to vote because he
is a member of a language minority gr9uP.'· ..
\
Nadine StroBsen Pre~loen.'
Ir';l GI;):;ser E.,·c~IJ/fv:· OirGcror
N:lliOMI HlladQuart9n; 132 Wesl :~2rc S!~e!!: "lew YorK. NY. ·~a036
Kenneth B. Clark Cl1al~. NililOI1Bi A:;J,;sory COlJnCl1
Ricnard ,zaCks TreSSU(f
..····0
t;!
.. '" 1. ",4<:0 9 60
,G ?)"
G·,·:;.·.··· ... '<t
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In addition, Title II ofRR. ,123 appears to delete from the Voting Rights Act
access to tools that have benefited language minority citizens victimized by such
discrimination since 1975. It would delete references to language minority
citizens from the provisions of the Voting Rights Act which: (i) authorize the '
appointment of federal examiners to enforce voting guarantees. (ii) authorize the
courts to order suspensio,n oftests and devices that abridge the right to vote, and
(Hi) req'llire pre-clearance of changes in voting qualifications and procedures by
'covered jUrisdictions to ensure~that the changes are not discriminatory, '
MYTH·#2:
Providing language assistance at tb~,"allot~ox is expensive.
REALITY:' The General Accounting Office (GAO) bas'"f,ound that the cost ofprovidiog
language assistance in elections is nominal. ~ 79% of covered j urisdictions
which responded,orai assistance added no additional cost. The average cost of
written a5sistanceamounted to only 7.6% of total eleciion costs in covered
jurisdictions, and 18 cov~redjurisdictions reported that provision of written
assistance adds no cost
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MYIJI #3: , When available,language assistance for voting is not utilized.
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REALITY: Language assistance is heavily utilized by language minority citizens. ,.
According to the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALe),
exit polls conducted in 1994 in New York City showed that 31.1 % of all Asian
American voters said they used language assistance materials, and in San
Francisco, 13.6% of Chinese American voters said they used language assistance
materials. The Southwest Voter Research 111stitute reported that in TexBS, one out
of evt:ry four Hispanic vOters said they used lan,guage aSsistance materials,
according to the Mexican American Legal Def~nse and Educational. Fund
(MALDEF).
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MYTH #4: The availability of language assistance materials does not encourage language
minority citizens to exercise their Constitutional right to vote.
REAUTY:, According to MALDEF, over the fint 12 years after language assistance
.provisions were, added to th~ Voting Rights Act, the Dumber of registered
Hispanic voters doubled in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and
Texas. According to the Justice Department, a'MALDEF study found that 70%
, of Hispanic citi7..ens with limited proficiency iT!, English said they would be less
likely to register to vote if language assistance ~wasnot available. and 72% said
they would be less likely: to vole if bilingual ballots were not available.
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MYTH #5: Because every person who becomes aUDited States citizen must Jearn
English, it makes rio sense to proVide voting baHots in other languages.
REALITY:
Long-time elderly permanent residents do not have to learn English in order
to become naturalized citizens. Language assistance is particular helpful to
them. Even immigrants who are required. to learn English meet the reading
and writing requirement if tbey can read and write simple words and
phrases. The complex ideas and sentence structures often present in ballot
issues; such as bond proposals, anti-taxation:initiatives,and constitutional .
amendments, are often difficult to comprehend even for native English speakers.
To a language minority citizen, they can be impenetrable ...
MYTH #6: Language assistance discourages language',minotity citizens from learning
English.
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REALITY: Evidence shows that the promion Qf langmlge assistance in voting has not
discouraged language minority citizens from learning English. According to
MALDEF, which discussed a Rand Corporation Study, eleven years after
language assistance went into effect, language',.minorities were learning English at
a rate equal to ar faster than previous generations of immigrants. The fact that
language minority citizens have nal been discouraged from learning English is ..
evidenced by the overwhelming demand for cHisses in English as a Second
Language (ESL). According to the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division,
in Los Angeles, some ESL schools operate 24 hours per day to keep up with
demand, and there is still a 50,000 person waiting list. The DO] Civil Rights
Division also reported that it can take 18 months to get into an ESL class in New
York, and other cities with large populations of language minority citi7..ens are
having similar problems. Nobody knows better:than a non-English speaker that
English language proficiency' is a key to economic success in the United states.
MYTH #7: Providing voting assistance in languages other than English fragm'ents our
society by dividing it along ethnic lines.
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REALITY: It is excluSion from participation in the dem~ratic process. rather than the
provision of language assistance. that threatens to divide our s·ociety along.
ethnic lines. By promoting participation in the democratic process, language
assistance encoumges a sense of equal opportunity and a stake in the outcome of '
elections which draws our country together. Whi'ie English is our most common
spoken language, it is ourcomrnon behefin the democratic process which truly
draws our country together.
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For more information about this and other English Only legislati,?n, ple~se contact ACLU
Legislative qJunsel Gregory T. Nojeim at 2021675-2326. END'
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Mexican American
Legal Defense
and Educational Fund
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MALDEF
·Z'•
1518 KStreet N.W.
Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 628·4074
FAX: (202) 393·4206
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MALDEF OPPOSES OFFICIAL ENGLISH MOVEMENT
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) opposes
all efforts to make English the official language of any city, state or national government.
Legislation aimed at making English the official language is unnecessary, divisive, hinders
, English acquisition, and is of question~ble constitutionality.:
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Declarations of An "Official" Language Are..
Unnecessary
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English is 'oveIWhelmingly the dominant language in ,the United States.' According
to the 1990 U.S. Census, while 13.8 percent of U.S. residerits speak languages'other than'
English in their homes, 97 percent of U.S. residents abQve age four speak English "well or
very well." Longtime residents as well as newly-arrived immigrants recognize the importance
of speaking English, and are learning English at.a faster rate'than ever before. Proponents
of official language legislation falsely assert that the primacy of English in'the United States
is threatened. However, the facts indicate that there is no linguistic "Balkanization" as
proponents would have the public believe.
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. "Official" Language Laws Will Further Divide Our Country
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Rather than promoting the bond :of a common language, these proposals will actually
h~lVe the reverse effect. While English is unanimously recognized as the common language
of the United States, providing services:and opportunities to learn English do n9t diminish
either the importance of English or :confidence in a government that recognizes the
importance of providing seIVices in other languages. The frustrations of dealing with
increased administrative inefficiency, eX:clusion from voting r~presentation,and attempts to
. suppress l~nguage heighten intolerance:'cause less rather th~n greater national unity.
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What brings us together as Americans are principles enumerated in the Constitution
and Bill of Rights, namely the freedoni to express our ideas, respect for due' 'process and
representative democracy, and opportunities to. succeed. Officiallanguage.lawsgo beyond
undermining these principles, and create an 'atmosphere of isolation and discrimination.
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. Official English Laws May Be
Unconst~tutional
The Supreme Court has long recognized Constitutional protections f~r minority
language speakers. the court explicitly requires that a number of interactions between the
government and its citizenry be conducted in the language best understood by some of its
citizenryl, including education and access to justice. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has
,ruled that the state of Arizona's official English law violates the U.S. Constitution. The
court found the law violates the First Amendment, and noted that language understanding'
"cannot be coerced by methods which conflict with the Constitution."2
•
National Office .
634 S, Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Telephone: (213) 629-2512
FAX Legal: (213) 629-0266
FAX Non Legal: (213) 629·3120
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Regional Offices:
542'S, Dearborn Street·
Suite 750
. Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 427-9363
FAX: (312) 427·9393
182 Second Street
2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 543-5598
FAX: (415) 543·8235
Satellite Offices - Sacramento - Santa Ana - EI Paso· Detroit - Fresno
:.The Book Building
::140,.E. Houston Street
,Suite 300
, San Antonio, TX 78205
,(210) 224-5476' , .
;'FAX: (210) 224-5382
1518 K Street N.W.
Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005
. (202) 628-4074
FAX: (202) 393-4206
Contributions Are Tax Deductible
�..
Official Language Proposals Will ;'Destroy
Efficiency and Public Confidence In Government
And Create An Unwanted Federal Mandate on State Governments
Proponents of an official government language misguidedly. call for all government
business to be conducted in English.~ the effect of .such legislation would be a logistical·
nightmare, and catastrophic in emergency, employment,. and virtually all public arenas.
Even. with alleged exceptions. for pu~Hc welfare, emergency personnel could be
prohibited from communicating in other languages in situations that mayor may not be an
emergency. People unable to obtain bilingual services may fail to seek necessary medical
attention or immunization against contagious diseases, further endangering public health.
Government employees could be hampered from enforcing federal immigration and .drug
laws, collecting federal taxes, conducting business with foreign nationals, and providing
services to all residents and taxpayers, regardless of linguistic abilities. Even the ability to
vote, a right cherished by all citizens, would be denied to th'ose who use language assistance
provided through the Voting Rights Act.
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Rather than streamlining gover:nment, these measures would create an unenforceable
and expensive bureaucratic disaster, adding to an already ov~rbul'dened federal government.
This problem multiplies at the state level, affecting a varietY of' different interpretations of
state service delivery. Local, state and federal service providers should be working together
to provide the best, most efficient assistance, rather than create a more confused and
burdensome system.
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Language minority individuals" like other citizens and residents" contribute to our
country through their work and their'tax dollars. They are entitled to the full range of
interactions with their, government. 'We agree that government should operate in English-
but not English only.
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For further information, please contact Georgina Verdugo at MALDEF, Washington D.C.
(202) 628-4074.
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1. See, e.g. Lau v. Nichols, 415 U.S. 563 (1974); Voting Rights Act of 1965 as amended
42 U.S.C. §§1973 et seq (r~92); Biling~al Education Act,.20 U.S.C. §§3221-3262;
.
Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475 (195f1.).
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2. Yniguez v. Arizonans for Officiill En!Jlish, 53. F.3d 1084 (9th Cir. 1995).
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.... i8·THl!. NEW.YORK TIMES
EDITORIALS/LETTERS SA TUI?DA Y,
-
AUGUST J, 1996
JO!ICrJl LEI..~I.c. EucUL;IIIJ !.'diUJ,'
C!:IIIlt 1I0IlKl\1"8. M.......iRf: Edilor
A....c.o'u Mall.q'''II EJii4r.
~OM"ClOtJ)EH REMR
o...VID R. JONES
QEU.Ul U,IIO'tl)
•
HOWFJ..LI'WImJ,
£J.l.I"wi.aJ
CAltO.L¥N L&I
WARA£N H0C8
,
JACK aoSl!:NT1thL
ALlo\If M. al£(MJ..
p"
Editor
. Pinup M. BQf"f'£Y'. IM"u.;t U~ Pq. £J,iu,r
/fb~t"J8SI
:.. \':.:~' ~. .... ..,,', :,' ': ::'" . ~'. :',;-':':':' ,2~:·.'··:i:(::' '~,!
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ifhe;COcid, t~~ ~gaa.,<the.RidiCU1Ous
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, ~~ti:.~ ..1he R.bUc 'is 'being treate~ t.q the sPectacle' markelj ,1cna'IiI'Il
as taggalll:S to black powder and
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IQfi&mwn mea and womenln Congress behaving like 'Bimpowder duriac their manufacture. TheP.resi·
~ege mdeiits punlng a last-di,:c.b all-ntghter. ,deat....in defereace, to the powerful gun lobby. bad'
e1r 81m.1s to pUe Up' Il recant with wtUch to already watered dowD his idea before It hIt the
. • ~fes.~e, ~ters or ta, club their opponents 'this' . ~ouSeot,Repl"l!SentaU_ t'benRepublicans substi
t.'l'be errt1re shaw fs' aI.ann1ng beciwse when "'w.t,e4 ,a inea:n.tng1ess nan1lQV8l"Dm8l1t study on.the
~Sl gers
.
a hun:)' it QIl., da' even more al.Rady _au,lively stU.died taggant issue. /UtI}
~~ chan when it haa pleftty of 'Wn~
• . • 8Ilu-'terrori&m pnrposal that does not include this
~', ;~ready tbls ~. baste, ldeolosy and pOliticS. important metbod ,at finding the aource of terrorist
conspired to produce a dreadful outcome. in the exploSives 1.1 ~re window dresatng.
.
form at a punitive welfare bUL After that start. it,
One of the most depreS~ signs that elections
w.log1cal to ,expect
wont. Sut as the clock ran ' ~re upon us luLl boeti the RePublican effort to pass
out,,' Congress ·PUIed. two worthy biUs while some and-immigrant. legislation that is &C outra,geous
mallclQus anes 'appeared to staU.For example., that Mr, CUntoD wtU have to veto tL The goal is to
Congress sent the Whi~ House a btU to protect t4r the President With being ,"soft on immigration"
wo)iters' bealth coverage when they n:aave (mill job In California. a.crud.al state whete he is far.ahead of
to job, which win be, pathetically., the only real Bob Dole IIi the polls. A bill tpat was once a senSible
,health care reform to ceme out of President CUn· st.rengtheniDg of ex.tst1n& tmmigraticn laws has
ton's four yeats in offlce. The legislation does nat: been nUned by a House pmpoiai to allow states to
Ilelp people pay for Uielt awn poUdei. but It wt1l at force, chUdrea of lllegal immigrants tram public
~t, proted. wvrXen with· pre-tUd.sttag .medical
schools. '
'am;:utlons wIlo now fear that loss of their job wtJ.l
Mather elecdoa-drtven, eaaUy misunderstood
:inean 1011 of health insurance.,
'.
bill would reqWJ1!I the Federal ~emment to con
, ,,~ .', :Lawmakers were so eager to boost the mini· duCt Official bUSiness only 1n English. While doing
l"lf.lmwage from $4.2.3 to $5.15 an hour that Senate nothing to meet the' demand for mare EngUsb
~ders held It back until the l.ast: minute. as Il' classes, It would prohibit, Social Security clerks
prQmised reward for getting througbithe rest of the tram helping applicants in the language they under·
,cii:lef!.dar. Having slashed away at the food stamp, standt'best. Te:)uJre that Internal Revenue Service
p'FOgram and requiring that all mothers on welfare
Information be available only in English. and ban
pcfaP41re to 5uppon their families on whatever work the u~e of multilanguage election forms. The ir
Way-ailable, the least Congress could do was make rationality of the proposal was made clear when the
sure those low-tikUJ jobs paid $10.000 a year. Yester- sponsors had to add a provision exempting the use
d.ay, both houses approved the increase.
at ··e plUribus unum" on money from the ban .
. ,', ,The desire to look productive did not always
Although the House has approved the English
traQslate into accomplishment. President Clinton's' language bUt, the confused stampede toward sum·
at~Eimpt to pass ananti·terrorism bill in the wako of
mer recess nukes it unlikely ulat that measure or
tlH!,T.W.A. disaster ran into {he brick wall of NaUon· the equally mean-spirited Immigration bit! will
:ii.,RUle Association opposition. The most desirable come up tor fl, final vote until Congress returns in
)em 1n lIdr. CHnt.on's proposal was a plan to ma.ke it the taiL Unfonunately, then they will become more
,aster to trace explosives by adding chemical politically charged than ever.
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nad'Law in Any, L(l11guage
~-~e louse on Thursday passed a divisive and
unnecessary bill that would declare English the
offldallanguage of the United States and would
invite dvil suits from those who believed· they
had been injured by violation of its provisions.
Its targets' are racial and ethnic minorities, and
it could create problems that do not now exist.
This bill makes no sense.
.
Nobody disputes the status of English as the
common language of the United'States, but if
tbia measure is enacted those people who speak
a language other than English could (ace seri
ous obstacles in their daily lives.,
, The bill would mandate that all U.s; govern
ment business be conducted in English with
vert few'exceptions. Most federal documents
WOUld be printed in English only. The use of
other languages would be allowed only to pro
teet public health and safety. ensure the rights
of crime viettms and criminal defendants. and~
maintain national security. ,
l~~i
If it becomes
the bill will prevent citizens
with a liIilit.ed 'Ccinimand of English from com
municating :effectively with their government.
It would inftihge on the public's right to receive
constitutionally protected information, a right
recently upheld by the federal bench in an An
, zona case. The bill is sponsored by a Californian,
Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R-San Diego),
whose own State could be particularly. hurt by'
its passage. California has by far the country's
'largest immigrant population.
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Rather than ban the use of languages other
than English in official federal government
business, Congress should concentrate on pro
moting greater fluency in English.by funding
more English language instruction for adults
and children. According to estimates. only 13%
of the deman.d for courses in English as a second
language is being met.
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This bill is immigrant bashing. In any lan
guage. it would be bad law.
�12A· THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1995' USA TODAY
,
,,-,USA TODAY hopes to
serve as a forum for bet
ter understaIiditig and
unity to help make the
USA truly, one nation."
,-Allen H. 'Neuharth
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'Fo~der,Sept. 15, 198,2 !!!!!!;;;;~;;;;;;
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, David Mazzarellil
, . Editor
Karen Jurgensen
Editor of the .
:Editorial Page :
:Thomas Cutley
President and Publisher
,TodaY's deb~te: OFFICIAL E'NGLISH
Will we ever get,over our
fear of foreign languages?
'Official English' 'Is,
,the 'latest overreac
lion to other languages. After 250
years, yOJl'd think we'~ learn.
Revolution that the ArtiCles of Confedera- ;
tion were ;published in Gennan as 'well as
English. ButGennan is gone.
:
AMatylander who sailed to New York
in 1744 complained: "I never was so desti
tute of conversation in my life.... I heard
Is the Uriited States in danger ofbecom nothing but Dutch spoke all the way." ,
ing a Tower of Babel? "
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Sojourner' Truth, bom: a slave: in' a
Feannongers peddling "official English" Dutch~speaking community two centurieS
say it is. And they've persuaded ,21· states ago, didn:t mow a word of English at age
.and countless niunicipalities that they're '10. Without benefit of official-language
right All hav.e made English their ~official" laWs, she. became, a brilliant speaker and
language. Montana and South Dakota are evangelist - in English. Dutch died out·
the latest Ten other states and Congress
IIi 1180. John Adams propOsed an offi
are weighing whether t6 join the parade.
cial acad~my to "purify, develop and die
Not a small accomp~hment when your tate <usage or' English. The Continental
rugument relies on fear. not fact
Congress rejected the idea as undemocratic
In some places, official English amounts and a threat to individual liberty -'- sound •
to little more.than toothless pandering to judgment then and sound judgment today.
anti-immigrant sentiment In< others. the
It's a disgraceful tradition: New York
laws are mean-spirited attacks on the rights once barred 1million Yiddish-speaking cit
of businesses to advertise as they see fit, izens from voting. California disfranchised
barring non-English signs, or on services <
Chinese. Nebraska, in an anti-Kaiser fren·,
that help newcomers become full partici· 'zy. expe~ed Gennan and ~y 'other; foreign
pants in society. eliminating English educa- . languagefrom its elementary sc:hools.
tion programs. All give implicit license to
And it's unnecessary. The vast ,majority
other acts of discrimination.
ofimmigrarits are assimilating quite rucely.
And to what.end? Fear offoreign speak· More than 95% of first·generation, Merl
, ers is older than, the nation, rising in times can-Amencansare proficient in English; by ,
of war, economic stress and increased im· the second generation, most have to~y
migration. Yet no calamity has occurred.
lost their parents' native tongue. Tens of
Benjamin Franklin Saw it more than 250 thousands of immigrants are on waiting
years ago in Colonial Pennsylvania: "Few lists for overenrolled adult English,c1asses.
of the, English understand the German Ian·
The urge to succeed drives mos't irrimi·
guage, and so cannot address them either grants to learn English quickly. Laws that
from the press or pulpit" There were so make the language "official" only deny our
many Gennan speakers at the time of the history and surrender tq our fears.:
�Phony solution in:search
of an imaginary problem
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Politicians are using fundi~ ofpubliCationS, forms and ceremo
:OUR:·VIEW HI I I E Ii h t '
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pandor to public foar of :
'Dies in other languages and call on govern
ment to ':'preserve and enhance the role of
English.~Ahearing is scheduled Oct. 18.
Immigrants.
"Two other billswould require all govern
ment communiCations to be in English, ter
Senate Majority Leader and presidential minate.5upport for bilingual edUCation and
candidate Bob Dole opviously recognizes a end the Voting Rights Act requirement that
popular slogan when he sees orie. Monday, election ballots be available in other Ian
he beeame the latest advocate for making guages where there are heavy concentra
English the nation's "official language."
tions ofmmority-language speakers.'
Official-English bills have been kicking
A fourth· would write an official-English
around in Congress for years, and laws or. provision into the Constitution.
constitutional amendments have been
State and lOCal experience suggests none
adopted in 22 states, iriCll;lding New Hamp of them would achieve anything of value.
shire, . Montana and South Dakota this Even backers are hard pressed to cite posi
year. The idea is simple and easy to sell.. tive results, for government is in fact over
Unfortunately, it's also a feel-good answer whelmingly conducted in English already.
to a largely imaginary probleIl1 - that
Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence suggests
American culture is threatened by non-' official English invites unexpected trouble.
English speakers. Dole, for instaI;1ce~ said Hundreds of cOmplaints have been filed
against employers, shopkeepers, even bus
"ethnic separatism" threatens the nation.
Hardly. While 32 million U.S. residents drivers who cited official-English laws
speak a foreign language at home, the vast wrongly -as grounds for firing workers or
majority speak English as well Only 0:8% denying service.
of the population, hardly enoUgh to be a
A federal law would dono better.
The notion of barring native-language
menace, can't speak English. '.
CenSus data show that nearly 90% ofLa voting help to elderly iminigrant-citizens,
tinos ages 5 and older speak: English at' whom it was designed to help, is downright
home. And 98% of Latinos surveyed said mean-spirited.
they feel it is "essential" that their children
And bi.liD.gual eduCation, except for mi
learn to read and write English ~'perfectly." nor financial support, isn't even a federal
In fact, the vast majority oftoday's Asian issue. Done right, it helps children get start
and Latino immigrants are acquiring Eng-' ed in" substantive schooling while also
lish proficiency and assiinilating as fast as learning English. Most youngsters in the
did earlier generations ofltalians, Russians pr~ms move into regular classes in less
and Germans. More.than 95% offirst-gen than three years.
Where it's done wrong, the· states and
eration Mexican-Americans are English
proficient, and more than 50% of second "school districts that control eduCation ~
.generation Mexican-Americans have lost not Congress - will have to' 'find an an
their native tongue altogether. •.
swer. And official English is not it
What would making English official , In Georgia and.Maryland,this year, gov
mean? Dole didn't say. He hasn't endorsed ernors rejected political pandering and ve
any of the proposals pending in Congress. toed official-English bills. In seven other
But others have. The most Widely sup states, proposals failed in the legislature.
ported; with 180 co-sponsors in the House
Official English is .one more'law we're
and 17 in the Senate, would bar tIDq)(iyer better off without· ','
.'
~.
l
t
I
".
�THEW~Posr
..
,
English On!y-Let~ Go' All the
As an iminigrantdisPosed to sur
render my bicuIt:urali.sm for the sake of
UDity, I want to, jump 011 the Eng
, lish-oniy bandwagon. The least that 'we
can do for our children is to make sure
they grow utJ I1lOllOlinguaL Butl hope
that candidates Bob Dole, Richard Lu·
gar, Pat Buchanan, Pete Wilson ami
company are feady to go an the way.
The pJac:e to start is the official map
of the future Unified United States of "
America. The'Indian name of Miami.
{or eample, should be translated into
En8Hsh. It will be in', the' state of
Flowered Land. Out West. we'D have
some new state names recovered from
. the Spanish: Arid Zone. Soowy Land
and. north of New Mexico. Red Place
(or.just plain Red).
A lot of foreign Indian names will
have to be translated or replaced: Mis
sissippi. Michigan. Arkansas. Massa- .
chusetts.' Connecticut. Idaho, Dakota
and so on. Sen. Dole can start by
changing the name of his state, Kansas.
to a ProPer Engii.sh name (as I remem- '
ber, Topeka has something to do with
digging potatoes-that translation may
be a delicate matter); then he can call
On Phil Gramm to redo Texas. meeting
.perhaps in Saint Anthony.
Califotrua, of course. Will. need a
.good gqing over. The Angels, Saint
Francis, Holy Cross. Saint Joseph and
an of the other saints. The capital of
New Mexico will become Holy Fai~
Vermont will tum into Green Moun
tain, and those French names from
'the Loui~ Purchase will be prop..
eriy Anglicized. Finally, winter-weary
.,
\N?l~l J. PCt'.5f~
-,'I ~ / '1e:J (7:1
way
northerners will vacation in Saint
John. Rich Port.
After awhile, we could amsider a
campaign ,like the one Bulgaria con
ducted to change Turkish family
names. Why be a GonzaJez when'you
can be a Gord9n? Why not Kelly
iDstead' of ~walski? Shortening
names in the tradition of E1Iis Island
could come into· vogue a_The
possibilities are endless, and there's
no need, to review them now; we can
really
down to work in january
1997. But no matter who wiIIs'the
election. one thing is certain: We'll
aiwavs remember Bob· Dole and his
fellow English-only candidates as the
get
men who unified our country.
LUIS E. RUMBAUT
Wurungton
�LAWMAKERS TARGET BILINGUAL BALLOTS - POLITICAL PARTIES,
HOWEVER, SPEAK EN ESPANOL WHEN THEY,:COURT HISPANIC VOTERS
Christi Harlan - Austin American-Statesman - 6·17·96
Washingto.n - From her o.ffice in Austin., Marta Co.tera:has a
questio.n fo.r members o.f Co.ngress who. want to. do. away with
printing ballo.ts in both English and Spanish.
"I do.n't kno.W ~f there's eno.ugh sentiment around here to. undo.
this, said Austin City Clerk Elden Aldridge, who.. is in charge o.f
making sure Austin ballo.ts are r~dable in both languages.
"Do these people live in a dream wo.rld?" askS Co.tera; who. has
spent 21 years translating Austin city ballo.ts into. Spanish. She,.
is thinking about vo.ters amo.ng the 1,20,000 Hispanic residents o.f
Austin. Members o.f Co.ngress and o.ther politicians are thinkihg
about vo.tes wherever they can find them.
'
'So.me members o.f Co.ngress argue that the cost o.f producing
bilingual ballo.ts justifies their'abolitio.n, but neither Austin no.r
Texas o.fficials could put a price tag o.n bilingual ballo.ts.
Aldridge said the city pays Co.tera and translators at her co.mpany
about 10 cents a: Wo.rd fo.r translatio.ns. The state pays a
translato.r at the University o.fTexas, then spends $100,000
mailing Spanish-language explanatio.ns o.fcOnstitutio.nal
amendments to. registered Vo.ters with HisPanic Surnames,
according to. state electio.ns ~strators .:Melinda Nicldess.
Fo.r these politicians, Spanish has becomebo.th a tool and a
target o.ver the 18 mo.nths leading to. this year's electio.n, The
Republican-led Co.ngress has produced a spate o.fEnglish-ouly
legislatio.n while Republican and Democratic natioruu .
committees are cranking o.ur interviews and news releases - en
espano.L
"We encourage participatio.n in the political process,"said, .
Gov. George W. Bush hasn't ~ressed a preference o.n
multilingual ballo.ts as he has o.n a Ho.use initiative to. allo.w
states to. discontinue public equcatio.n o.fchildren who. are
illegally in the United States: He's fo.r educating all children.
Mary Crawfo.rd, a spokeswo.man fo.r the Republican Natio.nal
Co.mmittee, which has been o.ffering weekly news releases in
Spanish since Chainnan Haley Barbour took o.ffice." It: would be
silly no.t to. make the effo.rt."
Spanish-speaking Vo.ters, ho.wever, can't help but feel a little
besieged in this political year - by both parties. One o.fithe mo.re
SUIprising examples o.fEnglish-only fervor came six weeks ago.,
when the Senate vo.ted that English was sufficient fo.r
deportatio.n no.tices to. illegal immigrants.
,
This week, the Ho.use Judiciary Co.mmittee i~ expected to. Vo.te
o.n a measure that wo.uld repeal the sectio.no.fthe Vo.ting Rights
Act requiring ballo.ts to. be printed in a second language if a
sufficient number o.f vo.ters claim that language is their nati ve
to.ngue.
:
"It's to.tally nuts," Co.tera said. "So.mebody o.ught to. tell these
peo.ple that the So.uthwest was annexed (fro.m Mexico). We
have a city that's bigger than Laredo. that's Hispanic in Austin."
But Bush does do. interviews with Spanish-language news
media - in Spanish. .
"He's gOOd," said Ray Sullivan. The go.vernor is "nearly fluent.
It gets a little tricky sometimes when yo.u're dealing with a
technical to.pic, ,like water treatment o.r the drought."
The Spanish-language media appreciate the effo.rt,
"Ifyo.u even appear yo.u're trying, yo.u're embraced," said
Univisio.n'sWashingto.n bureau chief Deborah Durham. "Peo.ple
who. can speak it can o.ften see things from a Hispanic view,"
Durham dispatched a camera and a reporter Thursday to. co.ver
U.S. Rep. Gene Green's news conference about the Supreme
Co.urt ruling that rejected Green's majo.rity- Hispanic
.
congressio.nal district in Ho.usto.n.
Democrat Green, like mo.st members o.fTexas' U.S.
congressio.nal delegatio.n - including Rep. Llo.yd Dogget;
D-Austin - doesn't speak Spanish.
Some supporters o.fEnglish-only initiatives, like U.S. Rep. Sam
Jo.hnson, R-Plano., see the issue as o.ne o.faccess and econo.mics. . "
"He feels like it's an issue o.f making sure people who. come into.
"rve been ho.n6red fo.r two terms to. serve this district," Green
this country succeed," said spokeswo.man Mindy Tucker. "We
said o.f his 61 percent Hispanic district. ,"Thank goodness this
have to. have a commo.n language we can all communicate in. "
district doesn't base itsvo.ting o.n ethnicity o.r race:
,
\,
,I
judiciarY Co.mmittee member Lamar Smith, R-San Anto.nio.,
supports the repeal o.f the bilingual-ballo.t requirement, saying
that immigrants who. becoIqe citizens by passing an
'
English-language test sho.uld be capable o.f voting o.n
English-language ballo.t.
an
Co.tera disagrees; Speaking and understanding English is o.ne
thing, she said. "Reading electio.n materials is something
different. "
The Hispanic Congressio.nal Caucus and Hispanic-interest
, gro.UPS are Io.bbying against the bilingual-ballo.t repeal. ':Even if
it passes, Texas law - passed in· 1975 to. match the Vo.ting
Rights Act requirement, mandates bilingual ballo.ts.
;
r: •
Green has learned what Republicans are catching o.n tei:
Hispanics aren't necessarily aligned with o.ne political party o.r
wedded to. Hispanic candidates.
"There are sigiiificant portio.nS o.f the .$spanic coinmbruty that
Republicans feel they can talk t9," said Lisa Navarrete,
spokeswo.man fo.r the Natio.nal Co.mmittee o.fLa Raza, an
umbrella group fo.r Hispanic organizatio.ns.
She applauds the Republican Natio.nal Co.mttee's effo.rts to.
, use Spanish to. reach the Hispanic conununity but cautio.ned
against a mixed message.
"They've go.t ali these guys running aro.und the (Capito.l) Hill,
trying to. do. things on immigratio.ns and English-only," she said.
,It's counterintuitive to. do. both things."
�J.
THE WASHINGTON POST ,
MONDAY,SEPl'EHBER 18.1995
"
...
STEVE TWOMEY
In Plain
English:
Cl1ill' Out'
"T
Vietnam."
Since their arrival, Bay has noticed
something. It's an odd thing, given
, the bUzz about declaring an official
'. Jan~ge.
'.
,"
: ,', "I only hear English," he says in
.Vietrlamese. Cook translating. "
Now that he.mentions it. [ only
bear English, too. At Camden Yards,
, they do the lineups in English. Last
. season, "NYPD Blue" was in Engli...~,
[believe. Even Bob Dylan sings in
English, sort of.,
'.
"
Bay and [ must nol get around',
enough. English must be under siege
from all the iminigrant babbling. [t
must be in need of protection.
Otherwise, many leaders, such as
presidential candidates Dole and ;
Buchanan, wouldn't be demanding:
that Congress ~e English.. "
WoUld they?
<Ii
fun Boulet Jr., ei:ecutive director
of English First, a national group that '
suppOrts miking English the officiaJ '
language, suggests the movement, '
bas been misunderstood.
'
"There is 'no legislation in ' ;
Consress pending or contemplated,"
he sayS, "that would force anyone to
learn English, make anyone speak :
bisis Mr. Bay," Kim
Oanh Cook says. "He
just came from
, ,
Uh4 An immigrant. Probably
can't speak like us. Probably one
more reason folks want to make
English our offidallanguage. '
Alert Bob Dole;· ,
Call Pat Buchanan
'
,
, Actually, as threats to linguistic
unity go, Bay Van Ho hm't m~
He's so slight that he's more like a
62-year-old rumor of a person.
How much English does he s~
"'Very little," Cook says,.
She tUrns toward him.
, "Speak English to him,'" she says,
indicating me.
, Bay looks uncoinfortable in his
chair
,,'
, uMy name is Bay Van Ho/' he says.
He had language lessons in ' "
Vietnam, but fluent he isn~t. Can you
believe it? None of your ancestors or
mine came to these shores with such
lousy English skil1s.
Did they?
,
Bay knows so little that he often
travels to Falls Church to see Cook at
the Vietnamese Resettlemen~ , :
Association one of the o~tions
inhabiting a'former Fairfax COuntY
public School tha,t's now a
multicultural center. Cook, the
executive director, helps him figure
out American ways because $e is
Vietnamese, too. having moved here
for good in 1973.
'. ' ,
Bay is a veteran of a Josmg army,
the South Vietnamese one. For that.
he spent a decade in prisoh after the
fall of Saigon, followed by a decade as
a laborer. The communists finally
allowed him to emigrate to the
United States, which accepted him
under a program that helps those
who served the government of our
fanner ally. He arrived on June 23
with his seven children, ages 20 to
40.
j.
,
'
En~lish at home. make anyone i'
speak English on the street or I
eliminate Chinatown in
downtown D.C."
.
The goal, Boulet says, is merely
to ensure that the government '
speaks and promotes only English.
Right now, the government
mandates $8 billion worth of
bilingual education'for
ncin-English-speaking yotmgsters,
he says. It prints ballots and other:
documents in multiple languages. '
But studies have·shown that ,
.bilingual eduCation doesn't work, ,
he says. It and other bilingual
effoits~however wen-meaning-.
wind up being costly failures that .
310w the pace atwbich immigran~
:ie assimilated. .
"
, Instead, Boulet says; the . "
government should stick to
English to achieve what is in the '. '
interest of us all: the swift
, mastery by every newcomer of
the one great thing that unifies
this huge nation.
Who'd dispute that? Got to '
have common language. And
.English is it.
'
J:mqugrants know that.
Bay knows that.
"He's taking ESt classes right,
now upstairs," Cook says,
meaning English as a Second ,
~guage.
'
a
't
But so what if the government
belps an immigrant's transition
with a little bilingual behavior?
If bilinguru education isn't
working, fine. Kill it or reform it.
But if the ancestors of a lot of us
Could speak, they just might say
, they would have adored having
bilingual government forms
~en they applied for a benefit,
and du'.ll-languagebaJIots that
mad~ the wc-tding of a '
referendum clear, and health
pamphlets in their mother
tongue.
Sure, that assistance costs tax:
dollars. But all the fretting over
English isn't only about money.
It's about unease.
.
Too many Americans fear that
the country isn't theirs anymore.
<
Bu~s~ofan
"invasion." Pushing for English is
a way of pushing back. It's a way
'of registering a complaint that
, too many cabbies are
unintelligible and too many
7-Eleven clerks are foreign-bom.
English-only tells newcomers
that the unwelcome mat is out.
Nice:
'
(In fairness to English First,
Boulet says that "not everyone
supports our cause for the right
reason" and that the number of
. " people driven by fear of the
immigrants themselves is a
"minority.,,)
We've had immigrant angst
before. It was as silly then as
now. Earlier waves of
newcomers got.with the
program and became Americans.
Taday's might be from 'Asia.
Latin America and Africa instead
of Europe, but they'll wind up
English-speaking Americans,
too, or,if they don't, their
children surely will. Everyone
,ought to sit back and chill.
, " "I have decided to come here
, to live here," Bay Van Ho says,
, "and I feel I have to get adjusted
• to this society, and I need
,English to get a job, to
communicate, to adjust. I can't
survive without it." ,
'
He's an American-in-ptogress.
That's how It's been done over
the years. People arrive a them'
and end up an us. You knoW what
Cook says the Vietnamese call
the United States?
Nation of United Races.
�THB NBW YORK TIMBS
A 17
OP.e:O MONDAY, AUaUS', 5.1996
Our Language Needs No Law
By Mark Falcoff
cion. gardcularly hl&ber and hIcbaic&I
.a1&alUaa. J.. the IiIIcua '1"InICa 01
PIPlIlar cuk.llre. k IIlpradinlr aca-.
die e.... piU'UC'IlIarty amans 1QUIII
peaple. who aJthat~r Enall.slllhe key .
to all dWIp modem. P",,"rwa and
bip. Wb1lhculd ~ 01 ~
ortgtn be lIllY different?
"
" 1lIe UnUAIIJ Statllll SS hOt Vlllllefable
Co Che.t.npa ol.liII&I&il~ ~
euruoun- by CCIUIltrie:I wiChmore,
~ bilincWll' euuun.. UDIJke
0IudlI, BoIciWll or SWilDrlud. "
Ameriea hal ftG UtI!rary 'IntII!UecWaI'
dua dedicated to mab1t&Ja1ll& a CAlfto
siatllat lCMi 01 qua.W:y ill a IIICIIIDCI
Iucuqa. (Indeed, Che quality of. .
Un 'paUlI!. III &he Uidred lWeI 11
oftID paar; MmCl ""b~" lid","",'
~ fa N8W \"ark tubnJ QIn
'uel\dl of ,rmaNtiCIJ bGWlarc.)
,
A4'~Clillte&RtII~
Iy aDd CIIlaarally illto our lOdecy.1bey
wUI UbIy kiM did.. I~ di&tJ.dc. ,
tmneas. nlDl.l&b the presence of •.
l&rp 'puWh~ populaUan IS
a reality. Vie wiD never biK:Iom, •
linguistically bifurcated caumry.
There au: many divisive forces in
Ansorican SIlCietY. but lancuecl! ill nat
'one of them. The Ui\lUd Stlltes II Dol II ,
BaDwl prtndl'alll;Y; lbere IS 110 point
in it ac::Qng III j( It Wen!..
rJ
"
�'. !
• COMMENTARY
A 'glorious mongrel'
..
The language that some Americans want to defend againstforeign
. invasions is 'itselfa multicultural sm;drgasbord ofborrowed words
.
;
·1
: i
.
l'
I
:I
I
, I
:i
.'
.
.
.
:
.
ack in 1780, John Adams urged the creation'. of an . own coinages, the many "Americanisms" they invented
American academy with a loftY mission - to keep the . words like groundhog, lightning rod, belittle (minted by Thom
.
English language pure. The Continental Congress, pre-. .' as :Jefferson). SeaJxxud - new words for a new land. But
.' occupied with other challenges (such as winning independ-,( American English· also adopted American Indian terms'
encefrom~ritain).lettheproposaldie,Andwiselyso.ltwould
. (mostly place. names) and welcomed useful words brought·
have been like giving a courtesan a chastity belt for her birth-across the water by immigrants. The Dutch supplied pit. (as "
day. ''The English language," as Carl Sandburg once observed,
found in fruit) and boss (as found in the front office), sleigh, .
"hasn't got where it is by being pure." Not from the get go.
snoop and spook. Spanish supplied filibuster and bonanza;
'-. The language that many now seek to shore up against the
Yiddish enabled Americans .to kibitz sch.rnucks who sold .•
babel of America's multicultural
.. ~.:: .' ', .. '
schlock or made schnutJ.tz.
'.'
'::;
masses is . itself a smorgasbord
Big dictionarr.Today, after t.S00
Yearsofprom.iscUousacquisitiveness, .
(Swedish) ofWords borrowed from
the vocabulary ofEnglish is vast. The
foreign tongucs.1bree out of four
words in the dictionary, in fact,
. Oxford English Dictionary lists more
are foreign born. Sometimes anglithan 600,000 words; German has few- .,;
. cized, sometimes not, many loan
er than one third that number,
words are so familiar that most EngFrench fewer than 'one sixth. What
makes English mainmoth and unique
lish speakers are aware of their exotis.its great sea of synonyms, words
ic origins only vaguely if at all. We
with roughly the same meaning but
can borrow sugar from a neighbor
different connotations, different lev
only because English borrowed the
.word from Sanskrit centuries ago.
~1s of formality and different effects
Ask your pal (Romany) to go to the
on the ear. Anglo-Saxon words are
opera (Italian), and he may prefer'
blunt, Latin words learned, French
words musical. English speakers can
instead to go hunting in the boondocks (Tagalog), to pray pOw (Tibetcalibrate the tone and meter of their
prose with great precisiolL They may
an) or to visit the zoo (Greek) to
end (Anglo-Saxon). finish (French)
test his skill (Danish) at milking a
camel (Hebrew), after which he may
or conclude (Latin) their remarks. A
girl can befair(Anglo-Saxon),belluti
need a shampoo (Hindi). Whether
silly or scholarly. many sentences
ful (French) or lltln1.aive (Latin). A
have equally rich lineages, ilIustratbully may evoke fear (Anglo-Saxon), .
terro.r (French) ortn!pidation (Latin)..
ing Dorothy Thompson's aphorism
(Greek) that English is a "glorious
Its depth and precision have .
and imperial mongrel" (mongrel, fithelped make English the foremost
tingly, being pure English).
.
language of science, diplomacy and
English itself is one of history'S
international business-and the me-
most energetic immigrants.· Three
dium of T-shirts from Tijuana to
, northern European tribes, the AnTimbuktu. It is the native tongue of
gles, the Saxons and the Jutes, got the enterprise started.by
350 million people and a second language for 350 million
more. Half th'eboob being published in the world are in
invading Britain around AD. 449. The Vikings arrived from
English; so is 80 percent of the world's computer text. WhiJe
Scandinavia in AD. 793 to mix it up, battle-ax against battle-.
ax, adverb against adverb. The Norse and Anglo-Saxon
Americans debate bilingualism, foreigners learn English, Its
tongues' melded, enriching the word hoard. Example: You
. popularity is fed by U.S. wealth and power, to be sure. But
reared a child (Anglo-Saxon) or raised a child (Norse). As every
Richard Lederer, author of The Miracle of.Language and
other books on the peculiarities of English, believes the lan-
schoolchild used to know, the Nonnan French conquered
guage's "internationality" has innate appeal. Not only are
England in 1066. Th.e language of the Saxon peasantry then
English's gran,imar and syntax relatively simple, the lan
conquered the Nonnan aristocracy. The result was tongue
guage's sound'system is flexible and "user friendly" .-foreign
that kept its Germanic structure but took in a huge new
words tend to be pronounced the same as in their original
vocabulary of French words and through it Latin and Greek
tenns, Traders, warriors, scholars; pirates and explorers all did . tongues. "We have the most cheerfully democratic and hos
their part to advance English's cosmopolitan destiny.
pitable language that ever existed," Lederer says. "Other
The language was happily spiced with words from 50. lanpeople recognize .their language in ours."
•
guages even before the opening of the New World offered
By GER,4.LD PARSHAlL .
fresh avenues. Americans quickly became known for their .
B
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11
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,
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,
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,
'II
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•
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Three, aU,t o/flour words, in,' the. '.
dictionary are foreign born.
a
43
US.NEWS & WORLD REPORT. SEPTEMBER 25, 1995
�'.
i' -'- _
/
n
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESS~ON
S.356
,
,
To amend title 4,United ,States Code, to: declare English as the official
,
language of th~ Government of the United States.
IN THE SENATE OF THE,'UNITED STATES
,
.
3 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995
Mr. SHELBY (for himself and Mr. COVERDELL) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the 'Committee on Governmental Affairs,
'FEBRUARY
A BILL
To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English
as the official language of the. Goyernment of the Umted
'
ffi~~.
.
i
,
·1
Be it enacted by the Senate: and House of Representa
2 tives of the United States ofA.m~rica in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITI..E.
4
This Act may be cited ,as the "Language of Govern-
S ment Act
ofl~95".
6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND CONSTRUGTION.
F
7
(a) FINDlNGs.-The Congress finds and declares
8 that
�2
1
(1), the, United States is comprised of individ
,
•
,
'I
2
uals and groups from' diverse ethnic, cultural, and
3
linguisti~
backgrounds;
,
,
'4
5
'(2) the United States: has benefited and contin
ues to' benefit' fr9ID this rich diversity; ,
,
6
,
(3) throughout the history of the Nation, the
'
.
- I .
7
common, thread binding ,those of differing back
8
grounds has been a common language;
,9
(4) in order to preserve unity in diversity, and
•
:
4
10
to prevent division along linguistic lines, the United,
11
States should maintain a language common to all
12
people;;
13
(5) English has historically been the' common
14
language' and the language of opportunity in the
15
United States;
16 '
(6), the purpose <?ftius Act is to help immiI;
17
grants b~tter assimilate arid take, full advantage' of
18
'economie and occupational opportunities in the Unit
19
ed States;
20
(7) by learning the English language, immi
, 21
grants will be empowered ,with the language skills
22
: and literacy necessary to become responsible citizens
23
and productive workers in the United States;
,
24
25 '
(8) the use of a' single common language in the
conduct of the Federal ~vernment's official busi
�3
, I
•
1
ness will promote efficie'ilcy and .fairness to all peo
2 '
pIe;
3
' (9) English should ,be recognized in law as the
4
langu~ge of official busfuess of the Federal' Govern
5
ment; and
t
6
(10) any monetary :savings derived by the Fed
'7
'era! Goverriment: from i,the enactment of this Act
,
,
'
8
should be used for the . teaching of non-English '
9
speaking immigra'ilts
th~
English language.
"
12
(1) are not intende9. in any way to discriminate
13
against or restrict the rights, of any individual in the
.
....
.
14
United States;
.
15
"' (2) are not intend~d to discourage or prevent
16
the use of languages other than English in any
'
17
.
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nonofficial capacity; and,,"
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18 . .
19
20
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(3) eXcept where
all
'
existing law of the United
States directly contrave~es th~ amendments made by
.
I
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sectiori 3 '(suc4 as by requiring the use of a language
"
21
22
other than English for qfficial business of the Gov
.
..
ernm~nt
of the United $tates), are not intended to
i'
23
repeal existing laws of the United States.
•8858 IS
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,
1
1 SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF GOVERN·
,
"
2
.
MENT.
3
,(a) IN GENERAL.-Title 4, United States Code,
IS
I,
4 amended by adding at the end, the following new chapter:
5,
"CHAPTER 6-LANGUAGE OF THE
6
GOVERNMENT
"See.
"161.
, "162.
"163.
"164.
"165.
Deel~ation of official language of Gov~rnment. '
Presen;ing and enhancing the role of the official language.
Official Government activities in English. ,
Standing~
Definitions.
'
7 "§ 161. Declaration of official language of Govern
8
9
:ment
'''The official language of 'the Government of the
10Uruted States is Enilish.
11 "§ 162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi
12
13
ciallanguage
"
,
"The Goverriment shall ~ave; an affirmative obligation
14 to preserVe and enhance'the role ;of English as the official
I
15 language of the United States Government. Such obliga
"
16 tion shall include encouraging gr~ater opportunities for in
17 dividuals to learn the English language.
18 "§ 163. Official Government activities in English
19
"(a) CONDUCT OF BUSINEss.-The' Government
20 shall conduct its offici81 business in English.
21
"(b) DENIAL OF SERVICES.-:No person shall be de
22 nied services, assistance, or facilities, directly or indirectly
•s 3IS6 IS ,
:'
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5
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1 provided bi the Goverrunent solely because the· person
2 communicates in English.
"(c) ENTITLEMENT~-Every person
3
ill
the United
4 States is entitled to-'
5
"(1) communicate ,Vith the Government in Eng.;
lish·
,
6
'7
"(2) 'receive ",information from or contribute in
8
formation to the Govermilent in English; and
!'
,
. H(3) be informed of or be subject to official or
9
"
• 10"
. ' ders in, English.
11.~.unU
12
".Any person alleging injUry arising from a violation
13 of this chapter sha1l have stkding to sue in the courts
14 of the United States under sections 2201 and 2202 of title '
.
15 28, United States Code" and f.or such other relief as may
,
16 be considered appropriate by the courts.
17
18
"§ 165.,Defiriitions .
"For purposes of this chapter:
19 .
"(i) GDvERNMENT.-.
,The term 'Government'
20'
means all branches of"the, Government of the United
21
States and all employees ;and officials of the GovernI
22
ment of the United States while performing official
23
business.
"(~) OFFICIAL'
24
25
'busines~,'
-885G IS
BUSThTEss.-The term 'official
means those governmental actions" docu
�6
1
ments; or policies which are enforceable with the full
2
weight fpld authority of the Goverrunent, but does
3
not include
"
4
"(A) teaching of,foreign languages;
5
"(8) actions, d6cuments, 'or policies that
,
6
•
are not enforceable
,
,!
•
iI,l the UnitedStates;
7
,'. ~'(C) actions, documents, or policies nec
8
essary for international relations, trade, or com
9
merce;
"
"(D)' actions or :doc1lIIl:ents that protect the
10
pu~lic
11
12
health;
".(E) actions that protect the rights of vic
13
tims of crimes or cri¢nal defendants; and
I
"(F) documents' that utilize terms of art or
14
15
' phrases from languages other than English.".
;
16
. (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.--The table of chap
17 ters for title 4, United States' Code, is amended by adding
18 vat the end the following new it~m:
,.
"6. I.anguage of the Government :................................................
161ft.
19 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION.
20
This Act. (and the amendments made by this Act)
21 shall ,not preempt any law of any State. '
22 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
23
,The amendments made by section 3 shall take effect
24 upon the date of enactment '~f this Act, except that no
-8856 IS
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7
1 suit may be commenced to enforce or determine rights
2 under the amendlnents until January 1,1996.
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-8818 IS
I'
�H.R.123 As passed by the House (Engrossed)
104lh CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. h3
...-...-- .....-... ---- ... -..--- ......... ~.............
.
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AN ACT
To amend title 4. United States Code. to declare English as Ih~ official langu~ge ~f the G~verninento( the United 'States.
=~==========================J=
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Re it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Statds of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION I, SHORT TiTLE,
' , '
This Act may he cited as the "Bill Emerso~ English Language Empowerment!IAct of 1996". :
TITLE I·-ENGLISH LANGUAGE EMPOWERMENT
SEC, 101. FINIJINGS.
The Congress finds and declares the following:
(I) The United States is comprised of individual~ and groups from diverse ethnic, cultural. and linguistic backgr~unJs.
(2) The' United States has benefited and continues to benefit from this rich diversity.
;
.
(1) Throughout ,the history of the United Statt:s, the' common thread binding individuals of differing backgrounds has
been a commoll language.
i'
(4) In order to preserve unity in diversity. and to previmtdivision along linguistic lines, the Federal Government
should maintain 11 1l1ngu8ge common to all people.
;
(5) English has hi~torica\Iy been the common languag~ 'and the language of opportunity in the United States,
(6) T he purpose' of this titlc i~ to help immigrants better a:ssimilate and lak~· full lldvo.ntagc of economic and
occupational opportunities in the United States,
.
I
(7) 13y learning the English language, immigrants will he empowered with :the language skills and literacy necessary
to become responsible citizens and productiv,e workers in the United ~talcs.
(8) The u~c of a single common language in conducting official busines'so,f the Federal Government will promote
efficiency and fairness La all people.
; .
(9) English should be recognized in law as the language of official businesl~ of the Federal Government. '
(10) Any monetary savings derived from the enactment 'of this t.itlc shoulclpe useu for the teaching of the English
lunguagc to non~English speaking immigranfs.
'
SEC. 102, ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE Of FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
(a) In General.-·Title 4, UnitcdStatc!i: Code. is amended by adding at the cri~ the following new chapter:
,
"CHAPTER 6··LANGUAGE OF TIlE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT' '
"Sec .
• 161. Declaration of official language of Federal Go~ernmt:nl .
"162, Preserving and enhancing the role of the officlf11 language
"163, Official federal Go....crnmcntactivities in English
"'64, Standing
"165, Rt:fmm of naturalization requirements
"1M Application'
"167. Rule of\,=onstruction
"16M. Affinnulion or constitutional protections
"169. Definitions
.'
,
, .
"Sec. 161, Declaration o[ official language of Federal Government
"The official language of the Federal Government is English.
·See. 1(,2. Preserving and enhancing thc role of the official language.
. ,!
"Representatives of the Fedcral Government shall have an arfinnative obligation to preserve and enhance Ihe
role of English as the official language of the Federal Government. Such obligatiull shu11 include
. encouraging greater opportunities [or individuals to learn the English language.
�"
·Sec. ·163. Official Federal Government activities in English
·(a) Conduct of Business', •• Representatives of the Federal Government shall donduct its official business in English.
u(b) Denial of Services.··No person shall be denied services, assistance, or facilities, directly or indirectly provided hy .
the Fcdcral' Government solely because the person communicates in English.
UCe) Entitlement.··Every person in the United States is entitled-,
"(I) to communicate with reprcsentatives of the Federal Government in English;
"(2) to receive information from or contribute information to th,e Federal Governmcnt in English; anu
"(3) to, be infonned of or be subject to official orders in English.
'
!
"Sec. 164. Standing
.
n A pcrson injurcd by a violation of this chapter may .in a civil action Cincluding an action under chapter 151 of title 2R)
obtain appropriatc relief.
·1
"Sec. 165, Reform of naturalization requirements
"(a) Fluency.··It has been the longstanding national belief that full citizenship in the United States requires tlucncy in
English. English is the language of opportunity for all immigrants to take their rightful place in society in the United
States.
"(b) Ccrcmonics.·7All authorized officials shall conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in English,
"Sec. 166. Application
.
. .
:1
"Except' u~ otherwi:le provid~d in this chapter. the provisions of this chapter shall supersede any existing Federal law
that contravenes such provisions (sllch as by requiring the use of a language other than English for official husiness of
the Federal Government).
"Sec. 167. Rule of construction
"Nothing in this chapter shall be construed-·
I
"(1) to prohibit a Member of Congress or an employee or official of the feder~l Government, while performiuB official
business, from communicating orally with another person in a language other, than English:
"(2) to limit the preservation or use of Native Alaskan or Native American lari'guages (as defined in the Native
American Languages Act);
I
"0) to discriminate against or rest;ict the rights of any individual in the country; and
.
I
"(4) to discourage or prevent the usc of languages other than English in any nonofficial capacity.
"Sec. 16!!. Aflinnation of constitutional protections
'
"Nothing in this ehupter shall be construed to be inco~sistcnt with the Constitution of the Unitcd States.
"Sec. 169. Definitions
.
~For purposcs of this chaptcr:
"(I) federal govcrruncnt.--The term 'Federal Go ....crn":!ent' means all branches ~r the national Governmenl and all
employees and officials of the national Govcrnment while performing otTlciai business,
"(2) Orricial business.··The term 'official business' means governmental actions. documents. or polH.:il!s which arl!
enforceable with the full weight and authority of the Federal Government, and includes publications. income tax forms.
and informational materials. hut does not inc1ude-- ,
'
.
"CA) teaching of languages;
"(13) re4uirements under the Individuals with Disahilities Education Act;
nCe) actions. documents. or policies necessary for··
.
Uti) national security issues; or
U{ii) international relations. trade. or conunerce;
"CD) actions or documents that protect the public health and sufety: i:
"CE) actions or documents that facilitatc the activities of thc Bureau :01' theCellsus in I:ompililig allY ~CIISU:; of
populalion;
"(F) actions. documents. or policies that are not enforceable in the United States;
"(G) uetions Ihnt proleet thl! rights of victims of crimes or criminal defendants·,
"(II) actions in which the United States has initiated !t civil luwsuit;or
.
"(1) using It:nns of art or phrases from languages other than English.',
"(3) United Statl!s,··The tenn 'United States' means the several States and the District of Columhia ....
(h) Conforming Amendment.··The table of chapters for title 4. United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
.
the following new item:
l~l",
"6, ~anguage of tht! Federal Government............................
.
�SEC. 103. PREEMPTION.
l'
This title (and the amendments made by this title) shall not preempt any law,:of any Sta~e.
,
SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE DATE.
,
The amendments made by section 102 shall take effect on the date that is 180 daysafter the dale of enactment of this
Act.
TITLE H--REPEAL OF BILINGUAL VOTING REQUIREMENTS
"
SEC. 201. REPEAL OF BILINGUAL VOTING REQUIREMENTS
.
.
(a) Bilingual Election Requiremcnts.--Section 203 of the Voling Rights Act ~f 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa-la) is repealed.
(b) Voting Rights.--Scclion 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U,S,C. '
197Jb) is amended by striking subsection (f). ,
'!
SEC. 202. CONFORMfNG AMENDMENTS.
(a) References to Section'20:4.--The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S,C,1973 et seq.) is amended-
(I) in section 204, by striking "or 203:; am.!
"
(2) in section 205, by striking", 202, or 203" and inserting 'or 202".' !
(h) References to Section 4.--The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U,S.C.1913' et seq.) is amended-
(1) in sections 2(a), 3(a), 3(b). 3(c), 4(d). 5, 6, and 13, by striking·, or in contravention of the guarnntees set
forth in section 4 ( f ) ( 2 ) " ; .
..
;:
(2) in paragraphs (I)(A) and (3) of section 4(a), by striking "or (in the :cal'>e of a Slate or subdivision ~eeking a
declaratory judgment under the second sentence of this subsection) in ~ontravention of Ihe guarantees of
subsection (f)(2)"~
.
(3) in paragraph (I )(R) of section 4(a), by striking' "or (in the case of ~ Stale or subdivision seeking a declaratory
judgment under the second sentence of this subsection) that denials or abridgements of the right to vote in .
contravention of the guarantees of subsection (0(2) have occurred anywhere in the tertitory o( such State or
subdivision"; /lnd
.
.
(4) in paragraph (5) of seelion 4(a). by striking ·or (in the case of a State or subdivision which sought a
declaratory judgment under the second sentence of this subsection) that denials or abridgements of the righl 10
.
I
vote in contravenlion of the guarantees of subsecti,on (0(2) have occurred anywhere in the territory of such Stale
(lr suhdivision",
I
Passed the House of Represcntativc~ August I, 1996.
Attest:
Clerk.
I'
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e~02 514 549.~
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Vr$~bSPA.Rr}'lENr; OF JUSTIG,E
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,OfFICE OF LEGISLATIVE ' ,
AFFAIRS
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PHONE:
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,Fax:' 514-5499
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DATE:
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From:
Subject:
Thursday,' July 25,
..
i~96
9 '; 49 am
SHOO,;3 (TRASVINA)
,
Weekly Wh'i'te Howse info due by 11, am -Rep
'J
Update Lhe Engllsh, Only section: , , T h e , House Ecoriomic and
Educational opportu.riities Committee approved, 19-17;, alo11g party
li.hes',' H. R..' 123 I ~",bill to' make English the 9£ ficial language of
government,
The Adm'ini'stration 'strongly opposed the bill and
briefed Comrrii.ttee 'melubel.',s;,Amendment,s" Q,f.fAred' ,by, Democratic
membe'rs were, narl"otlJly defeated.
These' ame'fldments wOl)ld have
pro'vtded exernpti(,])115 ,for agencies
which' determined
that
imp1ementation wou:t.d no I;. se~-ve government' effj"ciency and would
have declared t:he· SensE:!! of Congress that all resident.s :,.;hould
speak English find other 'language and that adult English programs
should be bet.I::'Al;'ful1ded.
House floor act ion, in conjunct.ion
~ith H.R~. 351, the-Bilinyual Ballot R~pcal bill, is pos~ibl~ fol"
hexe weAk.
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~(Jc'l\l~~iUgtott ~ne~', '
·'. :'
*THURSPAY, JULy 25,i996
,.
...
"
Panel OKs bill to make English .
official language of government
,
h
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Democtat~ label measure 'mean~spirited' in, bitter debate__ J .(~n!,;2
By Brian Blomquist
bilTo~'cr::o~~~~e~~f~fi~gU~n~~
was defeated, 100keUJor loopholes
'M'"o""'lin·'an'· te'US'"'W'"o;m',"e:"n"',"'.:,'
'
"
Ie, 'des'e' es'" the'·.'If· t'e''>::
" 'ir.o:
THE~~:'::T:;T:~tiee yesterday'
i~r:;:n~~~~~J::~a~~J~~,i~~ D'o'
ap'proved a bill that~ul~ require, the government to use other, lan-,
' M 7i
'.1 ,y 1 ,
"
Y1
,,:"
the federal governlluintto conduct
guages in "documents that utilize"
" ','
''
"
, : ' , " :', ' " ::,.. '"
"'/::,
,
" "
its official business only in ,Eng-
,terms of art or phrases from lan
Ush.
siti~n o~th~ ~b~riiciri debate~;~:::'
: guages other than English?'
, ,The Republican-backed bill;
ing in the GOP.
",'",",':
Democrats and Republicans By Laurie Kellman
TME WASHINGTON TIMES
"There is a gender' gap' that
which Democrats attacked, as
sparred over whether l!uch an ex
KING OF PRUSSIA,' Pa. _
shoWs up in poll after pOll against".:,
"mean-spirited:' ,woul" , establish
,ception would apply to'the words,
Republican, ,candidates,',' M!s."
English as the official language of
'~E Pluribus Unum" that appear on , EliZabeth Bodner can barely' af
"
the U.S. government.
, ,U.S. currency, arid whether coins ford to' kee'p ,her Pittsburgh-area
Molinari' said. ','The, fact remains'
, The full House is expected to
could lead to lawsuits., ",
coin-operated laundry open, but, that some RepubliCans and some '::
, vote on the politiCally popular bill'
,"This an increasingly" bizarre' she can't afford to close it.
'
,Deinocratsdeserve' to have a gen 7,:,
in September. A similar bill, has , and twisted debate:' said Rep. Tim
der gap, but.not Bob Dole."
,.'
The reasons: Keeping up with
been introduced in the Senate. , ' Roemer, Indiana Democrat.
' federal regUlations takes up half, ,IIi typical rapid-response style: '
her time.' The government sucks aides to Clinton-Gore '96 showered
,The House Economic and Edu'
up, most of her money. And the
reporters with Small Business' Ad' ,
cational Opportunities Committee
voted 19-7 for the "En,g'lish Lan
,mfuimum-wage increase passed ministration' statistics showing, "'"
'
that under this admjnistration, . :'
b Y Congress thi s month likely will
, guage Em,p'owerment Act," which
· h may have' ' SBA loans to women increased 300'
' sap whatever prof It sh e d
was crafted by Rep. Randy "Duke"
'--'- h
'
"percent while i,t has",cut' its, own "'.
rnad e aUUYC tho over ea :
Cunningham, Cali,fornia Republl,
, "I
ke no er
"ron" the budget by nearly 40 percent. And, '
rna d
mg, no I?d If'
one Democratic aide noted, it was ,:. "',:
c a n . , ' "
S4-year-ol mother 881 'd ter a 'Mr.. Dole who allowed t he mini' '".
a
..
The fl've hours ofdeba'te preced
h h ere b y GOP presl ential , mum wage increase insisted upon
"
ing the vote grew testy and per
speec
' ,hopefulBob Dole. '
' , "My ,husband gets no pension by the a,dministration to come to
sonal at tjmes, a likely glimpse 0f
'" I,: ,:'
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,the ,fight toc6meon the House'
8rter 44 yearS working in a small the floor this year. ,
Mr. Dole's Visit to Pennsylvania ", ;,'
floor.' ' , " ,
'
business. I pay au our health care:'
she said. "We were hoping thi_s ciune as a new Keystone Poll for
Rep: LYnn Woolsey, California
'Democrat, said the Republicans
,laundroIilatwotild give us a pen
Pennsylvania news organizations ,,' '"
Would "harmchildten" with the
sion, but all it does is Pay our bills."
showed that Gov. 1bm Ridgewould ";,,'
bill because it would prevent some
' Mrs. Bodner is the face of the not help Mr. Dole win the state,if
' ,,,
women from' reading government
' constituen'cy who overwhelmingly the GOP candidate picks him.for, .'''''
the ticket. ,The poll of 500 regis-, ,
forms that would enable them to
flock to President Clinton's' re:
get'food for their children.
election campaign- working
tered voters .found that with Mr.' ,:~
Women. Yesterday at a papeN:lip Riage as the running mate, 19 per-- ,
, Mr. 'Cunningham decried the
""d'-e'm'ag'ogue'ry" of the deba't'e, 'd'e '
' plant inherited and owned by cent of the respondents would be'
,
Linda Froehlich, with Rep. Susan more likely' to vote, for Mr. Dole,
fending himself and other Repub
Molinari' at his side for' the first while another 19 percent said they
'time,Mr. DOle began in earnest to would be less likely to cast ballots,
licans from charges that the bill is
, W o o them to the GOP.'
for him. - ,
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racist.,
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"IwillinviteLindaand ... tbou , " AtHope'sCountrY.'FreshCook~
, "If we Were,racists, we would
·tell immigrants we don't want·
,"
,.. ,
sands of·other women to a·first·· '~es,:founded and owned· by busi-..
them to learn English:: Mr. Cun
, ever 'White ·House conference Co
nesswoman' Hope Spivak, 'F1ick, ::"" , ;
'cusing,on how we can niake the Mr.Dole refused to say whether'.- :'i,;,;,,'
nmgtiam said in an interview. "We
" would say to them, 'We want you t!J '
dream of, owning a, business a re
Mr. Ridge topped his list of hop~ ";.1: :',:': ;
use your o~n language.' '
' a l i t y for more and more and more' fuls. But he made clear that the, f:';::i".'
, "Thday, there are so: many sup
Ariterican women:' Mr. Dole said. I governor is on the list, and hite yes- ' ,::T.:,,:'
'During his speech to several I , ~rday retreatet!to spend private,:, :' ,',;",
port areas funded by the govern
hundred supporters at Mrs. Froe
'",','
,: :
time with Mr:Ridge.,
ment, they actually prohibit peo
lich's Ace Wire Spring & Form Co.
"He's a gOod man:' Mr. Dole told :'. '
pie from leaming English."
i . , Inc., Mr. Dole also pledged to back
reporters' after sampling Hope's', ,
PubliC, support for pro-English
I"
legislation that would restore the cookies. "We'll announce thatlater., '
iflglslationis high. A recent Gallup ,,'
Poll found that 82 percent of voters
home-office tax deduction re
I' haven't yet made a' decision:,:
'
"
duCed by the Supreme Court in We're going ,through the proc,ess;'i'
supportpresidential candidate 'Bob' ,
su ch a measure.
to be very h '
1993,' to abolish the IIi'temal Rev
D
onestabout i" ,', '' ,,'"
t.
GOt ,
,
, enue Service, and to appoint a task ,:
Pennsylvania is a ,battleground
Dole, supports the bill, and 22
' ,,'.!"-",':,'
ii' e to I'den'tif unnecessary' bu ' state' that ha' i ked
'd
'
states have declared English their
,
-~
orc
y
-' "
s, p c
presl ents""
reaucratic hurdles'for small busi~ every year since '1972. Its 23 elec-" ,
offiCial language. President Clin~
•
,nesseserected by the federalgov
toral votes put it near the tOp in, ' '
ton, who signed a similar bill as
,".
,
errimerit. "
influence on the bOrder of the iib
governor of Arkansas in 1987, h a s , "I want too~er policies that will eral and populous Northeast.', ",! "
not taken a position on the Cun~'
, guarantee the, eXpansion - and,
The Keystone poll showed that ,"
ningham bill.
'
not the extinction - of the Amer
Mr. Clinton's lead over Mr. Dole in'" "
'd
,ican dreamt Mr. Dole ~d.,'
Pennsylvania has, widened to, 24";
, Th ough t h e measure woul r e - M r s . Molinari yesterday test-,' points, up from 17points in 'April.,;,
quire federal agencies to use Eng- .. ' '
.drOve parts of her keynote speech The poll shows SCipercent .of Penn~' ,
lish in, their official' documents,
to the Republican National ~n~ sylvanians.wiU Vbte f~t.·Mr.' CHn~' .
there are several exceptions. 'Un
vention all' she s~ped forMr. . ton, while 32 percent support Mr.' .,
der the bill,the goVernment could
DOle.,', As she is expected to do ' Dole.,
,,' . , , . , ' ,
use other languages in language
. 'when the cOnvention opens Aug. 12 ' "Poll? Don'(worry about' pplls, ,;
in San' Diego, Mrs. Molinari left, Mr; Dole responded yesterday, in;
courses,.national-securitY pap~s,
international, relations or com
. out mention of her prO:-choicepo- ',,'the, Phillldel~~ia ,suburb .. , If ,"" '
'merce' papers, public safety doc
uments and census documents.
Mr. Cunningham's bill does. not
" J '.
go as far as other GOP measures
that would abolish' bilingual edu
, . cation, and in being IIPproved by ,
the House panel, his proposal is
,; ..,' .,.}',
closer to enactment than the other
, ."~ . ~ :. ':: _ ,.
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bills.
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Political'Briefing. .H~useP~nel ApprQvf!S Bill M(,lki,ifif~l
Strategy"
THE 'rATES A~:::"I5~:~ ..;,~" Colna"n' EizglishOfficial Lci~~~ ):;!~WP~,
~:;%'e:h~o~~!~~~J~~,II~~~p~~IUf:'
SCHMI~
::·~)t{it~i}\
'By ERIC
.;'1.'.:::.:.> '.
. WASHINGTON; July 24
A.
_ _ _ ...
: "J.' ,: ".'
House· committee narrowly' ap- ~~~ine'a major. campaign Issue.::,:,.i\'/'·
proved a bill today making English As wrltten, the bill seeks. to '~help7'::I:l'(,
the. official language of the· United Immigrants bEitter. assimilate"·. al!d:;;(/:
Democrats are trying to turn
States, "
.
'''em wer'~ them with new language; .:."f::,
Speaker Newt' Gingrich Into a scary . Welfsre
. Republicans and Democrats, In and ~eracy sldlls. .' '. ' . ::>;<',,:",:;
symbol of th~ right, but who 'can be.
.
five hours. of sharply partisan de- "There are an'lncreaslng number;:;;;:.':'i:.
the counterpart symbol for theRe· WellstoneStandSbate,agreed that English Is already,
I h
itcompetebecause:"'/'!
' . .
the principal language of govern- of poop e, w 0 can '.
k En ~':f7'.'<:
publtcans? Judging from some re·,
cent commercials and news releas. Alone. In Voting
ment, commerce and everyday life. they.~on t read,.~rlteor speag':~;:.i~::,:
es, some Republicans are turning to
.' . ' .
'. .
In this nation. But they were widely IIsh, . said RepresentativE! Rand~,:;~. :.:':(:
their tried and true standard of IIber·
"Welfare Reform". has become a
divided on whether to codify that fact,C~nnlngham,.~. callt~:nI.~Re~~~lt~U,t::ir~
alism: Senator Edward M. Kennedy' powerful political value,.accordlng to . In law and, more deeply,over what can~
.'
'.
:' "'~:~gJ:'\
of Massachusetts.
. .'
many strateglsts,ranklng right up
cultural,' moral and language traits· . But when challenged to docum~.nt,,:::.;i{r';
. In Minnesota, for example, a re- there with a strong .defenseand a 'deflned whatlt means to be an Amer. this Increase, Mr. Cunnlngham.,a~::::;:i5~;'·F
cent commercial for the National' hard-nosed attitude toward crime.
. Ican.
.
. , knowledged that his assertlon,wlI$+\Y:;
~epubUcan .SenatorlaJ '. Comm.lttee
A case study came In the Senate
Republicans, at a hearing of the largely. bas.ed on. an.ecdotal e:Vldenc~~':::N:;'
asserted that Senator Paul Wellstone this week when only 24 senators vot· '. House EconomiC and Educational from canvassing' people In his dl.~·.;.i:;:~ii::
"spends more money than Ted Ken- ed against the leglshitlon' that was , '. OpportUnities Committee, sal~ their trlctnear San Diego.' '.' '. '. ":~;·7:";'/.:;\:<
nedy."
. promoted by Its backers as a first . bill wO,uld halt .~ worrisome tren~
To attract support from moderate,!'.":"
.The committee has 81so begun Is· step toward "reforming" the welfare, toward creating language ghettos , Republicans, th.e bill's sponsors, did ':::;'.:.
suing a"Kennedy lildex" that ranks system, although critics asserted It
that are leaVing Irnmlgr~ts unpre- . not, try to eliminate flnanclng-;for:,),{:
.' Pllred for the job market and forcing .blllngualeducation. The bll1'~ deftnl.·';'.;:,;::
Democratic senators on the percent; waspunltlve to poor children.
age of times they have voted .wIth the
Only one of those 24 !S running for
the.Government to accommodate tlon of official business that must be :; •....•
. Senator from Massachusetts.
. re-election this year: Sena~r.paul . non-English speakers wIth docu- conducted In English alSo exempts,'"
,And a new commercial by the ~e- Wellstone, Dem~rat of Minnesota, " ments, ~e~lces and billpgual classes hmguage instruCtion and documents': ' i
publican National Co~mlttee shows, .who faces a fierce' challeogefrom . .In several other: languages. "
or policies necesSary for national:.'
. "I do not wilnt to see the country
.
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President Clinton and. Mr. Kennedy the man he defeated six years ago,
· as "liberal Democrats" blocking the Rudy Boschwlt%.
. become ethnic en~aves," said Rep-' securlty, public health and saf~ty... '
'~common-senseapproach" to health
Mr.Wellstonewas already under
resentatlve Marge Roukema, a New
Proponents of ~~I ~1I say :ccom~:.: .:
heavy fire on the welfare Issue.from
Jersey Republican.
.' . modatlng non-Eng s spea ers l~>:>
care· advanced by the Republicans.
·. D
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his Republican opponents who had'
But Democrats said the bill was costly. In I994,for example, the In .
an McLagan, a spokesman for . .
,.
.
. tit tI I
d ternal Revenue Service printed and ....
unnl~Tharyls'l' ujncons
o~a aan dl,trll;uted500 000 Ineome-t.ax forms."
·the NatiOna.I. Rep1,1bllcan ·senato.rlal .' unleashed a wave of angrY commer·
blll
rac SL
s ust a gu se or
. . '
Committee said" Mr Kennedy re- clals and press releases 'on his wei·
.' nialned a powerful symbOl.. . .
fare. stand and even erected. a blll~
that's built on bias 'and bigotry," said In Spanl~ at a _C()~t.~f $113,000. Only .
"Just .t)le phrase ...;. more liberal boarG across from his Minnesota.. Representative Matthew G. Marti· .718 of the forms were returned. . . .
nez. a -California Democrat.
~'Ainerlca Is it dIVerse country, but
than Ted Kennedy .;..: Is powerful campaign headquarters, denouncing
when It's true~" Mr, McLagan said. him as "Senator Welfare."
.
The vote to s~d the blU tQ the when we conduct business It should'
"It's like saytilg rlcher than Bill
After the vote, the BoschwlU cam· .. House floor, wllere It will probably be be In ~ngllsh," said Representative
considered In September, was 19 to Lindsey Graham, Republican or
Gates and tougher' than Arnold patgn declared that Mr. Wellstone
17, along party lines. i. similar bill Is .. South. Carolina.' .
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· ·Schwarzenegger." .
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had "missed. the boat· on the most
" .. Jeannie' Kedas, a spOkeswoman comprehensive and reasonable wei·: pending In a Senate committee.
. But crltlcs 'of the bill said more
· for. Mr. . Kennedy. counterl:'d, fare reform blll.a.f a gener,atlon."
The : Clinton' Administration' th.an· 97 percent of Americans al·
JohnUllyot, .a Boschwlu cam· . strongly opposes the bill. which Is the ready speak English well, and that 99
· "They're rUMlng away from their
record of slashing Medicare, slash· . palgn spokesman, said that the vote
latest effort In a decade-long cam. percent of all Government docu
'.Ilig e~ucatlon and trashing. the: envl· would "absolutely"· hurt ~e Demo
palgn by Engllsh-only proponents to ments are published In English.
· ronment,and they:ll try anything to . cratlc candidate and asse~ed, "He.'s
dec.lare English the sole .language Moreover, Democrats said, the most
..
. .way to the left of President Clinton' used to make policy and to curb the pressing need Is not.a Engllsh·lan
· . change the subject.'~
" . '
: Mr. Kennedy, by the way, Is not on on thiS."
spread of bilingual education and' guage law, but more-English classes
bWnguaJ ballots. Bob Dole, theap
. " the ballot this year. .
Robert Greenstein, director ot the
for'lmmlgrants. English classes In
. '
Center on Budget and POlicy Priorl-· parent. .• Republican Presidential." community cOlleges In Los Arigeles
'Th~ South' .
. ties, a Ilberal research and'advocacy nominee, has supported the Idea of are filled 24 hours a day, ~d the
group, sa,ld of Mr. Wellstone's' vote,
making English the country's offiCial waiting IIs~ for some English classes ..
. "It's this year's outstanding profile.
language,' although It has not yet In New York City Is as long as three
"
years, legislators said. . . '
In courage."
. ROBIN .TONER
,
ou'ellng factS~~side, the most lin· .
.])ol~'sChallenge
. passionate debate focused on what ...·
the English language means to this
" 'A new measure of the challenge
. nation of Immigrants. '.
, facing Bob Dole: A survey In North
"English language Is an Important,
Carolina. considered something of a
glue for our society," said Repre· .
bellwether In the South, shows Mr.'
sentatlve' Tim' Hutchinson, Republl·
Dole with just a 2-polnt margin oVer
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can of Arkansas. '.
THURSDAY, /ULY25,1996
President Clinton.. ' .
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But many Democrats said there Is
.' Other stateWide. poliS; notably'
much more to the United States tlian
from Callfornla,' have shown a sub
a COmmon language. '~What hinds us .
stantlill Clinton lead.. Blit the North
together In this country Is our. free-.
· Carolina data may be particularly
doms and Ideals," said Representa·
worrlsome for Republicans, because
tlve Gene Green, Democrat of Texas. :
· the' South Is coosldered the party's
,',
~·It's mOre than a language that.
'"
·.base In amassing the 270 electoral
makes .us Amerlcan."
.
· vote~ necessary to 'win. .'
The poll, conducted last Thursday
·through Saturday by Mason·Dlxon
Political/Media Research,' showed
· Mr. Dole with -46 percent of the vote:.
.,
to Mr. Clinton's 44 perc:ent. Mr.
, "',
Dole's lead had' eroded'" 13 points· .
· since .February, according to Mason~
Dixon. TIle latest sqrvey was based
, on Interviews with 812 likely voters
and had a margin of sampling et'ror
,of plus or minus four. percentage
points.'
.
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Whit Ayres:. a Republican pollster
.' t In Atlanta not connected to the Ma
· son·Dlxon poll, argljed. "Any South:
ern states that George BUSh won In.
. . 1992' ought .to be the foundation for a
", Dole' victory In 1996;". <Mr.. Bush,
against an all·Southern Democratic
· . ticket four years ago, carried. the
, South except for ArkanSas, Georgia,
Louisiana and. Tennessee.)
• Mr. Ayres maintained that Mr,
Dohi Could stabilize his Southern
base easily enough, by ollmlng a .
Republicans Counter of South Carolina, olie of the hotter
names on the
GingriCh ~care
. . at the moment,Vlce;Presldentlal·lIst •
at leas,t In the South,'
i
, Carolina PoII'RefleCts
.
THENBWYORKTiMBS . . " ~.,
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Victims' Families·
.Demand theFd~tS!
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'Coritriu#ctorjReporls Create Frustration
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[Thursday].
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"It's tremendously important that
::; NEW YORK., July' 24-One week the families be given first notification,·
THE WASHINCToNPOST '
" .the crash CiTram World AirliDes Pataki said to reporters after his mee~.
Plight 800,,neving relatives and ing with the victims' relatives. "Our
.Tm!RsDAf,JlJtY 25,1996
.
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.frleods d. tile dead ~ erupted goal is to get them as much iDforma-,
.In fntltxatiw over CXIIltndictory Ie- don. accurately, and 3l! quiddy &spos
~pta from gcJvennneut ~ and ' sible." .
'
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: MmmiIed immediate and)eJ~ble Dr . And the governor stuck by his earIifamIatir:II directly from the beachfront er announcement that divers believed'
, 'tXIIlmII11d about any ,progress .in the they had located Di3ny of the reolain
·-~far bodies.
,
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,
ing victims' bodies in the undersea
It" 'Tell U!,wbat youkDow,DOW,~ im-,.
wreck,sayiOg, "'We. were toId.tbat.,in- ..
pIared Joe LJDdmef Of Houston, who .formation by divers and believe it to be
, .bat hiswf!e m:I. two young daughters, accurate." Similarly, NTSBofficials
~ frr .the families sequestered
continued to say that every body Ioc:i.t- .
JDthe ballroom of airport bote! wait- ed by divers bad been promptly
m,g frr lnformatim. "Evaybody in that brought to'the sur:tac:e. .
,
.
rOIm baa already been hm:t as much as
'A New York state 0f:Iidal involVed in '
-:
tbey ~ am.·So ••• don't spare. theinvestjgationaafdthitthegovemor
us our teeIiDga.- "
'.
had made his ,StatemeDtS on Tuesday
President Clinton plans to Oy to . after being told by both Na", and New .'
New Yod\: 'Ibmaday, mOrning to,meet ' York state divers tbiit they bad person..
'1IIith the victims', families, the, White any seen that number of bodies while' "
.
Boase I1DI1OCJDa>4 today.
.
" , eean:hing the'debris field.; The ofIiciaJ,. .
DiVers brought up three more JxxI.: who .requested anOnymity.' said that,
sea ~ the ai:deraea wrec:bge today. federalaflidals may haw cmtradicted '
8Ild dfi:iaJa ~ that ImIght the total 'Pataki in a public briefing Tuesday eve
. Umher of bOdies rec:oVei:ed so far to Ding because they reaIi2e:l "it would
D
;
"
11'-. '.Ibere,!ftl'e 230peop1e abaaId. ' take days for'aalvIge'teiIms ,tobriDg " f
;~
, the.DJ.fatedaidiDer that eipIoded ina , the bodies 'to the SltI:6Ic:e aDd ,-4fd DOt ,
'fireball ,8hartIY after taking off from want to ilggravate the &miIies by~~ ,
Jcim. F. Kamedy IntematiaoalAirport' irig them wait 80 long.
.
list Wednesday evenmg, and,phmged. .In the past week. the moumiDgreJa..,
into tile 000IIII.
," '.,
" , tives have been 'befuddled by the ~
. The families' eusperation arid an- ' ply, of gowmment ofIiciaJs proffering
, ,I
get boiled ove:rlate' last night after
sometimes inconsistent ,infor:nlatioo.
New York Gov. George E. Pataki 00, They haw metwith the governor. the
wb:> hlla been a stmag advocate for the ma)'Ol', and representatives of the Fed- "
" ictims' relatives, buoyed their spirits ~.Avlation Administration, the Olast - - , - - ' - .
v
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by8Tl!'!!'llmdng that divers had located Guard, tbeSuffolkCotmtyMedical&- '.' wberebe said tbatPrencb speciaJists [the plane'uoiceand cockpit dati,
1arRe pieces of wreckage with "dozens amiDer'sOflice. the National Traua- '~aJreadyworldrigwith the NTSB.
cordersl,lt doesn't matter.",
arid <k:Iliels" of bodies a claim that' portation Safety Boild aDd the Federal, , ."Italk bftbem on a daily basis aDd
Lynchner,.the Houston man
waslmockeddarmafewhourslaterby ,F.me:rgeucY.MauagementAp:lcy.
' they'say that the equipment there is lost his whole f'amilY in the disall(C~r",· "
Robert Frands, vice. dJair:mail of the
~ alphabet soup of igeQcy'~ very'good'iIr'!ltJaJity aitd"qdalititf',"'" 'Said lhafeven'fftlte iilVestiW
' ,
NaticIiaJ Transportation Safety &aid. sentatiVe8 seems to _ been partiCU- Gautrat said. "I caD understand their qiJired briDgiilg up debris,
~ has been beading up the mvestiga- Iarly .euspemting for th7 !rl- .~ [the ielatives'l reacIiorL Maybe Amen: iea, it wol1ld not be
tm on ~ ~ for the !fI'SB'.
families of the F~ vid:ims. 'l'bere cans in France would have the same , Some offidalshave expressed concerllf:;
. Pl;t.aki ~ pmately with the \'100 ~ 45 Ft;enc:h CitiZens on board Par- reactioD. I can assure you it'sa temolethat if the Pieces ,Of the aircraft relruiiri';~;:;i:f:
~a~for
~H~
~ ~:!tFli:~ I dontt want pol- , ~ !O '!,e in this bOte1waiting ,. ~~too Jmlg, reSidues
n~dy )urport and heard' their itics!" said Michel Olivier outside'the for~:-D8tiOD'amdousty ~ ,~~=~sabOta6~,
gcevanalS. ~ ~, the ~
~ "They, go around. yesterday ,decisivewoId about ,what caused the,'
L
~'8Jrea'
said be spoke with 'White House Chief saymg, 'We find a lot tlf bodies, we find _~... the..:...:.o...' _1,;.":'- and L.:_.L.
:rnc:hne:i'.." dy...
..:t CI..:..:a y . - E. Pane
•.;..1 ft_ft-.f
lot of bodies,' And ""- .c....s ~:.. .. "!,""Go3Ut ........... R:III....""
UIClIUIt
bodies of Jijs...:t..; D:.,;;. aDd
; : ; ~ to be
tta';;ed"';:; a About 20, French....... ~ . have ~ that their.~ is to ter Katie; 8.; heJ:stillW
new ~ts immediately, from a einerged from the itrpoit IXItel today find~ loved ~. ~ ~. hear that diVers, have-found
NTSB Offidal, m4. before the press is 'and berated the, Amer:icaD ~ ef· :~~ have claimed their m., year-oid datJgIlterShaiuion. "I,
pen the fnfonnation.
, ,'., ".'" f<irtasiil~deqtiate. 'd~dii1g dlat' •~ ~and taken.them ~e., loved ones IU\d theJnvestigatiOQ
, .Aftt:r CIintoo's plans to meeld. French divers and eqwpment be' '1lteveryimpOrtantthingtoUSlStoondarj-heS:iid, . . '
,
the Iamllies and talk to ~:' brOilghi'ln'fOr BilSlilbi<,1belr 86f.":'~'{i8ifd'liUr.1iOilie8Cii1iObackhome,·said
'
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WIll"e8lD1(Xmced,Patakisaid,"Ithinkit' bUrst brought FreIlcb Caisut General" 'M.;Dai!i;~.:lost his brother,
Win be reassuring to the families that Patrick GautIat racing. to the ~"',-:~:~~"Jf~find the black box
.,_
BY Laurie GoodStein
,' w..... ~ 9l1liWriter
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. Jel~PassmgersForce Security DelayMter Tra"elerIs........ ..
EjeCt~
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~ captahl,waS'~g to ~ for
when a group of passengers who had been
, .
~ear the man told the stewardess that they
, A group of airline passengers were, ,~jttery Washington, was on board the pJane aDd said that the frightened and didn't want to leave Washington un.
fo1Jowing last week's explosion of Trans World.,...iIl:in alarmed fellow paSsengen.wben he gOt into an til th.e plane ha~ been thoroughly.searcJied~~
Airlines Flight 800 that they forced the delay and argtlUtent with a iltewar:dessatiout putt:iIig his seat Strumpf Said.
'
, earch of a Cdntinental flight from National Air- backmto ~ upright pos!tiOnbefore takeoff.;
s
,'
,-mey made us take, an of our bags down. .
port to Houston Sunday evening after a passenger
"I'hinp,degenerated,' and t'1e. became very abu,. the overhead and we sat there with.. them on
got intO an altercation with a stewardess and had
si:ve," said StJumpf.
' i ".
' "
laps," she said, but several passengerS insisted
to be usber:ed off the plane..
,.'
,The man waS remQVed from the plane by airPort wanted authorities to take a more thorough
, ',The passengers feared the man bad'left a bomb police'but was nQt ,cb;trged, ac:pmling to ai18irpgrts the plane.
.
'"
en boa;:d. according to a witness.'
' : authority.spokeSman. His carry.:on and checked JugThen the Captain decided, "We're going --~"'r':-!
Ccntineatal AiIjine ofIi:iaIs 'confirmed that after a , gage were alSo taken off tbe :fliglit, according to a and haVe a safety c1ieck,' .. she said. . ..···,:';::;;Cfli;~
~ was reInoved, from Flight 541 to Houston. . ContmentaJ ~ "Irs Dc)t afi!deral regulatiODtWrth that, thep~e went back to the tern1liiaJ/:fi~
~ insisted the plaDe retum to the. gate and
but ip this situation, it was de'ady the thing to do," passengers disembarked, and the
.
be aea:n::bed thoroagb.Iy by secinity before it was aI- . said spokesman David Messing.'
'searched before leaving for Houston.
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ByAliceReid "
'-~toJeavemore~imhourafterita~ed
,"
c· 7.15 PJ!L departlq:e
. . . . " . Laune Strompf, 40, a training specialist from
W
...........SbffWrlter
time;
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�nos Angclcsmill}cs
DATE:
PAGE:
Learning the Lang4age
of Citizenship
National Debate Spurs a Rush to Gain
.
Englisb.and Civics Skill~
<
PATRICKj. McDONNELL
tv' W·
dev~lopments
ith immigration'
widely
disseminated by eth,nic press and broad
cast outlets, noncitizens haye seen the writing
on the wall and are hastening to improve skills
hey awake at 4 a.m. each weekday.in
their central Los Angeles apartment
mandated for citizenship. A'dult schools, commu
. and, before first light, are soon hurtling
nity organizations and other groups sponsoring
in buses and trains en route to far
classes are scrambling to n,eet the demand.
flung. low-paying jobs. But at day's end, A,lberto
sometimes with volunteer teachers.
and Rosa Dial. still fjnd time for intensive study'
. Officials of the Los Angel.es Unified ~chool ,
of English and U.S. civics four evenings a week
District, the nation's largest providerof citizen
at an adult school near Chinatown.
ship instruction, say demand has yet to excee4
capacity. although number~ at Evans an. other
"Citizenship is more important now than
ever," aJatigued Alberto Diaz said recently as
district facilities are expect~d to rise through the
summer and fall. About 55,000 people took citi
the couple took a break from their three-hour
class.
'
zenship classes in the most tecent school year,
s~id Dprpingo Rodriguez, ,adlI1 inistrativecoordi
Although many people in Congress and else
nator for programs In ciU.zen!b.lp and En8I,~1l~:·;;
where complain that immigrants aren't learning
" fIroSecondlanguage .for .,the. district.
.;"; , .-t,'
,
l
English, tens of thousands of noncitizens like
"We're expecting a huge increase this year,"
Diaz and his wjfe are signing up for intensive
said Rodriguez, who is geari,ng up to hire addi
instruction that will help them become U.S. citi
tional teachers for the anticipated jump in
zens. In many cases, there are not enough,
i
demand.
classes to accommodate would-be citizens,
Other districts report gro';"ing waiting lists.
Agencies prOViding instruction in English and
U.S. civics-knowledge neede~ to qualify for
In Orange County, community centers and
citizenship-say demand has been increasing
churches, schoolrooms and <;ollege classes are
rapidly in recent weeks. from Orange County to
filled to the limit as they try:to meet the ever
Los Angeles to Ventura COU!)ty. Mostly. those
increasing demand for Engli,sh classes.
enrolling are the working poor. striving to stay
Vietnamese. Hmong, Iranians. Mexicans Cen~
on top of the bills in their adopted nation, with·
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tral Americans, Europeans and people from all
little free time in their schedules. And many
over the world are flocking to classes in English
have been in the country for a decade or more.
as a second language. progr~m directors say.
The heightened sense of urgency. observers
The impetus for many residents to learn
say. is linked to the intensifying national debate
English is political, some.educators said.
surrounding the immigration issue.
There has been an upward trend in enrollment
Just this week, Congress approved a historic
since the emergence of Proposition 187, which
welfare overhaul that would sharply restrict
would have restricted services to illegal immi
public benefits for millions-including many
grants, "Now with the welfate bill, a lot more
legal immigrants-and the House approved leg
islation.makingEnglish the nation's official Ian . , people know that they're going to lose benefits if
they don't become citizens,,,lsaid Vince Thack
guage. Looming in the background is a sweeping
ery. director of Community Resources Opportu
immigration .bill that would. among other things.
I
nity In Westminster,
allow states to'deny public education to illegal
immigrant children.
At the East Valley ~lultipJrpose Senior Center',
in ~orth Hollywood. adminis:trators have seen a .
"To be In America. you need Engllsh." said
sharp rise in inquiries about ~nglish language
Samuel Guna~m\·an. a 42·vear-old Armenian in
instruction and other classes :that prepare immi·
the same class as the Diazes at the Evans Com
grants to become C,S, citizens.
munity Adult SchooL wedged between China
l
town and the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los
"We haye been inundated v"ith telephone
Angeks,.
calls," saId Gene"a Ruiz.Hyaltt. program coordi·
~~ STAFF WRITER
T
t'i~~j"6
13·.3
�nator for the center's citizenship program. "Peo
ple.are terrified they will be left homeless, han
their benefits drastically cut and have to go
home."
•
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The shortage of classroom space angers Imml
grant advocates and educators.
"It's a lot of baloney the antl-lmmlgratlon
lpeople and the extremIsts are feeding us. that
'people don't want to learn Enghsh," saId Emma
lSlriCk. dIrector of the Westmmster sIte. "All our
classes are always filled and people are always
waiting. Some of my students are 70 years old.
I
and this Isn't easy for them, but they do It any
\Jway."
!i
El Condlio. an Oxnard - based Latino advocacy
agency, has also seen a steady increase in the
number of Citizenship applicants it has assisted
over the last few months. said executive director
Francisco Dominguez.
The rush for such instruction reflects the
unprecedented demand for U.S. citizenshm
among the nation'smore than 10 million legal
immigrants. Applications are expected to reach
1.2 million in the currentfiscal year, with more
than one-quarter of them coming from Southern
California.
But not everyone is thrilled with the surge in
citizenship and the enhanced interest in English
.
language and U.S. civics training.
Glenn Spencer. who heads Voices of Citizens
Together. deplored what he called a "cheapen
ing of the fcitizenship J process."
"We would hope that these people are seri
ously interested in becoming part of our SOCial
fabric," saId Spencer, whose group is based in
Sherman Oaks.
As quickly becoines clear in an evening spent
in a citizenship class at Evans. people have many
dIfferent reasons for wanting to become U.s. cit
izens. Some fear a cutoff of public benefits. Oth
ers are eager to \'ote, a privilege accorded only
to citizens. Others want to bring family members
~o this. country. somethIng that is much easier
or Cltlzens. Others hope to get better jobs.
.
~lmost all say It Will be better for their children.
b any speak longm~ly of the deSire to travel
aCkbho me with a C.S. passport. ~lost "oice some
.... Com mallon of reasons.
f "I live i;~ America now. and this is a country
or work. saId Gunasmyan. 42. Who arrived
from Armema almost fi"e \'ears ago with his
WIfe and two children.
S Trainedas a chemical engineer in the former
. OVlet Umon. Gunasmyan is now emplo\'ed as a
Jeweler. HIS hope. he said in accented but ood .
Enghsh. IS t~al cItIzenship will heJp him g~t a
b:tter Job. \\ Ithout CItIzenship. his familv could
e\ entually lose almost S800 In monthl\' benefits
un~er the new welfare measure. But Gunasmvan
sa~s ;hat IS not hIS principal moti\'ating factor.
\\: elfare makes you lazy, and thiS isn't a
country for l~zy people." Gunasmyan said as he
sat at hls deSK dunng a citizenship session.
. E"ans IS a kind of ground zero ior prospecth'e
CItizens. Citizenship classes. aJoD!2' with Er.l!lish
classes not speCIfIcally tailored to citizenshJD
applIcants. are,Qrol"lded.fron' - a IT' '0:1· j - . "
. ,\~ in m n' f--'h-::---'--~- '-'- ......J._._.J 0.11. .
. : .. ' a ~ 0 L e (ente~s. s@ii(>rnrl,0-Cl>;:13?m .
taKing apphcant,;: photographs and fjr.e:e;P~'r;!~.
both needed for the c:t:ze!1:"hip ilppjICn(ior.~.
Thhere IS no charge. as is the case in IT'O~t C"'zc.r_
S lp classes.
'H , ••
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he special pro.gram of instruction . designed
with assistance from the U.S. Immigration
and Naturalization Service, which administers
the application process. amounts to a kind of
cram course for prospective citizens. Teachers
provide intensive coaching in the intricacies of
government requirement~. Courses at Evans are
designed to last 60 hours. I
Topics covered include i,nstruction infilling
out the needed forms and tipson assorted
requirements-for instance,applicants must
have been legal residents for at least five years
and have demonstrated gqod moral character.
Applicants are'also coached in how to handle the~
all-important and often-intimidating INS inter
view, at which most must ~emonstrate their
English skills and knowledge of U.S. govern
.
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ment.
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Because many applicants~re apprehenSive A
aooutvisiting the INS heapq.uarters, the agenCY/'r.
/
has begun interviewing more than 1.500 appli- ~;
cants a week at schools and social servic.e agen- ,
cies. Most have already undergone citizenship
training courses. Consequently, about 90% of
apPlicant.s interViewed av.J.a y from INS offices
pass the exam. compared to fewer than 70% for
those interviewed at the INS. said Richard K.
Rogers. the agency's district director in Los
.!
.
Angeles.
Citizenship applicants d~ not ha\'e to demon- ~
strate English -language fluency, INS offiCials
say. but must show the ability to field questions.
and speak English at a third - or fourth- grade
level. .
I .
At Evans recently. under the direet10n of an
English-speaking teacher:. students diVided into
pairs and practiced the interview with each oth
er. One person in each pair played the INS
.
examiner, while the otheriwas the applicant.
Some questions: Do youlpay taxes every year?
Would you help protect America? What is the
C.onstilutiQD?
The students' enthUSiasm was obvious, even
though many had been working since early in .
the morning and were tired.
"For my part. I want to,be able to \·ote. to give
a voice for our people." said.Beatriz Mercado, a
mother of seven, originally from Mexico, who
was among those practicing her English.
A minivan driver who has worked as janitor
'and house cleaner and in suhdry other jobs, Mer
cado says she is tired of being part of a voiceless
minority. Like most others in the class, she said
she agreed that welfare payments should be
restricted-"I raised seven kids and never took
welfare"--but she voiced,reservations about
possible reductions in federal ~iedicaid benefits
for legal immigrants and cutbacks in school
lunches for immigrant children. .
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~eadilY
ngHsh does not come
to ;"laria Pre
ciado, 46, who emigrated from Peru two
years ago after being laid 'off from her job as a
secretary. To her ear. English is not one lan
guage. but many. Preciado attends a class at Irv
ine l'nified School District..
'.
"But whene\'er I want to give up. I tell myself
that my whole life will change when I can speak
English-that'S why I car'ry my dictionary with
me like it 'sa bible." Preciado saId in Spani~h .
"When I can speak English .. 1 won't feel so
frustrated and solimiteiJ. I'll beabl€' to make
more friends. and I won't haye to be €'mbar'
rassed when someone speak;: to mt' (Inti I ha\'!" to
answer. ·Sorry. J don't sPEJ"k Engli~h.":
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Times staff writers AndreJ Blanksteln. Carlos Loz
ano and Lilia Richardson contributed to this story.
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PAGE: _ _
11_1_7 __
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vOur Language Need:s No Law
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By Mark Falcoff
.
',~.
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Th~ -irrational fear
WASHINGTON
he United States, the
.
most 'successful coun
try in history, manages
to be kept awake at
night by imaginary Speaker Newt Gingrich thinks so,
perils. The latest threat and as an example of the perilS of
to our well-being seems to be the pros
linguistic pluralism he cites the
pect of losing our national language. movement in French-speaking Que
Apparently you and I won't be speak
bec tosecede from English-speaking
ing English much longer if something Canada.
isn't done to prevent it.
.
Outside of Washington, particular
But not to fear! Congress is riding ly in the West and Southwest, the
to the rescue,with English-only legis
response to ,the "Spanish peril" has
laiiori that would forbid the use of bordered on the hysterical; fed by
foreign languages on ballots and other small groups populist xenophobes.
Federal documents. The House has They are often driven to this position
passed a bill that would make English by the incendiary rhetoric of Hispan
the official language, and Bob Dole ic activists who threaten to ·"take
favors the idea. The object, .we are back" the West.
told, is to accelerate the adoption of
Let's look at the facts, not emotions.
English by immigrants and discour
Most Sp,anish-speaking immigrants
age the persistence of linguistic ghet
come to :the United States seeking a
tos.
.
. better life, not to widen the territorial
Though 150 or 'so languages are arc of their language. Most regard
spoken in this country, the suppcirt
learning English as fundamental to
ers of the bill aren't worried about economic and SOCial advancement.
Urdu or Mandarin. They are con
The persistence of, Spanish reflects
cerned about the 14 million people not so much resistance to linguistic
whose native language is Spanish.
integration as it does the uninterrupt
The United States is one of the , ed, flow of newcomers. If there. were
world's major Spanish-speaking no new immigrants from Spanish·
countries. It produces some of the speaking countries for 20 years, the
most important Spanish-language percentage of Spanish speakers
television and radioprograms. It has would .diminish. If ,that is what most
a vigorous Spanish-language press, Americans want, let us revise the
and even mainstream publishers are immigration laws.
beginning 10 print Spanish-language
Those Iwho think English requires
novels, essays and other nonfiction.
special protective legislation should
Should this \\iorry us? House look at what is going on in our society
and elsewhere. English is the interna·
Mark Fa/coft is a resident scholar at tional language of finance, com
merce, diplomacy, science and educathe American Enterprise Institute.
T
of Spanish.
of
tion, particularly higher and technical
education. As the lingua franca of
popular culture, i~ is spreading across
the globe, particularly among young
people, who consider English the key
,to all things modem, prosperous and
~ hip. Why should teen-agers of Latin
!origin be any different?
, .The United States is not vulnerable
,to the traps of linguistic separatism
lexemplified by countries with more
jevolved bilingual cultures. Unlike
ICanada, Belgium or Switzerland,
!America has no literary intellectual
:class dedicated to maintaining a con
Isistent level of quality in a second
jlanguage.· (Iqdeed, the quality of spo
iken SPani!th in the United States is
!often poor; some "bilingual" adver
itisements in New York subway cars
:are full of grammatical howlers.)
. As Hispanics integrate economical
ly and culturally into our society, they·
:willlikely lose their linguistic distinc
;uveness. Though the presence of a
;large Spanish-speaking population is
:a reality, we will never become a
linguistically bifurcated country.
: There are many divisive forces in
~merican society, but language is not
one of them. The United States is not a
iBalkan principality; there is no point
.)ri it acting as if It were. '
0
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�. DATE :
-..,:...f_~~-,,-·_''1=--~_'_
PAG.E : --'---'"1_2-<--_ __
•
Clinton Praises Bill Regulating p,esticicle
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3' (AP)
President Clinton said today that
new legislation regulating pesticide
residues in food would give all Amer
icans, particularly children, the as
surance that the fruit and vegetables
they eat would not make them sick.
The PreSident, who signed the bHt
in a ceremony in the Old Executive
Office Building, said in his weekly
radio address this morning that the
Food Quality Protection Act was
passed because Congress "turned
1\0
away from extfemism" and gave it
bipartisan suppOrt.
The Presidenr said a patchwork of
standards WOUld. now be replaced
with one simple one: "If a pesticide
poses a danger :10 our children, then
it won't be in our food." .
The House and Senate passed the
legislation last~eek. Sponsors said
the new measure replaced often con
flicting standards for regulating pes
ticide residues. They said some were
too strict and s~me too lenient.
�I
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THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JULY 28,1996
,
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Word for Word /Officially Eng1isn
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A taw to Learn 'Em a Thin!g or Two
About the American Language
ILL Los Angeles change its
name to "The Angels" if a new
bill making English the official
language of the United States
becomes law?
Probably not. But it would likely end the
printing of, Social Security forms, Internal
Revenue documents and United States Park
Service pamphlets in any language other
than English. Documents for public safety,
health or national security would be exempt.
Last week the House Economic and Educa
tional Opportunities Committee narrowly ap
proved such a bill, 19 to 17, with all
Republicans voting in favor and all
Democrats voting against. The House
may vote on the measure, as early as
September; the Senate is considering
a similar bill.
Although English is indisputably the
central language of American life, Re
publicans say its primacy needs to he
codified because the Government is
catering too heavily to a growing num
ber of immigrants who do not speak
English well. Democrats, disagreeing,
say that more than 97 percent of,
Americans speak English' well, and
that an English-first law is, unneces
sary, unconstitutional and racist.
Legislators 'ast week jousted over
how language defines what it means to
be American, They aiso joked about
regional idiosyncrasies that make
English spoken with a Texas twang
unintelllgible to a New Englander.The
hearing, of course, included occasional
lapses in grammar and syntax,
ERIC SCHMITT
George Miller, Democrat of California: We
promote Amtrak passes. We promote Park
Services passes overseas. We use Federal
dollars and Government officials to go over
, seas to promote Americnn tourism. All of
those pamphlets would have to be written in
English?
Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Caroli
na: The purpose is to conduct the official
business of the Federal Government In Eng
lish, However, exemptions the bill has include
actions, documents or policies necessary for
national security issues, international rela
tions, trade or commerce would be exempt. I
think Part B of the bill would exempt what
you're talking about. '
'
,
Miller: So we~would have an exemption to try
to get a tourist to come here from Italy, but
we wouldn't help someone get their Social
Security?
Graham: Well, if you want to put it that way,
, I:
,,
) :'
;
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The Republicans want·
government to stop
catering to immigrants,
but Democrats say a
language 1a w is
unconstitutional and
racist.
W
,
"
nla: There are legal residents here who
would be a part of that Census who are not
required to speak English because they have
not applied for naturalization, , ,
When you're trying to restrict people from,
getting the information they need, or the
communication, you're going to end up cost
ing us a lot more'money than you save US
From the beginning 01 the immigration of
this country, all 'parents have wanted their
children to learn English as well as they can'
;I
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Cunningham: Again, the demagoguing is un-
.
paranOia! about not being able to understand
what someone else is saying.
:
Pat WUllams, Democrat of Montana: I've
been here 18 years and this Is most madden
ing debate I've sat through, for me personal
ly. It's aosolutely maddening, We're missing
each other on all'sides, What is the problem
this bill solve it?
and
Graham:i One of the probiems, for example,
is the 1.RS. has sent out 500,000 publications
'that cost'$113,OOO in Spanish. They got 700
and-something replies back, and it was a $157
: per publication. They're going to
expand that program. I believe
i that's a problem we need to cut off
will
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Robert E. Andrews, Democrat of
Jersey:' The majority is
guilty of a lot of things in pushing
this legislation, and one of the
things they're guilty, of is very
sloppy drafting. I understand it
was asserted by the sponsor of
this amendment that, coinage
would not be covered, so that
printing E Pluribus Unum on our
money would not be against the
• laws of the United States. I'm not
: so sure that's right, , , If a citizen
, sues here and claims that they're
; somehow aggrieved by use of Lat
I iIi on our money or our coins, there
I is very clearly an'issue of Whether
Latin is necessary for trade,
IGraham: The exception that I
\ would point the gentleman to is
: not,the trade, commerce or inter
national relations exception, It would be the
, exception Ithat says documents that utilize
terms of a'rt or phrases from languages other
than English would be exempt. I think our
money Is document that does that and is
exempt, .1
: Andrews: ;With alldue respect, you may think
so, but that doesn't preclude someone from
filing a suit and wasting probably more mon
ey than the' I.R.S. spent to send out those
, income taX forms ...
I New
a
.,
,
'
, Chaka Fatlah, Democrat of Pennsylvania:
Since we've all been speaking in English all
"
day long, It's clear that we're not communi
:;
cating very well with each other, '
, ;
I hope t,hat since there seems to' be one
, ;:
I thread of bipartisanship here, which Is that
"
believable ". The're Is also a trend in this ,we all agree, I think, that it'd be helpful to'
,', i r
country for American citizens not knowing
promote Ainerican§ learning other languages
:: '"
English, which Inhibits their ability to im
and that ,,!e probably ought to do more to
,',
prove themselves' and prepare themselves
make English available to people. And maybe
. ,::
for the 21st century. The issue isn't even
one day soon we would spend aU day actually
. ~
yeah. "
documentation. The Issue is that we're trying
worklng o~ that rather than working' at crossI ,.','
Miller: The U.S,G,S.IGeologlcal Survey). the
to empower people....
,
purposes. i '
Have you ever been In a foreign country ',Cunningham: People say symbolism isn't
!r.:';;', ~ " Park Service and the Forest Service publish
. rl' , ..
jllaps with non-English proper names and
and you hear someone speak EnglIsh and it
Impor.tant ! , , I think, for example, an Ameri- '
doesn't excite you? It empowers people. If
:, r :, ,.' ~ ' .. ' " places for a good portion ~f the United States
can citizen: the very tirst time you take the
;:-. ':.: :~ "~I
.
:..
'.
you want to keep your people In a barriO, if
oath of this' country, that you do it In English,
restricted in little tight
:'~
"G~m: I think that would be covered under you want to keep them you can communicate II's only symbolic but it's very powerful.
only
;' i"; ",,~; utilization of terms of art or phrases, like de
communities so we can't In English, then be Fatlah: I think as an American citizen, if you
with them, and
could not speak or read at all, what is impor
facto, or any Latin phrase.
" 'i"
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tant is thatyou be committed to the ideals of
; i;
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M1l1er: And Los Angeles or Arroyo Grande or
my guest. But we're going to empower them
to get out of that so they can have a piece of
this countrY, and that you be given the protec
:,1: ": ~ :
Sierra Nevada? ... (laughter)
the American dream",
'
, ;(i, '", Graham: I don't believe that's what we're'
Martinez: 1 don't live in a ghetto. I 'wasn't' tion of the l United States Constitution. This
issue 'of lallguage is about communication,
j
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getting after.
raised in a ghetto. I was raised In a neighbor- : What we should be working on is the sub
' .... ,
': ,i Randy (Duke) Cunningham, Republican of
hood of community people. I represent people
stance of
I f:.
" Callfomhi: I think we're getting to the, point from neighborhoods, not ghettos, But who has so much. being an American, not the symbols
I
',I i~
of ridiculous. There are common terms that
tried to keep people In ghettos Is ,people with
I, ": '. '; ' , a r e used on maps, like Los Angeles, San
the mentality like this, that would rather than '
,
\' : : ;~ , " Francisco and San Diego, Ali of those things
understand the unity and collegialness of the
Ideas and Trends,
:' : ' ';: ,are acceptable, and the gentleman knows American people that can come from all
1 'Il; '. that.
;.,.
different and diverse backgrounds, would
Page 14
want to force on somebody because of their
Matthew G, MartllClez, Democrat of Callfor
'n:: . ~:.
!:,(,:.. ,:' '
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DRAFT GENERAL TALKING POINTS
t
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English is already a,ccepted as the common language of the
United States; that is not the issue ~eing debated. :The
issue is whether children who themsel~es or whose parents
speak another language should,be able jto'learn other things,
,while they are learning English. The ~ssue is whether
American citizens'who: work hard and pay taxes and haven't
mastered english yet should be able to' vote and have a
,
meaningful participation in our democ~acy. [From President
Clinton's address at the Congr~ssiona~ Hispanic Caucus
Dinner, September 27, 1995.]
1
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97 percent of the U.S. population spe9k English. Everyone
. recognizes that we all must have Engli:sh language skills to
advance economically and socially in our society. As a
resul t, non-English speaking Americans' and .immigrants are
demonstrating that they want to learn !English and are
rushing to:do so at faster rates than ~ver bef6re. Students
in schools are absorbing English faste'r than earlier
generations as they prepare to be fUll!y participating and
contributing adults in our society. ~cross America, adults
are lining up, and there are waiting l!ists,. to enroll in
English-as-a-Second Language classes. ,"
.
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The government has a proper role, inde'ed a responsibility,
to encourage English language proficiebcy. The government
should fulfil that responsibility by providing instruction,
including bilingual education as appro~riate, to assist
children and adults ,in attaining Engli'sh proficiency .
. ",
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In, addition, the government as an obli'gation to protect the
safety, health, and rights of its citi'zens. ' There are
instances, for example, ~n which itisl appropriate for the
,government to provide information:\.n a"lang'U'ige other than
English, such as .OSHA; warnirigs, court linterpreters, a n d '
public health arid vO,ter information.
BilingUaleducatio~
I,
important, ·asw~il.
'
is
It permits
students to learn English and to. keep pace with their
classmates in other subjects while they are learning it..
It
should be emphasized that the decision! to offer bilingual
education is a local. choice. .
I
.
.
. .
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,
Assisting citizens, exercise their righ1t to vote, even if·
they are not fully prpficient in Engli~sh, is fundamental.
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act hias enjoyed strong and
enduring bipartisan support. The Act! and subsequent
amendments, which protect this right, were signed by
President$ Ford, Reagan and Bush.
I
I
There are a variety of English-Only pr~posals now before
Congress. We have not yet taken a for~al position on them.
However, we are concerned about propos~ls which may hinder
!
{
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the government's essential ability to fulfill its
responsibilities to its citizens.
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Amending the Constitution or limitin@ people's rights under
the Constitution is very serious business. Thus, it is
important to explo~e the serious pra9tical implications of
English Only legislation or constitu~ional amendments on the
everyday lives of Am~ricans in the 50 states, Puerto Rico,
Guam and American Samoa.
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PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
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11t08/95
WED 15:09 FAX 2058737
!4l 001
OBEMLA
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Draft 11/6/95 Page 1
FAX-Memorandum
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
Steve Warnath
Gabriela Uro
\lovembsr 8, 1995
,;dlication Talking Points related to English Only
,
Please 1;nd attached the draft of the talking points relate~ to Education a~d the English
Only initiatives. The document includes helpful facts for packground and some as and. As.
We als( developed a one-page background summary on the issues related to Title VI of the
Civil Rit,hts Act.
I
Also, if ;tOu think it would be helpful( we could also add th ,the as and As based on what
m"embels in Congress have stated at one time or another ~egarding this issue. Namely, this
came Uk during the reauthorization of the Elementary andlSecondary Education Act, during
Appropr ations. and during specific hearings on English Only, Please call me at 202/205
9157 if 'IOU have any questions.
.
i
cc:
N,.>rma Cantu
.Ron Petracca
�1L(08/95
,
"
OBEMLA
WED 15:'13 FAX 2058737
141 002
"
I
,
Draft 1 1/6/96 Page 2
I
, English as the Official, LangJage
Draft Talking Points Re: Educ'ation
for Administration Statem~nt
,
,
English is already accepted as the common language 9f t~e United States; that is not the
issue bHing debated. The issue is whether children who t~emselves or whose parents
speak l,nother language should be able to learn other things, while they. are learning
English. The issue is whether American citizens who woik hard and pay taxes and haven't
masterod English yet should be able to vote and have a meaningful participation in our
democr acy. [From President Clinton's address at the Co~gressional Hispanic Caucus
Dinner, September 27,1995.1 , .
' I
',
The bOlld of the American people , is rooted in the shared values of freedom, democracy
I
and hUlnan rights. Countless number of individuals, spea,king a number of different
langua~les, have come to America seeking such values and have continued to strengthen
our nation's resolve to upheld these values.
l
Non-En,~lish
~nd
ll~arn
speaking Americans
immigrants want to
English and are doing so at
even faster rates than before. These adults are lined up ~cross America to enroll in English
as a Second Language classes for adults.
Facts 'Useful for Responding to
as & As
I
,
English Proficiency and Usage of English
• 97 pc:rcent ·of the U.S. population speak English.
.
• of children (age 5-17) who speak a language othertha~ English at home, the portion that
speak f:nglish "very well" is growing faster (8.07%) than the total number of these
"'anguc;ge minority" children
'.
I
• only ').06 percent, of federal goyernment documents ar,e in languages other than English
• approximately 3 million limited English proficient (LEP) ~hildren and youth are .enrolled in
our schools today (approximately 6 percent of total enrollment)
I",
Education & BiHngualEducation, .
. .
Althou~lh the diSCUSSion of English as the OffiCial language IS primarily framed as the
opposil e alternative to bilingual education: the issues are: varied and far-reaching in
education, affecting:
'
(a) the flexibility of schools and school districts in determining the best educational
practic.!s-including language of instruction-to serve th~ir students;
(b) the strategies used to communicate with parents and! families to establish a successful
partnership for the education of all children; and
:
(c) the compliance with statutory requirements regarding, informing parents of the
educational rights of their children.
I
I
• spec'lfically related to bilingual education, several fact~ are important to note:
I
(a) Since originally enacted in 1968, the Bilingual Education Act has funded programs with
the pritnary objective of helping student learn English. Consistent with this objective, the
1994 r')authorization of the Bilingual Education Act fund$ programs that: 1) make sure
every (hild learns English, 2) make sure that every child 'masters academic subjects, such
as mat 1 and science, while continuing to learn English, ~nd 3) require that teachers serving
studen:s in those programs are proficient in English
�,.
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Draft 11/6/95 Page 3
(b) Title vi of the Civil Rights Act requires that schools provide meaningful access to the
.
I
. instructional program. Schools have the flexibility whether;or not to use native language in
iristructilm.
(c) Studies have shown that bilingualedLJcation, where natjvelanguage is used, provides a
solid ac<,demic foundation for students, as they learn English. Longitudinal studies which
examine lEP students academic achievement have found that the late-exit students (those
receivin~1 instruction in their native language) demonstrated the ability to close the gap
eventually between native speakers' performance and lEP 'students' performance over time
IRamirei et al 1991, Final Report: longitudinal study of structured English immersion
strategy. early-exit and late-exit bilingual education programs for language-minority
children. Vol. II p. 639)
• English as a Second Language classes for adults are in high. demand given the diversity
I
of our population and latest immigration trends. Some imp,ortant characteristics to note
are:
I
(a) Abollttwo-thirds of all recent ,immigrants (3 years or less) are limited English proficient.
There ar~ an estimated 12 to 14 miUion LEP adults living in'the U.S.
.
.
i
(b) On a'ierage, the majority of LEP adults have significantly lower incomes than other
America 11S.
.,.
i
(c) Entry requirements to postsecondary institutions include a level of English proficiency
which gnnerally exceeds that of LEP adults.
;
(d) LEP ;Idults tend to suffer from limited access to public services, the inability to fill OUt
forms for employment or government purposes, and a lack' of knowledge about public
affairs. In other words, LEP adults face many barriers to becoming active members of their
commur,ities and participating in our democracy~ .
..
Ie} Acccirding to state performance reports, in 1993, an estimated 1.6 million persons were
served t y federally-funded adult education programs for E$L. A study of the high demand
for ESll~lasses indicates that:
.. in. mid -October of 1990, 25 percent ofESL programs su~veyed reportect having waiting
lists and!
i
* ESL programs reported having 41 thousand individuals on waiting lists (8 percent of the
populati,)n served).
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act o'f 1964
Implications for Limited English Proficient Students
,
Title VI )f the Civil Rights Act of 1 964, 42 U.S.C. s2000d at seq., and its implementing
regulation at 34 C.F.R. Part 1 00 require that each state and local educational agency that
receive~, federal monies provide equal educational opportuhity to limited English proficient
(lEP) students. Additionally, Congress mandated in the Equal Educational Opportunities
Act of 1974 that state and local educational agencies rerriove barriers to the education of
LEP stu.lents.
Criteria· to Determine Compliance
To detelmine compliance with these federal civil rights laws, the Office for Civil Rights of
the U. f.. Department of Education 10CRl evaluates three factors:
�11/08/95 'WED 15:14 FAX 2058737
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• whett ,er the re~ipient of federal funds is providing alternative 'language programs to LEP
studen ts which are necessary to ensure such students equal access to the educational
benefifs offered by the school;
• whetller the alternative services provided are calculated to be effective; and
• whet! ler the recipient's alternative program produces results indicating that students are
learning English and gaining access to the overall educational program. ~ OCR's Lau
policY.memoranda, including, most recently, OCR's policy update of September 27,
1991.
Does tho law mandate a specific instructionalpfogram?
Title VI does not mandate any specific instructional program or methodology: however, the
Courts in interpreting Title VI have required that the methodology or program selected by
,the scheol be vouched for by sound educational judgment. ,Federal courts have approved
of the adoption of transitional bilingual educational programs as educationally sound in' a
variety {If federal Circuits (5th, 7th, 9th, 10th). On the other hand, courts have rejected.
submert ion or English immersion programs.
Often Asked Questions and Criticisms of Bilingual Education
1. 8ilin:1ual Education pfograms: e,rwourage native language proficiency instead of helping
studenr.':; learn English.
'
Nothing is further from the truth. Since enacted in 1968, the primary objective of the
Bilingual Education program has been to help students learn English.
2. Bilingual Edu'CBtion progfams delay and may impede students fr~m learning EnglisJi.
Resean:h shows that use of the native language does not interfere with the acquisition of a
second language. Literacy development, academic skills, subject knowledge, and learning
strategies developed in the native language will all transfer to the second language.
3. Fed,'Jlal iaw lequire's schools to utilize native language for instruction. ,
No reg11lation nor statute requires that native language be used for instruction. Bilingual
education programs that receive federal funding do so by applying through a competitive
proces:; in which local educatio~ 'agencies submit their own instructional programs. The
extent to which native language instruction is used is determined by the local educational
agenciqs.
4. Felierally funded Bilingual Education programs ale duplicative and no longer necessa/'Y.
Bilingu 31 education programs' exist in numerous school districts across the nation. They are
funded by local, state and federal funds. Studies indicate that LEP students are still falling
behind their native English speaking peers and many are not receiving educational services
for which they are entitled. The need for federal guidance and technical assistance in
developing appropriate educational services for LEP students continues to exist. For FY
1995, over'1 ,600 applications were received to compete for bilingual education funds.
There was only enough money. available to fund 386 of these applications, equivalent to
only 24 percent of all applications received.
5. Does bl1ingual education minimize social assimilation?
Opponents of Bilingual Educa:tion contend that using the native language .promotes
multiculturalism and thwarts cultural assimilation· into American society. Others contend
that tile insistence on the development of English proficiency leads to rapid assimilation
and cultural loss. Both po~itionsare inaccurate-assimilation or non-assimilation is in the
hands of parents and students,not of federal bilingual education programs.
�11/08/95
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Draft 1 1/6/95 Page 5
6. Does (ederally·(unded bilingual education allow (01 the employment of teachers who are
not ploficient in English?
No. Titlt, VII requires that the program employ teachers who are proficient in Englisn.
Applicants must provide such an assurance as part of the application package.
I
�ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE DOJ PROPOSED TALKING POINTS '
The government has a proper role, indeed a responsibility, to
encourage English language proficiency. The government should
fulfill that responsibility by providing instruction, including
bilingual education as appropriate, to assist children and adults
in attaining English proficiency. All Americans, regardless of
class or numbers of generations in the United States, must have
English language skills to advance economically and socially in
the society.
In addition, the government also has an obligation to protect
the safety, health, and rlghts of its citizens. There are any
number of appropriate uses of instances in which it
appropriate for the government to provide information in a
language other than English, such as OSHA warning signs, court
interpreters, public health and voter information.
,We have not yet taken a formal position on the va'rious English
Only' proposals now in Congress. However, we are studying them
carefully and are paying particular attention to proposals which
may hinder the government's essential ability to fulfill its
responsibilities to
s citizens, such'as requiring federal
employees to commvnicate only in English to United States
citizens.
Amending the Constitution or limiting people's rights under
the Constitution is very. serious business. Thus,
is important
to explore the serious practical implications of English Only
legislation or constitutional amendments on the everyday lives of
Americans in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.
o
�English Only and Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act
--Section 203 was first added to the Voting Rights Act
1975 in
recognition that large numbers of American citizens spoke
languages other than English and had been
fectively excluded
from part ipati6n in our electoral proces~.
--Each enactment and amendment of Section 203 enjoyed strong
bipartisan support. The 1975, 1982 and 1992 laws were signed by
Presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush.
--Congress found that
denial of the right to vote among such
citizens. was directly related to the unequal educational
opportunities afforded
resulting in high illiteracy and low
voting participation.
--As Senator Hatch noted
section 203.
"The right
of human rights. Unless
box, c izenship is just
in connection with the 1992 extension of
to vote is one of the most fundamental
government assures access to the ballot
an empty promise."
--Section 203 is carefully targeted to· those communities with
high numbers of language minority U.S. citizens of voting age who
according to the Census are not fully pro~ ient in English.
--The Voting Rights Act protects the rights of citizens such as
Native Americans who continue to speak the
traditional
languages and residents
Puerto Rico who are U.S. citizens by
birth but whose native tongue is Spanish. These limited English
profic
citizens may require some language assistance in
casting an informed ballot.
.
--Voter and registration figures among Latino U.S. citizens have
increased dramatically since Section 203 was enacted whereas
between 1972-76 these figures were declining. Providing bilingual
materials; instruction and assistance makes a real difference for
informing citizens, particularly the elderly,' with limited
English language abilit s.
--Bilingual ballots on Election Day will not discourage the
learning
English by limited English prof ient citizens
remainder of the year any more than a ban on literacy
requirements for voting discourages literacy.
--Congress examined the cost of bilingual compliance when it
extended Section 203 in 1982 and 1992 and cdricluded that It was
not burdensome.
Indeed, in many jurisdictions, the cost is
literally penrties p~r ballot and local ~egistrars do not keep
track of separate expenditures,·
--Section 203 requires that voter information be provided in the
language they understand
so that they may be informed
voters. The entire citizenry benefits when citizens can cast
informed votes and promotes our ideal of a true democracy.
�ENGLISH ONLY NATURALIZATION ISSUES
•
Promoting c izenship, or making real the' "N" in INS, is a
top priority of
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
The million people currently seeking citizenship indicates a
strong desire to become full fledged Americans.
•
The INS recently announced a new initiative, Citizenship
USA, to, employ new examination methods and to streamline the
processing of naturalization applications. Los Angeles is the
first site of this major nationwide initiative.
•
By law applicants
naturalization must pass English
proficiency and civics tests
order to become citizens.
INS
wants to ensure that all Americans have the basic English
language skills to advance in
United States.
•
Since 1952, Congress has made
ization more accessible
to potential applicants by waiving the English language
requirement for naturalization for elderly persons who have been
legal permanent residents in the United States for at least 15
years. We strongly support this waiver
those members of our
society who require special consideration the elderly.
•
There are now legislative proposals barring languages other
than English at naturalization ceremonies.
INS has traditionally
conducted these ceremonies and administered the oath of
allegiance in English and will continue to do so. However,
providing some language assistance or trans
ions during the
ceremony is both practical and appropriate
certain situations.
For example, a translation of the obligat
of citizenship may
be desirable before an audience which is English proficient, but
may still encounter language difficulties with more technical
concepts.
It also makes the ceremony more understandable to
other family members in. the audience who may not know English.
In addition, we are concerned that prohibiting a federal judge or
a speaker at a ceremony from giving a salutation or
congratulation in a language other than English would confl
with constitutional principles.
�,ll/28/~5
rUE 1 i: 5.0 FAX 9202619 3818
oeR/ES
Ia]002
o
DRAFT
English as the Official Languagg
Seven bills and resolutions designating English as the
official language of the United Stat'es hav~ b~en introduced in
the Congress.
The House committee on'Economic and Educational
Opportunities held hearings on those bills on October 18 and,
November 1.
Efforts by Federal agencies to accommodate and serve those
who are limited English proficient primarily involves printing
documents in other languages and providing bilingual translators.
The GAO reported in September that from 1990 to 1994, Federal
agencies, apart from Defense and S.tate,' published 265 documents
in languages other than English.
This represented less than 1%
,
of all government documents.
In a speech, in September,' to the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus Instituticin, the President spbke against the need to make
English the official language.
nOf course English is the
official language of the United States.
The issue is whether
chi~d~en
l_'_!J,
That's not the issue.
who corne here, while they are
'
"
'
learning , , ' }
Eng.lish, should be able to learn other things.
.
The
issue is whether American citizens who work hard and pay taxes
,
,
and are older and haveri't mastered English yet should be able to
E3 as
others ... II
,.
/'
(
�01/3~/96
14:23
ti'ooooooo
~ 002/006
Talking Points in Response to Foreign Langua.ge Ballots as'
Government EXdess (Response to Roth on 1/25/96)
-~Section 203 ~~s fi~st ~dd~d'to the :Voting Rig&ts Act in 1975 iq
recognition that large numbers of American ,citizens who'spok;e
'
languages other than Engiish had been effectively excluded, from
participation in our electoral p~ocess.
'
--Each enactment 'and ,am,endment of Section 20'3 enjoyed strong
bipartisan support and the support of, the 'Ford, Reagan and,Bush
Administrations. (All these' enactments occurred during Republican
Administrations.)
--As Congressman Hatch noted in c,:onnection with the :l992 ,
extension of, Sectiot,l, 203,. liThe right to vote is one of the most
fundamental of huma.n 'rights .. 'Unlessigovernment assures access'to
the ballot box, citizenship
just an empty promise. II
- -Congress found that the denial o,f the right to vote among such
citizens was directly related, to the' unequal, educational
opportunities afforded them resul.ting in high illiteracy and low
voting participation.
'
--Section 203 is carefully targeted to those communities with
high numbers of language minority U.S. citizens of voting age who
',ac~ording to the Census, are, nO.t fully proficient., in English.
.
\ ,
. I
.
.
,
'
--Under the coveragefo'rmuhi of Section 203, only persons who are'
actually unable to communicate effectively in English, as
measured by the, decennial census, are classified as language
minorities. Thus, as English~language proficiency increases
among the language mino~ity popUlation, minority language
coverageshoulddimittish.
"
,
~-Both r~tes o~~oter registration and actual parti6ipatioti in
elections by minority lflnguage individuals have increased since
Section 203 was enacted. We are convinced that providing
bilingual materials/instruction,and,assistanc~ makes a real
diffe~ertd~ at the ~olls, for' minor~ty language ci~izens with'
limited English language abilitie,s.
,..
-- ,The real world in this country is multicultural. Many Native,
, Americans and some other language minority.citizens, especially
older individuals, cont;inue·to speak ,their traditional languages
and live in isolatio~frorn Eriglish~speaking society. '
.,
,
--While English proficiency is the usual requirement for
obtaining naturalized citizenship in this country, there are
exceptions for elderly resident aliens who have been here l5-20
years, when they apply for citizenship.
1
�.,01/30/96
14:23
~003/006
"5"0000000
--Puerto Ricans, who m&keup a significant perc'entage of the'
Hispanic population, are citlzens by·birth. Many of them have
Spanish as, their, native tongue,: and they may require soine
language assistance in casting an informed ballot.
--Bilingual ballots will not discourage the learning of English
by J.,imited English pl',"'b~icient citizens any ,inore than a ban on
literacy requirements, for votirig discourages literacy.
--Congress examined the 'cost, of bilingual compliance when it
, extended Section 203 in 1982 and 1992 and concluded that it was
··not burdensome. The J:992 congressionalex'amination was informed
by the report of the ~eneral Accounting Office p~blishedin 1986,
Bilingual 'Voting Assistance: Costs of and Use During the November
1981 General Election. Indeed, in many jurisdictions, the cost
is literally pennies,per ballot, and; local registrars do not keep
track of separate expenditures.
.
--Section 203,requires the use ~f minority languages in order to
enable language minority citizens to be effective voters; it does
not require jurisdictions to spend money that would not further
this goal.
.
~-Jurisdictions covered by Section 203 are encouraged to target
'their bilingual assis.tance and, materials to those who need them
,and to tailor cost-effective programs. They are encouraged to
work with local minority language communities to determine actual
local needs, on a precinct-by-precinbt·basi~.
--The Attorney General 'recommends that, where possible, bi,1ingual
ballots rather than separate English"language arid minority
language ballots be', used. The use ,of separate ballots can ,be
more costly; separate ,·ballots give rise to :the possibility, that
the secrecy of the ballot will be lost if a separate minority
language ballot is selected;·and it requires the voter to
ident·ify him or herself. as someone not totally fluent in English.
,Inaddicion, many minor.ity language citizens are bilingual and
prefer the bilingual format. Only seven covered jurisdictions
use separate minority language ballots because they conduct .
elections in two languages other than English (-not including
Nat.ive American languages not:. u~.~q. in writt,enform) .. "
,,- -The program adopte'd by Alameda COUIJ.ty, California, provides for
bili~gual poll officials and bilingual election information for
the Chinese:-speaking <:;itizens of Alameda County. There were·
6,8,184 Chinese Americans in 1990 ~ and the communi 't;y is increasing
rapidly. The program
marked by efficiency and effective
targeting of information and materials to those who need them. ,It
is also flexibl~ and adapts to changing circumstances.
",','
2
�01/30/96
...
14~23
!4l 004/006
'5'0000000
Minority Language Ballots
'.
In general, jurisdictions covered for Asian languages do not
print individual foreign language ballots for ,'voters but rather
use punchcardsystems. or voting machines.: For,instance~Alameda
County and Los Angeles, :County, California, both use punch cards.
The punch card itself is identical for each voter -- it just has
a lot of numbers .', Each polling place .has a booklet that ,fits , ,
over. the punch ca.'rd dev.icethat contains the names of the .
candidates. In Alameda County, under the plan provided by the
consent decree" there will be two versions of the booklet, one in
English and Spanish an~one i~,Ehgl{sp and Chinese~' :In LOs
Angeles County, there are separate.booklets for each of the,
languages that are used. In New York City, voting machines are
used. All three languages (English, Spanish,and Chinese). appear.
oft the face of the machine~,'
.
,
It is unclear, under these circumstances, what the counties
alleged by Roth are paying for in large numbers. Perhaps they
are reporting the costs for sample ballots that are 'mailed to the
voters (but this would not accouhtfor the data regarding number
:of ballots used).
.
.
;rn any event, according to the Civil Rights Division,' the
costs reported by Alameda County are outrageously high and appear,
inflated by unnecessary costs.. Per voter costs may seem high
because the County failed to publicize the availability of
Chl.nes~ language. vot'ing materials available for the first' time.
Since the voters in 'need were unaware of the availability of
Chinese language materials, few of these voters would have
requested ,them. 'In addition, the: courity selected a high~cost
printer, used unnecessa'rily expensive paper, and used an
inefficient layout.
'
,,
3
I
..
'
.
�OBEMLA
2058737
UNrrEI;> STAT'ES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
, OFP·1CE OF BILINGUAL, EDUCATION AND
, MiNokrtv l.ANCUACe.SAFfA,lR.S
Sw,
330 C.Slt'll(j"
Room 5082
Wa~hirigtun. D:C. ,20202;.6510
FACSiMlllECbvERSHEET
(202) i05 ·5463 phOne
, (202) 205 ..8737 fa. '
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ANo,oR PR/VIi.SGEO iNFORIrAA nON. IF 'I'OV R€CE1VE'TH1S
T1UNSMISSIoN IN ERROR. You ARE PROHI8tiEo
PROM READING. COPYING, OR DISSEMINA TlNG TJo/E TRANSM'SSION.PI..EASIi CALL (202J 205.5163
TO AAAiiilGE FO~ REru~N OF ANY 'TRANsMiSSION '£NT IN ERROR. ~AN/( you.
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�02V28/96
WED 18:02 FAX 2058737
,
.'
~002, "
Draft 2/28/96
pa~e
1
FAX-Memorandum
Stewe Warnath', "
From: Gab'riela Uro r~
Date: F,~bruary 28,'~9a
Re:
Revised Education Talking 'Points related to English Only
To:
,
,
Pleas;e flrl'dattached the revised draft of the talking points related to Education 'and the
'English (lnly initiatives and 'our cOmments (r'nino'rJ on th~ talking points submitted by 'other
, 'agencieL I am also sending you the m'erriowe s'ent:~o OMB related to 5.356 vlihich,shbuld'
als'o apply to H.R.123 sincetheyaretne same.
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I was' a bit confused by the talking points related to bili;'9~al, ballots. There are two' sets of
these, aile specifically responding to Roth 'O/25i96). We probably should consolidate '
th'ese to ensure consistency.'
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~ngilsh as the Official Language'
Draft'Talking Points REi: Education '
,for Administration Statement
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English i:; already accepted as'thecomm6n language of the United St'ates; that is not the
issue beIng debated. The issue is whether children who themselves or whose parents
',speak arlother language shoUld be able to learn'otherthlngs,' while they are learning,
English. The issiJe is whether' American citizens who work hard and pay taxes and ti~:lVen't .
mastered English yet should be able to vote and have a meaningful participation in our
democracy. [From President Clinton's address at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Dinner, ~)eptember 27, 1995.]
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The bond of the American people:is'rooted in the sh~red 'values of freedom, democracy
and human rights. Countless ,number of ihdividuals, speaking a number of different
languagt,S, have come to America seeking such values arid ,have continued to streuigthen
our natj(;nis resolve to upheld the'se values.
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. ,NOn-English speaking Americans ~rid immigrants' want, to le'arn Englisii ~rid are dOirig so at
, even fa'ster rates than before., These adUlts are lined up across America to enroli in English
asa Sec,ond L~nguage classes ,'for adiJlts.
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Facts UsefUl for Respolidhig to Qs& As
English ProficIency
Us~ge English
• 97 pel cent of the U.S. population speak English
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• of children (age 5-17) who spe'ak a language otherthan English at home, the portiohthat
speak Ellglish "very well" is growing faster fa.07,%lthan 'the total number of these
· "Iariguati'e minority" children
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it ri'n.fy 0.06 percent
federai goverriment documents',are iri languages 'other than English
ilappro:{imafely 3 mHlion'limited English 'proficient ,(LEP) children and youth are enrolled in
our schc:,ols today (approximately 6 percent of total enrollment)
and
of
of
EdiJcs'ticJn & Bilingual Educsrk:in "
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Although the discussion of English as the "Official, lan'guage is primarily framed as the
oppositF. alternative to bllirlQual education; the issues are varied and far-reaching in
education, affecting:'
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(a) the flexibility of schools and school, distri~ts in determining the best' educational
practice ~--incloding language of instruction-to serve theh' students;
(bl, the strategies used to cominunicate with parents and f~milies to establish a succe'ssful .
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partn:ership fo'rthe education of 'all child(en; and.
(c) the /6mplia'nce with 'statutory requii'ements regarding informing parents of the
eaucat'iC<flal rights o'ftheir ,children..
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~p'~6ifi~ailyrelate'd to bilin~ta'i education;severalf~cts :are im~oftant to
note;'
(a)' Sihcfi'originally enact~'din1968, the Buirig~ai edu'cation' Act h~s funde'd programs with
the prirn'ary objective of helping 'student learn English. Consistent.with this objective, the.
1'994 reauthorization of the Bitingual Educatio'nAc1: fU!ids prograins that: 1) make sure '
every cllild learns English. 2) make ,su're that every child masters academic subjects, such
as math and s'cience; while contil,liing to learn 'EngHsh, arid 3) require that teachers serving
· student!; in thCise programs are proficient in English
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, (b) Title \fl. cif the Civil Rights .Act ·requires that school~ proviae meaningful access :to the
instructic.'nal program. Schoolshiive the flexibility whether·or not to use native langliage
, instn:.icti(·n.'
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(c.l' StudidS, hav,e shown that bilingual education, where riative languag~ is used, provides a
sO,lid aca:lemic' foun'dEltionfor 'students, as they learn English. Longitudiri~lIstudies which
examine LEP,students academic ~chievementhave f6und that the lat~.;exit sttJdents(those
receiving instruction In their n'ative langl1'8ge) demonstrated the ability to close the gap
eventually between native speakers' performance and LEP stude'nts'performance over time
(Ramirez etal1991, Final Report: Lorujitudinal study of structured English immersion
strategy, ear'lv·exit, and late-exjt bilingual education ptogn!ms for language-minority'
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children. Vol. lip. 639),. '
• Englisli as a Second Language classes"foradulis are in J1igh demand given'the diversity
of our pc:·pulation and latest immigration trends. Some important characteristics to note '
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are:
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(a) About
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t~o~thirdsof ailr'eceht immigrants (3 yea'rs',orless) are lirriiied Eng'liSh 'profiCient.
an' estimated 12 to i't million LEP adults living in the u.s.
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(b) O,n a\ferage; ~he maj~rity, of L~P adults hav'esigniflcaf-ltly lower inc'Omes tna~ other, '
Arne'ricans.
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(~) Entry requireme'rits to post~econdary institutions include
which gt!nerally exceeds that of LEP adults. "
alevel of, English proficietlcy
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(d) LEP {.dults tend to suffer from, limited access to public services, the inability to fill out
forms for employment' orgoverriment purposes, and'a lack of knowl~dge about public
'affairs. In (,ther words. LEP adults face mahy barriers to becominga,ctive members of their
communities and particip'atirig in our derrlocra'cy.
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,(e) According to state pel'formarice'reports, i~ 1993, an estirriated L6'million persons were
'setv~d by federally~funded adult ~ducation pr6gram~ for ESL. Astu9Y of the high demand
for ESL ,,:Iasses in'dicates that: '
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.* in mid ,October of 1990, 25 p'er6entof ESL prosrams surveyed reported having waiting
lists and
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«- ESL programs reported having 41thousa\ld individuals on "".'aiting lists (8 percent of the
populatj,)n served).
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Title VI of the Clvli'Aights 'Act of 1 964 ,
ImplicatiOrisfor Lirriited English Proficient S~udents
Title VI ·::>fthe Civil Rights Act b'f '1964, 42lJ.S.C. 2000d et,'seg.; 'and its i~plementing
r'egulatiun at 34 C.F.R. Part 100 require th~t,each state and' local educational agency that
reCeivel:> federal.monies provide equal educational opportunity to limited English proficient
(LEP) stlldents. Addition'ally, Congress mandated in the Equal Educational ,Opportunities
, Act of 1 974,that state and,local educational agencies remove barriers to the education of
LEPs'tudents.'
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Criteria to Det;'imine Camp/ianes' ,
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To det'al'mine compliance with these federal civil rights laws, th~ Office for Civil Rights of
, the U. f." Depart'ment of Educatio'n (OCR) evaluates three faCtors:
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• 'whether, the recipient of feder~1 funds is providing alterriat'ive language prograri1s~o LEP
students which areliecessary
ensure such students ,equal access. to the educational
, bene'fits offered by the school;
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., whether the altern'ative services 'provided are calculated to be effective; and
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• 'whether the recipient's alternative'program produ'ces results indicating that students are
learnln,g English arid gaining ac'cess to the overall educational program. See OCR's Lau
policy memoranda, including,ri1iost recently, OCR's policy update 'of September 27,
1991.'
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Dties the. law mandate a specific Instnictional progra,;,?'
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Title'VI does :not niandateany specific instructional prog'ram or methodology; however, the
Courts ir interpreting Title VI have required that the methodology or program selected by
the school be vouched for by sound educational judgment~ , Federal court's have approved
of the aooption of transitioni:d bilingual educational programs as educationally sound in a
variety (:) f federal Circuits 15th, 7th, 9th, 1 Othl. In additi'on, bilingual education, structured
irrimersic.: n,' developmehtal' bilingu~1 education. and English. as a Second La'nguage are .
,recognii.!d as legitimate educational stnitegies. On the other hand"courts have rejected
program=;that place ~tudEu'ts in all-English classroom's without special language instructio'n;
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these prcigranis are otten re~erred to as English immersion programs.
, Ofteil 'Aske~' Qu~~tionsi8;nd Criticisms
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1.. ~ilj;'~u81 Educ'ation piograms
stiJd~mts 'learn Eilgiish. '
of Bilingual Education
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~ricourag8 n;Jtlve ianguag~ p~';ficiency iris'tead of helpirig
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Nothing IS' further from the truth. Siniie enaCted in 1968, the primary' objed:ive of the
help students learn English.
Bilingual Education'program has
been to
2, ,Bilihg,}al Eriui:a(jon'p"iiiirs~sdeliyarid maY imps(Je students from lea/ii/nil-. English.
Research shows th2it us'e: of therfEitlve language does not interfere with the acquIsition 61a
second hlnguage. Literacy devel6plTlei1t, acadeinic skills, subject knowledge. and learning
strategies developed in the riathis language will all transfer to the second langu~ge;
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3. FJdelallaw rer{ulres schools to utilize t;ative lant/tiB!ie fiJr irfstiuction.
NO",regul"tioh riorstaiute'requires that native language be u'!fed for 'instruction. Bilingual
educatio) prOgrams that receive federal flindir,g do so by ,fpplying :through a competitive
, processl'n' which lo(;'al edu'catiOn agenCIes submit their own ,irlstr'uction'al programs. The'
extent tt:;wnich native language histn.iction IS lised is'deterniined by the local educational.
agen'cies.
4. Fe'dtlrally funded Bilingual Education progiiiins are dtJplic'atiVe and n'o longe, 'necessBry.
Biliiigual education programs exist in numerous school districts across the nation. They are
funded by local, state and. fede~al :furids. Studiesindi,ca~,e thiit LEP students ar.e stillfalUrig
behind tlleirnati\le E~glish' sPEla.king peers arid many are not receiving educa:tional'services '
for ""hiell they are entitled. The need for federal :guidance and technical assistance in
developlrigappropriate ,educational services for lEP students continues to exist. For FV
'995, over 1,600 applications' were 'received to com'pete for bilingual education funds.
Ttle'rtfw.is only enough 'money avaih~blet6 fund 386 Of these applications"equivalent to
only 24 ~)ercehtof all ~pPlieat.ions' received. '
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5. Dotis bilirigiJslsducation minimize .sDcial assinfilation?
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Op'p6rit:m'ts of Bilingual, Education c'onterid that using the native' langiJagepromot'es
ml.ilticul;ura!ism arid thwarts cUlturalassirTiilatio'n into American SOCiety. Others contend
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tha'{the;nsisteride on tl1~;developn{ent of ErigHsh prbficiencyleads to rapid assimilation '
'ari'd culttirzil Ids,S, ,Both ;positions' ~'re, inacCurate~~ asslmllatio'l'ror non-assil:nilation is in the, '
ha'nOs
parents and ~tudents,n(h of federal bilingual ~ducation programs. '
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":notprofk:lent;n;Erl'glish'?'
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No; 'Tiik VII 'requires that the:prograinempl4:)Y teacners,'who,are proficient,in English .
. ,Appiicarics f!-lustprovide su'ch,an~ssurance a$ part of·the application package.
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ENGL:I SH AS· OFFICIALLAlmUAGE "DOJ·, PROPOS'ED -TALKING POINTS
"'The gov-ernmerit has a prO'per role, indeed a responsibility" to
encourage· English language proficiency. ,The government should .
fulfill tn.a.t resp6nsibi,lity by providfng instruction:' including: "
'bilingu'al edudatic;:m as appr:opriat~, ,coaesist chilq.ren and adults.
in at tain(ng Englfsh profic'iency . All Americans I regardless ' of'
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class or l'lumbers ofgerierations in "the UnitE~~d Sta.tes (, mus't have
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'Engli'sh l?lnguage skills' to advance ,economically and socially in
the sociecy~
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, In add ition, ,.. t he government also, has an obligation to protect.
the, safet t healt~,. and r:9'J2.ts. of its ci~izen~. ,!ne,:e are any
number 0.2- appropz ±ateueeS'.ofl.nstances l.n whl.ch ,l.t 1S
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appropriate for ,the government to provide iriformation in a
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language Jther than Eriglish, such as' OSHA wa:rning signs, court
,interprec~rs, public health anq. .voter·inform'ation.
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Only ,prop,)sals "now ,in ·Congress. 'How~ve:r',' we a:r:e studying them
.
carefully and are paYing.'pa'tticular at,tention to proposals 'which "
may ~indet:" tl1e'government's,essential ability t:0 fulfill its
responsibi.lities to its citizens, such as requiring federal
,',
'employees to corrimunicateon1Y,in English to United States
citizeris.
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Amendirig the C6~'stitutio'n'
limiting .people' s rights' under . ,
the Cohst i.tution is very serious business ,Thus i ,it is itnportanc>'
t.o . explor~ theseriousprac'tical implication's of English Only'
legislati:m or constitutiort'al amendments on the everyday lives of .
~mericans in the. 50" .,
states i Puerto . Rico ,Guam and, American Samoa. '
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UNITED'sTAtEs DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ,
O~CEOfTHEGENERALCOUNSEL
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February 16, 1995
TO:
Ms. Jill Gibl)ons" OHB
FROM:
Department o~' taucation , .
'at.tn: Randy' Hans'en ,401-6265
sUBJEcT:,
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356, 'the nL~nqUage of Government Act of 1995"
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'This responds to
S. 356.
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your 'reqUest for
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the'Department':; views' on
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We ,believe that, as· drafted, s~ 356 ,probably would not
preclucle th'e Department' from funding i~structional programs,
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'supported by bilingual education, Title I, and mig-rant education
, p:toj~cts unde'rElementaty, and secondary Education Act (all of
which f,ro:m6te tlgreateroppottu'tdties for individuals to learn"
En9list1lt); frchnpt'o~iding, non-English tra'nslationsof ed.uc~ti~ll'
and civil ,rights enforcement ,inforination; or from cOnUminicatinq
,with Pl,;\erto Rico and other non-English speaking territories in
their, rIative languages. 'However, beca'ilse, the legal effect Of
s. 356 will result froni the ihte'rpretation of its quite vague
terms, we are seriously 'concerned tha~, :without a great' deal more
cl'arity; the bill's provisions cciuldbeadminist:ered, in a pro-"
hibitl\ie arid extreme manner ,cause confusion and divisiveness,
and prc1vlde for a 'flood afnew, wasteful litigation.
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Fdr ex'ample,' as 'arilehded~section ,16'3 (a) of revised. TitIe. 4
would direct the "Government" to conduct nits offici'a1. business'
in En~f,.ish'tI ~ By this, does the bill intend at least an English
lan9'ua:~Je vets ion of all, ~over-:riment documents or, a1 ternatively ,
to ensllre that. G,overnment documerttsareissued '.9.D.!:t in English?
, The la1:t;er is clearly impractical; but the defiriitio'n of "offi~.
cial bi:ls'lness"and its ellwnerate'd exclti,sioJ'l's leave'substantially
uncleaJ: what is interide'd. Are public notices, pamphlets, parent
communications, civil rights enforcemehtinterviewsof victims
and j.ri1:ne,sses~ or program instructions "enforceable", arid there
fore "()fficicHbusiriess 19 ? . If so, for example, , the i?rev~ntion and.
remedi;ition of 'cIvil rights violations would be g:teatly':,under
mined.
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. . Also, 'sec;:tion 163(~)would'creat~' remedies 'for any person ,
who is' denie"d servIces or assistance: :"solely because the person
cionUnunicates in English". ,Itis unclliar how, ',if at ,all, this
provision would.effect:bilingualeducation ,programs that,are
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INOEPENOe;NCE AVE., S,W, WASHINCiTON, O.C, 20202-2110 '
OUI mission IS to e-n$u,eeqiJ.ol
acCi:l~s
coeducation Cltl.cI'[~promot(> edllc:atforlcil excellence chroughoLlI the Narton,
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,generally'limited to iimitfad English proficient children. 'Cduld
'an English prpficient individual who was denied services under a
-Bilin9ilal Education program' file suit?
",We under'stand that the Department of Justice 'is preparing-a
report ,addressing, the constitutional issues presented. by the " '
bill. We hope that 003, in reporting on S. 356, willaddres's the
narrowing and chilling effect S. lS6 may have on tllee'nforcement
of ",national origin" anti-discrimination statutes (such ,as und,er
Title VI Of ,the' civil Rights Act,of 1964), and vhetherCongress,
'in r'evised section J;64, 'can createstandinq for any person
"alleging irij~ry."
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Goverilment viII 'stop',c6rtllnunicatirig in Engiish (a rec~nt GAO
report: indicates that' f~wer than one percent of .all' rederal ,'"
, docUmtmts are even translated into languages 'other than English).
Nor dc, we believe that S. 356 will facilitate p'rogress in helping
n(m":'EIlglish~speaki'ng individuals learn ,the ErigJ.ish langUage.
In
this .,:,eqard l we' note that desp1tethe qreat'ernu:mbersof new
inunicj-rants who have ,entered theU. S. ,in the past 20 years (niore,
than, in any other peri~d of our history) I studies show that the
rate. at which: these illU'nig'rants are shifting from their native .
language to. English is 'accelerating and ,that the percenta'ges of'
language minority. student.s· who speak: Engli'sh :n...,ery well" has'
signi ficantly irtcr'ease'ci~
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For all these r'easohs~ we do not support 'S~ 35,6.
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AP v5052 rk 3exec English Only,580
07-26 8:55a
RETRANSMITTING to restore cyCle designator
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WASHINGTON TODAY: Supreme Court Test of English-Only Laws Could
Fizzle
.By RICHARD CARELLI
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Already an issue in the presidential campaign
and in Congress, the drive to make English the natipn's official
language also has reached the Supreme Court.
But the justices may avoid stepping into this emotional
political thicket.
The legal case began when Maria-Kelly Yniguez,challenged an
Arizona law that barred her from speaking Spanish on her state job
to people seeking help.
Adopted by voters in 1988, an amendment to the Arizona
constitution required the state to "act in English and no other
language." There were few exceptions. Arizona fs one of 23 states
that currently have English-only laws.
On Capitol Hill, a House committee has approved Republican
legislation that would declare English the federal government's
official language. If it became law, the measure, which has 199
co-sponsors, would bar the Internal Revenue Service from printing
tax information in Spanish. Citizenship ceremonies would have to be
conduc.ted in English.
Bob Dole, the certain Republican presidential nominee, supports
the federal legislation. "We need the glue of language to hold us
together," he says.
But President Clinton has criticized the idea. English is "of
course" the language of the United States, he says, but people
should value lithe culture, the traditions of everybody. "
Historically, the court is reluctant to become involved in cases
that are politically charged. It doesn't always avoid them, as
demonstrated by past decisions outlawing school desegregation,
requiring population balance in legislative districts and
nullifying state laws outlawing abortion.
.
In the English-only case grounds exist for the court to avoid.
entering the case at this point.
Before the court makes any conStitutional ruling, two procedural
hurdles have to be cleared.
The justices are studying the legal standing ofthe amendment's
chief supporter, the group Arizonans for Official English.
And the court wants to knowif there is still a)ive "case and
contro'versy" since the state employee who ch_all~J}g~fUh~_A!izona
law quit her government job in 1990 for reasons unrelated to the
legal fight.
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�In her job with a state agency, Yniguez helped people who had
medical malpractice claims. Many of them were far more comfortable
speaking Spanish than English.
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When Yniguez sued in an attempt to keep speaking Spanish on
occasion in her job, she named Arizona asa defendant. Then-Gov.
Rose Mofford, a critic of the law; did not appeal a federal judge's
ruling that declared it uncons'titutiorial.
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AOE, which had spent plenty of money promoting the measure, .
intervened and pursued appeals aimed at revivirig ·it.
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Arizona officials are urging tbe 'justices to rule that AOE lacks
the legal standing to defend tlieame'ndmeht bec,ause it was not a
defendant. They also argue that the 9th u.s. Circuit Court of· '
Appeals wrongly kept the case alive based on Yniguez's possible
claim for nominal monetary damages.
AOE cogently argues that if it lacks legal standing to appeal,
"then no initiative is safe from collusive suits."
"All a state would have to do to avoid initiatives it did not
like was to refuse to appeal an adverse ruling," lawyers for the
group say.
But the group's contention that Yniguez's resignation did not
wash out the case appears less focused. The argument is built, in
. part, on portraying the real dispute as between AOE and another
group, Arizonans Against Constitutional Tampering.
EDITOR'S NOTE - Richard Carelli covers the Supreme Court for The
Associated Press.
[official&english]
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SOCIAL POLICY
LAW / JUDICIARY
panel OKs Bill To :Make English
Official Government Language
A fter several hours of highly pam
.l'1san debate, the House Economic
and Educational Opportunities Com
mittee approved a bill July 24 that
would make English the official lan
guage of the U.S. government. The
party-line vote was 19-17.
The bill (HR 123) would require
most federal government documents
to be printed in English. Agencies,
could use other languages in certain
cases to protect public health and
safety, provide for national security,
or protect the rights of crime victims
or criminal defendants.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R
Calif., who led the charge for the mea
sure, said English proficiency ,is neces
sary for workers "to achieve the
American dream." He called English a
"unifying force" in America, and said
the bill would persuade non-English
speakers to learn the language..
Democrats decried the effort. saying ,
the bill would do nothing to help non
English speakers learn the language
and would prevent many people from
understanding their government. They
said little government busineSs is con
ducted in other languages anyway and
adult English classes ate already filled
with people trying to learn.
"This sends a message of intolerBI/ Christopher Swope
,BOXSCORE
Bill: HR 123 - English as the
official language of the U.S_
government.
Latest action: House Economic
and Educational Opportunities
panel approved the bill July 24;
Next h1<:ely action: House floor
debate.
Background: The bill would
require federal agencies to
conduct most bUSiness
exclusively in English.
ance for those trying to learn En
glish, to said Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.,
adding that the bill would shut off his
predominantly Spanish-speaking par
ents from the government.
The measure would affect many'
government activities, including con
gressional communications, the .print
ing of tax forms and dispersal of in
formation on Social Security benefits.
The bill, introduced by the late
Bill Emerson. R-Mo., would not cut
government involvement in bilingual
education, nor would it prohibit fed
eral employees. frQ.m speaking other
languages, on or off the job_
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the
measure would save the government
money, and cited the recent example
of the Internal Revenue Service print
ing 500,000 tax forms in Spanish, only
to have fewer than 1,000 returned. .
Democrats countered with a recent
General Accounting Office study that
found only 265 documents 'out of
400,000 released by the Government
Printing Office over five years to be in
foreign languages.
The committee rejected a Becerra
substitute that would have allowed
continuation of services in other lan
guages. encouraged expanded oppor·
tunities for those learning English,
and assisted American Indians in pre·
serving their languages. The party-line
vote was 17·22.
Committee Chairman Bill Good
ling. R-Pa., said the substitute ran
"100 percent opposite" of the 'bill. and
that he would "hate to put a price tag"
on any government effort to help
tribes preserve their languages.
The committee also rejected. 18-18.,
an amendment by.Resident Commis
. sioner Carlos Romero-Barcelo, D
Puerto Rico, that would have allowed
federal agencies to conduct official busi
ness in languages other than English
when doing so would be most efficient.
The panel accepted by voice vote
an amendment by Matthew G. Marti
nez, D-Calif., to exempt the 10-year
census from the bill. because a head
count conducted only in English could
exacerbate problems with under
counting minorities.
The bill 'is expected on the House
floor this year. The Senate Govern
mental Affairs Committee is expected to
mark up a similar bill (S 356) soon. _
JULY 27, 1996
. CQ,
�(No. 145)
NEWS
(DLR)
7-29-96
Discrimination
WOMAN WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS PREGNANT
CAN SUE FOR BIAS UNDER PDA, COURT FINDS
A federal district court in Florida has upheld the
right of a woman who thought she was pregnant to
sue for pregnancy discrimination under Title VII of
the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the' Florida Civil
Rights Act of 1992. The court, however. found that
the plaintiff failed to demonstrate a prima facie
case of pregnancy discrimination (Jolley v.Phillips
Educational Grollp of Central Florida Inc. 'd/b/a
Phillips Junior College.' DC MFla. No. 95-141
'
CIV-ORL-22, 7/8/96).
"Based on. Congress' intent underlying the PDA
[Pregnancy Discrimination Act] and its plain lan
guage, the court agrees that [plaintiff] could fall
within Title VII~s protected class if she could prop
erly make out a prima facie case," the court ruled.
However, the court concluded that the plaintiff
Tonia Jolley,.could not make that case and there:
fore,it granted the defendant's motion 'for' partial
s~mf!1a~y j~dgment as to the claims of pregnancy
dlscnmmatlon under the federal and state laws. .
Jolley ~a~ employe~ by Phillips Junior College
as an admissIOns/recruitment representative in July
1992. In August 1993. a newly hired admissions
department director, Tony Wallace, announced
~hat he would make some changes, including mov
mg representatives' desks from their private offices
into one main room and extending their work hours
into the evening in exchange for additional work'
.
breaks during the day.
Pregnancy Discrimination Not Proven
Phillips contended in. its .de!ense that Jolley could,
not seek pregnancy dlscnmmation protection be
cause ,she. was not, in fact, pregnant at the time she
was dismissed .. A} though Phillips presented several
cases t~ support Its contention, the court said that
none 0 the cases cited required that a woman be
pre~n~nt to recover damages under PDA.
.
. Cltl!'gstatutorylanguage. case law, and legisJa
tl~e ~Istory, Judge Anne .C. Conway of the U.S.
Dlstnct Court for the Middle District of Florida
. said it i~ c1~ar that a plaintiff need not be pregnant
to be ·~Iasslfied a member of Title VII's protected
class. However, she noted, the issue under consider
ation was whether Jolley deserved protected status
under the facts in her case.
'
While Jolley presented infonnation that Wallace
had made derogatory remarks concerning women
children, .and Jolley's potential' for becdming preg:
nant. the court said Jolley did not present a convinc
ing argument that those views led to her dismissal.
Rathe,r,PhiIl.ips' .presentationof eve~ts leading up to
Jolley ~ te~matlon show moreconvmcingly that she
was dismissed because she antagonized Wallace
when he tried to implement new policies.
. :',~t was this c!,nfrontatio~. and not the" 'pregnan-'
cy . co~ve~~atlon, that directly preceded. Jolley's
term,matlo~, the cour! wrote .. In granting the defen
dant s motion for partial summary judgment on the
pregnancy discrimination claim, the court concluded
that Jolley did not offer sufficient evidence to estab
lish a prima facie case under the PDA. :
.
Woman Told Boss She Might Be Pregnant
The three employees involved protested the
changes that Wallace proposed, but Jolley disa
gree~ vodferously. This, Walla,~e said, led him to
termmate Jolley on the basis of poor attitude and
insubordination. Jolley said the termination' was a .
violation of her protected status under the PDA
amendment to Title VII because she had told
Wallace prior to her termination that'she thoughl
she might be pregnant. .
.'
, .
When W~nace told employees they would ,have :.
to move their own desks, Jolley said she refused to
move hers and explained to Wallace that she
thought she .mightbe pregnant. According to the
. co~rt, Wallace asked Jol~ey .. 'You mean you wer·
entput .through a mach me to make sure that you
couldn't have children before you started here?' ..
During testimony, Jolley and another female rep
resentative from Phillips testified that Wallace did .... ---------
not like women attempting to mix careers with
raising children.
~hor!ly afterward., Wallace terminated' Jolley,
saymg It was because of her" 'attitude.' ..
�October 1996
)
Anti-Americanization
By John D. Fonte
Today, as in the past, Americans are faced with the formidable task of incorporating millions
of immigrants into ou.r civilization. During the Clinton years, however, unlike in the days of
Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; the goal of assimilation has come under attack .and
with it the very definition of American citizenship.
r
.'
At the beginning of the twentieth century,
President Clinton and Education Secre
large numbers of immigrants from ethnic
tary Riley tell us that their goal in support
groups relatively new to the American,melt ing bilingual education is "transitional."
ing pot entered the United States. American Schools should teach kids basic subjects in
presidents, Republicans and Democrats alike, the children's primary language so that they
agreed on two basic goals: teach the new
do not fall behind in math, science, history,
and the like while they are learning English.
comers English and make them Americans.
The clear aim was to strengthen our national Education professionals, however-the peo
identity-to reinforce the unum in e pluribus ple who actually run the schools-strongly
emphasize "cultural preservation." Thus the
unum-by assimilating the new arrivals into
American civilization.
Los Angeles Unified School District advises
As the twentieth century nears its end,
teachers "not to encourage language-minori
large numbers of immigrants from ethnic
ty" parents to speak English at home, but
groups relatively new to the American melt instead "to encQurage them to strongly pro
ing pot are, once again, entering the United
mote development of the primary (non
States. Today, however, the American presi
English) language" in their children. Current
. law buttresses the bilingual establishment by
dent, William Jefferson Clinton, promotes
policies that are directly opposed to the
requiring that 75 percent of all programs for
strategies advocated by Theodore Roosevelt, newcomers be taught in the student's native
William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. language. This is at odds with proven princi
ples of learning a second language, which
Instead of promoting Americanization and
is best done by writing and speaking it as
emphasizing the learning of English, the
current occupant of the White House favors
much as possible, not simply by attending a
_ policies that weaken our national identity
one-hour class five days a week.
de facto anti-assimilation measures, anti
English-language initiatives, arutan indiffer
Evaluating Bilingualism
ence to substantive citizenship training.
Even measured by its own criteria, bilingual
education is a failure. It neither teaches
John D. Fonte is visiting scholar at the American
English well, nor keeps students from falling
Enterprise Institute. This article appeared in the
behind in other subjects. A recent and
National Review on September 2, 19%.
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-4670
202.862.5800
Fax 202.862.7178
�."
.
- 2
(NAEP), the "Nation's Report Card," will be
· comprehensive evaluation reported in: the
· research journal sponsored by·the National ..
. ,given in Spanish as well as.in .English.·Clinton's
Deputy Secretary of Education Madelein Kunin
Council of Teachers of English found that "there
· is no body of research evidence to support the
sent a memorandum to the civil servant lin charge
of the .tests stating that "excluding" children
notion that non-English-speaking children will
read, write, and do academic work in English bet
whose English is limited violated the Civil Rights
ter if they learn to read, write, and do academic
Act and ordering that these students should be
work in their home language first."
accommodated by providing them with Spanish .
The dismal failure of bilingual education to
versions of the math and science tests. The irony
in giving the tests for the NAEP to American stu
teach children English has led to open revolts by
dents in a language other than English appears
Hispanic parents in New York, California, New
to have gone unnoticed by either the Clinton
Jersey, and Nebraska. In the Bushwick section of
Administration or the Republican Congress,
Brooklyn, 150 Latino parents organized to fight
which has remained mute on this issue. As Jorge
·for English instruction for their children. Sister
Kathy Maire, a Roman Catholic nun working
AmseIJe of the Center for Equal Opportunity:puL
with the parents, stated: "The bottom line is
it, "If [the students] ace a history test in Spanish
and flunk it in English, it's not going to do them
these kids are being robbed of their futures." In
Los Angeles some 100 Hispanic parents pulled
any good when they go to get a job."
their children out of a local school to protest
bilingual education. Indeed, a U.S.. Department
The Dumbing Down of Citizenship
of Education-survey of Mexican-and Cuban
American parents revealed that four-fifths
In a brilliant new book, Americans No More:
opposed teaching their children in Spanish, if this The Death of Citizenship, syndicated columnist
meant that less·time would.be devoted to English. . Georgie Anne Geyer chronicles in painful detail
Unfortunately, the education bureaucracy has a
the steady diminution of naturalization, the once
vested interest in keeping children in bilingual
meaningful process of immigran ts' becoming
programs, because as the students "transition
American citizens. While the dumbing down of
out" of native language instruction, the schools
citizenship did not begin on January 20, 1993, it
lose government funds.
has clearly accelerated under the Clinton Admin
In this fight, the Clinton Administration has
istration. In December 1995 the Administration
from the beginning stood on the side of the
expanded the :use of foreign languages on citizen
bilingual establishment. Even before he was
ship tests: Four hundred new centers give the test
elected president, Bill Clinton, in an article in
in Spanish. Plans are underway to offer tests in
Phi Delta Kappan (October 1992), blasted the
Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog.
Bush Administration for not sp~nding. enough
The attitude toward the importance of English
money on bilingual education. Once in power,
for American citizenship Is reflected in the
corn:ments of Jess Nieto, a director of one of the
the Clintonites have not simply advocated more
money for existing bilingual programs; they have
community organizations authorized by the
expanded multilingual education. For example,
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to
the Administration's major education bill, the
give citizenship tests. Nieto declared, "Many of
Improving America's School Act of 1994, autho
these.people (resident aliens applying for citizen
rized federal funds to develop written grammar
ship) have been here a million years. Why should
they have to take the test fn English?"
for previously oral American Indian and Native
Alaskan languages. Thus instead of merely pre
The citizenship tests themselves have been
serving primary languages, bilingual education
stripped of much of the rich historical, civic, and
under Clinton may include inventing what are
patriotic content that once made studying for
essentially new written languages.
and passing the test a -truly gratifying experience
in the .life of a new American citizen. Even the
For the first time, the congressionally mandated
National Assessment for Educational Progress
dignified and moving court ceremony for swear
i", "
�-3
ing in new immigrants 'is no longer mandatory.
Besides the INS, over eight hundredorganiza
tions are now eligible to give citizenship tests.
Leftist advocacy groups such as the Asylum and
Refugee Rights Project, Washington Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, and
the Mexican-American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund are working closely with the
INS. Ironically, activist lawyers who spend their
working hours litigating against any legal distinc
tions between citizens and noncitizens are often
running the official process that makes resident
aliens American citizens.
Prevailing attitudes about citizenship and
American identity-are revealed in the words
and actions of Clinton appointees. For example,
Eugene Garcia, Clinton's bilingual education
chieffrom 1993 to 1995, told a conference of
bilingual educators: "The border for many is
nonexistent. For me, for intellectual reasons, that
border shall be nonexistent." INS Commissioner
Doris Meissner has suggested that the Oath
of Allegiance in which new citizens promise to
"absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure
all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince,
potentate, state, or sovereignty, ... support and
defend the Constitution and the laws of the
United States of America against all enemies,
foreign and domestic" is "anachronistic" and
should be changed. One of Mrs. Meissner's chief
lieutenants at the INS, Alexander Alienikoff, has,
according to Georgie Anne Geyer, "argued con
stantly that it was time no longer to distinguish or
differentiate-between citizens and legal aliens."
Another top Clin tori official, Robert Bach, wrote
a report for the Ford Foundation recommending
that noncitizens be permitted, indeed encouraged,
to vote in local elections. In addition, Housing and
Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros
threatened to cut off federal funds to Allentown,
Pennsylvania, after the city declared English its
official language. (Allentown agreed not to enforce
the ordinance and HUD funds continued.)
Competing Visions of the Future
For the past several decades, Americans have
had a continuing argument over two visions of
the future, an argument that will determine the
fate of our national identity. Do we promote
English or multilingualism? Do we strengthen
American citizenship or do we diminish it?
Should we be a multiethnic nation or a multi
cultural one? A multiethnic nation means an
America composed of individual citizens belong
ing to racial and ethnic groups from all over the
world. On the other hand, a multicultural nation
emph!lsizes group identity, not individual citizen
ship. It establishes different legal and language
rights for different racial and ethnic groups,
rejects assimilation, and erases distinctions
between citizens and noncitizens.
There is no doubt that the Clinton Admin
istration has joined the battle on the side of mul
tilingualism and multiculturalism. The words and
deeds of the Administration are clear and consis
tent: expand official multilingualism wherever
possible; water down the substantive meaning of
citizenship; blur distinctions between citizens
and noncitizens; advocate voting by noncitizens;
and use Federal Government power to harass
opponents of these policies.
Recently, Congress has started to challenge
the Administration. On August 1, a bill making
English the official language of the United States
and allowing states to eliminate multilingual bal
lots passed the House. Despite these efforts, a
serious and sustained intellectual and moral argu
ment against the continuing assault on American
national identity has not yet been heard. In the
final analysis, the struggle between multiethnic
America and multicultural America will be won
by the side that is able to articulate an intellectual
and moral argument that resonates with the
American people.
The Clinton Administration and their multi lin
gualist allies have not made a compelling case for
their radical new vision of America, but they
have largely succeeded in scaring off and intimi
dating potential opposition. Their strategy is
name calling-denounce opponents of official
multilingualism as mean-spirited, racist, and big
oted. Thus the American Civil Liberties Union'
chara~terizes opposition to official multilingual
ism in terms of "hate mongering" and "fostering
bigotry and intolerance."
No wonder opponents of official multilingual
ism have been hesitant to make this a major
�- 4
issue, knowing they will be vilified as racists and
Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson advo
cated 'Americanization, instead of multilingualism
bigots. My guess, however, is that the great silent
majority of Americans from all ethnic and racial
and multiculturalism.
backgrounds is waiting-indeed hungering--.:..to
Opposition to official multilingualism does not
hear the voice of multiethnic America challenge
mean that Americans should not learn foreign
the multilingual/multicultural forces and dislodge
languages, or that we are not free to speak what
them from the mara I high ground.
ever language we want, or that languages other
This voice of multiethnic America would tell
than English c,an not be used in places such as ,
us: We the People of the United States, a self
courts and hospitals. It means that English should
be the official language of public business in our
governing and free people, have a moral right to
transmit ou~ way of life and our national ,heritage liberal democracy.
Yes, as with p~ople everywhere, there is
to future generations of America. Fluency in
English is essential for full participation in our
bigotry among us. However, the genius of
America is that we have worked to overcome
society. To tell newcomers to America otherwise
_~_". is,tplie to them~ To be an American9itg~,nl~ a,", , :u.Q!~tLQiscrirpJf1atiQl!; (!nd in:,nional prejudice ..To, __. __,____~
privilege, not a 'right. To cheapen citizenship and
make the learning of English a priority and to
blur the bound~ries between; citizens and nonciti strengthen the substance of citizenship does not
mean we are racists and bigots. It means that we
zens is to mock the sacrifices that have sustained
take our national heritage and our c9nstitutional
our nation for more than twa hundred years. If
we do not take citizenship seriously, we do not
democracy seriously.
,
take our constitutional democracy seriously.
The position advanced by the multicultural
establishment amounts to a bluff. It is at odds
with tlie feelings and instincts of the' American
Conclusion
majority and of the minorities that these policies
are allegedly designed to help. For, in the end, it
Therefore, we should establish English as our
is the advocates of bilingual education who have
official language, eliminate bilingual education
prevented Latino kids from advancing. It is a
and multilingual ballots, and end the corruption
of our naturalization process. Moreover, as peo
patronizing establishment that is stealing their
ple on both, sides of the immigration debate
keys to the American dream. What is needed
is an open discussion of the facts and values in
including Linda Chavez, John Miller, Dan Stein,
question. Once that happens, the bluff will be
and the late Barbara Jordan,-have suggested, it
called and the great American public will demand
is time tolaun'ch a new civic integration effort,
that we end official multilingualism, eliminate
similar to the Americanization initiatives earlier
this century. Nothing could be more welcoming
bilingual education and foreign language ballots,
take naturalization s.eriously,.and; in the, spirit
an~ inclusive,than fostering English and teach
.....
'. ofTeoay'Roosevelt, WilliruifHowaro Taft:anCi~ - - "~-
ing the responsibilities of'citizenship'tcHiew-
comers. Those of us whose parents and grand
Woodrow Wilson, launch a new campaign for
Americanization and civic integration.
parents came through Ellis Island at the turn
of the century are particularly grateful that
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1996-38
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/7
House Panel Approves Bill Making
English Official Language
By ERIC SCHMllT
WASHINGTON, July 24 ~ A
House committee narrowly ap
proved a bill today making English
the official language of the United
States.
Republicans and Democrats, in
five hours of sharply partisan de
bate, agreed that English is already
the principal language of govern
ment, commerce and everyday life
in this nation. But they were wid~ly
divided on whether to codify that fact
in law and, more deeply, over what
cultural, moral and language traits
defined what it means to be an Amer-.
ican.
Republicans, at a hearing of the
House Economic and Educational
Opportunities Committee, said their
bill would halt a worrisome trend
toward creating "language ghettos"
that are leaving immigrants unpre
pared for the job market and forcing
the Government to accommodate
non-English speakers with docu
ments, services and bilingual classes
in several other languages.
"I do not want to see the country
become ethniC enclaves," said Rep
resentative Marge Roukema, a New
Jersey Republican.
But Democrats said the bill was
unnecessary, unconstitutional and
racist. "This is just a guise for a bill
that's built on bias and bigotry," said
Representative Matthew G. Marti
nez, a California Democrat.
The vote to send the bill to the
House floor, where iI will probably be
conSidered in September, was 19 to
17, along party lines. A similar bill is
pending in a Seriate committee.
The
Clinton
Administration
strongly opposes the bill. which is the
latest effort in a decade-long cam
paign by English-only proponents to
declare English the sole language
used to make policy and to curb the
spread of bilingual education and.
bilingual ballots. Bob Dole, the ap
parent Republican' PreSidential
nominee, has supported the idea of
making English the country's offiCIal
language. although . it has nOI yet
become a major campaign issue.
Dueling facts aside, the most Im
As written. the bill seeks to "help
passionate debate focused on what
immigrants better assimilate" and
. the English language means to this
"empower" them with new language
nation of immigrants.
and literacy skills.
"English language is an Important
"There are an increasing number
glue for our society," said Repre
of people who can't compete because
sentative Tim Hutchinson, Republi
they don't read. write or speak Eng
can of Arkansas.
lish," said Representative Randy
But many Democrats said there is
Cunningham, a California Republi
much more to the United States than
can.
a common language. "What binds us.
But when challenged to document
together in this country is our free
this increase. Mr. Cunningham ac
doms and ideals," said Representa
knowledged that his assertiop was
tive Gene Green, Democrat of Texas.
largely based on ane(::'!otal evidence
"It's more than a language that
from canvassing people in his dis
makes us American."
trict near San Diego.
.
To attract support from moderate
Republicans. the bill's sponsors did
not try to eliminate fin~~ing !o.r
bilingual education. The bill s defml
tion of official business that must be
conducted in English also exempts
. language instruction and documents
or policies necessary for nauonal
security, public health and safety.
Proponents of the bill say acco"?
modating non-English speakers IS
costly. In 1994, for example, the In
ternal Revenue Service printed and
distributed 500.000 income-,tax forms
in Spanish ata cost of $113,000. Only
718 of the forms were returned.
.. America is a diverse country, but
when we conduct business it should
be in English." said Representative
Lindsey Graham. Republican of
South Carolina.
But criticS of the bill said more
than 97 percent of Americans al·
ready speak English well, and that 99
percent of all Government docu
ments are published In English.
Moreover, Democrats said. the most
pressing need is not a English-lan
guage law. hut more English classes
for immigrants. English classes In
community colleges in Los Angeles
are filled 24 hours a day, and the
waiting list for some English classes'
in New York City is as long as three
years. legislators said.
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�~{JC lUtl~dJiugtou ~illtCG
DATE : _ _
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Panel OKs bill to make English
. officiallanguage of government·
Democrats label nleasure 'mean-spirited' in bitter debate
By Brian Blomquist.
THE WASHINGTON nMES
A House committee yesterday
approved a bill that would require
the federal government to conduct
its official business only in Eng
lish.
The Republican-backed bill,
.'which Democrats attacked as
~"mean-spirited," would establish
English as the official language of
the U.S. government.
~.
The full House is expected to
.,vote on the politically popular bill
'in September. A similar bill has
been introduced in the Senate,
The House Economic and Edu
~cational Opportunities Committee
'voted 19-7 for the "English lan
guage Empowerment Act," which
~as crafted by Rep. Randy "Duke"
"Cunningham, California Republi
can,
The five hours of debate preced
ing the vote grew testy and per
sonal at times, a likely glimpse of
the fight to come on the House
floor,
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, California
Democrat, said the Republicans
would "harm children" with the
bill because it would prevent some
women from reading government
forms that would enable them to
get food for their children,
Mr, Cunningham decried the
PUblic support for
pro-English legislation
is high. A Gallup Poll
found that 82 percent
of voters support such
a measure.
"demagoguery" of the debate, de
fending himself and other Repub
licans from charges that the bill is
racist.
"If' we were racists, we would
tell immigrants we don't want
them to learn English;' Mr. Cun
ningham said in an interview, "We
would say to them, 'We want you to
use your own language:
"Thday, there are so many sup
port areas funded by the govern
ment, they actually prohibit' peo
ple from learning English."
Public support for pro-English
legislation is high, A recent Gallup
Poll found that 82 percent of voters
support such a me.?sure.
GOP presidential candidate Bob
Dole supports' the bill, and 22
states have declared English their
official language, President Clin
ton, who signed a similar bill as
governor of Arkimsas in 1987, has
. not taken a position on the Cun
ningham bill.
Though the measure would re
quire federal agenCies to use Eng
lish in their official documents,
there are several exceptions, Un
der the bill, the government could
use other languages in language
courses, national-security papers,
international relations or com
'merce papers, public safety doc
uments arid census documents.
Mr, Cunningham's bill does not
go as far as other GOP measures
that would abolish bilingual edu
cation, and in being approved by
. the House panel, his proposal is
closer to enactment than the other
bills,
Committee Democrats, whose
bill promoting multilingualism
was defeated, looked for loopholes
in the Cunningham bill, particu
larly an exception that would allow
the government to use other lan
guages in "documents that utilize
terms of art or phrases from lan
guages other than English."
Democrats and Republicans
sparred over whether such an ex
ception would apply to the words
"E Pluribus Unum" that appear on
U.S. currency, and whether coins
could lead .to lawsuits,
"This an increasingly bizarre
and twisted debate," said Rep. Tim
Roemer, Indiana Democrat.
�THE WALL STREET JOURNAL THURSDAY, JANUARY 23,1997
English-Only Rules Spur· Workers to Speak Legalese
By ANN DAVIS
Slaff Reporter of THF. WALL STRF.F.T JOURNAL
Mercy Prado 'was told never to speak .
Spanish on the job unless a customer spoke
it first. Her boss at a Luria's store in
Coral Gables, Fla., prohibited employees
from ,speaking Spanish before the store
opened to customers and even, she alleges,
on bathroom breaks.
Ms. Prado contends that she was so
"humiliated" by the policy - and by her
boss's chants of "English, English, Eng
lish" - that she quit. Her allegations are
made in a discrimination lawsuit filed in
U.S. District Court in Miami against her
former employer, L. Luria & Son Inc., a
general-merchandise retail chain based in
Miami Lakes, Fla.
Luria insists the English-only policy is
legal and has asked the court to throw out
the suit.
Ms. Prado has joined the rising ranks of
workers filing discrimination suits over
English-only rules. Nationwide, employers.
increasingly are prohibiting their workers
from speaking Spanish, Chinese or Taga
log-indeed. any language other than Eng'
Iish - in front of customers, on assembly
lines, even in company cafeterias. They
are taking their cues from the passage of .
nearly tw<, dozen state laws declaring
English 'the official language and from
several recent decisions by federal appeals
courts upholding English-only rules in the
workplace.
Companies say the rules are necessary
because speaking a language not under- ,
stood by colleagues' or customers is both
rude and inefficient - not to mention a
safety hazard in such places as oil refiner
ies, hospital operating rooms or production
lines where clear communication is essen
tial. "You're not impoSing these rules to be
mean," says Barry Lawrence of the Soci
ety for Human Resource Management in
Alexandria, Va. "You're making these
rules with productivity in mind, so that
everybody can •.. be on the same page."
But the U:S. Equal Employment Oppor
tunity Commission and plaintiffs like Ms.
Prado contend the rules at some compac
nies go too far. The agency has seen a big
withstanding, the legality of the English·
only policies is unclear. Businesses uncer
tain how to enforce such policies were
hoping the U.S. Supreme Court would give
them some guidance this term in a case
involving a challenge to Arizona's law
requiring public servants to, speak only
English. But the court has indicated that it
very likely will 'dispose of the .issue on
procedural grounds, shedding little light.
on the legality of English-only rules.
Federal appeals courts haven't been
much help. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco, with jurisdiction
over a huge immigrant population in West- ,
ern states, in 1993 ruled the EEOC guide
lines invalid and said English-only pOlicies
are legal in all but a few circumstances.
But the exceptions
when the employee
speaks no English or when English-only
rules are proved to foster a "hostile envi
ronment" Cor minorities - leave room for
lawsuits.
The EEOC's San Francisco office, for
jump in complaints about English-only , example, is investigating a 1995 complaint
policies in the year since it started tracking by employees of a San Rafael, Calif.,
them. It maintains in guidelines for em nursing home now owned by Vencor Inc.,
ployers that such rules discriminate Louisville, Ky. Some of the workers say
against people based on their national
they don't speak English and made that
. origin unless they can be "justified by known when they were hired. Vencor
business necessity." EEOC Chairman GiI- . defends its policy of requiring employees
bert F. CaselJas says the arguments some
to speak the same language as patients; it
companies make are "as onerous and
points out that the EEOC previously found
offenSive as suggesting that for the pur
its policy nondiscriminatory at one of its
poses of your business image, all your other homes.
employees ought to be white or have blond
The nonprofit Employment Law Cen
hair." :
ter in San Francisco, meanwhile, has
The. guidelines and the rulings not
Please Turn to Page 86; Column 5
/J1J~
.-. . . . . . . . . . .$
�EEOC News Clips
for
January 23, 1997
Compiled by
The Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs
�1· _/
Y
A
~
English-Only Rules RileWorkers .
Continued From Page Bl
raised concerns with Packard Bell NEC
Inc. about language practices at its com
puter-assembly plant in. Sacramento,
Calif. The center argues that certain jobs
may be so routine that allowing workers to
speak occasionally. in another language
isn't a safety hazard. It wrote the company
after a supervisor said in a memo that "all
communication in the workplace" must be
in English.
'.
.
Karen'Schmidt, Packard Bell NEC's
senior director of human resources, says
English is necessary to maintain safety
and product quality at the plant, which
employs 3,500 people who speak eight
foreign languages. But she says the com
pany didn't. authoriz~ the memo, doesn't
discipline workers for lapsing into another
language and doesn't care what they speak
in such places as the lunchroom or the
locker room.
Three other appeals courts have. re
cently thrown out challenges to English
only policies but issued their rulings in a
way that doesn't carry the weight of legal
precedent. None of the three ruled on the
validity of the EEOC guidelines. The ap
peals court in Atlanta in 1993 upheld
a lower-court ruling that. the Sa:tvation
Army's <;orrectional-services unit in
Tampa, Fla., could require workers to
speak English because doing so served the
"legitimate business purposes" of helping
supervisors manage their staffs and co
workers understand one another.
And last year, courts in Richmond,
Va., and New Orleans found that EngHsh
only rules at a branch of Dominion Bank,
now a unit of First Union Corp., and a
Houston nursery school, respectively,
weren't enforced in a way that discrimi
nated against minorities.
The EEOC, nevertheless, continues to
go after companies for violating its guide
lines, filing a suit' as recently as last
month. Over the past decade, 10 of the. 13
employers the agency has sued have aban
doned English-only rules. In 1995, for in
stance, an American Red Cross infectious
disease lab in ROCkville, Md., retracted an
English-only directive covering employees
in its laboratory and office areas. Wal"
lach's Inc., a men's clothing retailer no
longer in business, agreed to pay a former
cashier at a New York store $30,015 as part
of a consent decree with the EEOC in
1994.
In the pending Luria case in Miami,
the supervisor wanted employees to speak
English, even before store hours, because
"he didn't speak any Spanish,"says the
retailer's lawyer, Peter L. Sampo. Luria
contends Ms. Prado quit because she didn't
like the long hours and the pressure.
Ms. Prado, a former customer-service
manager, doesn't deny the stress. In court
documents, she claims that her boss stood
outSide the bathroom, listening for Span
ish. and warned her to switch to English
when she came out. Before quitting, she
says in an affidavit; she told co-workers:
"This is a nightmare."
�'. S
THE '«'ASHI~GTON POST
'Listening Session' Aims
At Disclimination Issues
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
we have been receiving a lot of lip
service."
Black farmers said they are left
to scratch out a living on small, in
efficient farms, without adequate
financing and in environments
that sometimes are racially hos
tile.
Robert Williams, a Texas cot
ton' farmer who has sued the de
partment for loan discrimination.
said that a racist banner was once
griculture Secretary Dan
Glickman got an earful
yesterday from his depart
ment's employees and angry black
,. farmers, who demanded that
.. USDA back up its stated coMmit
. .ment to civil rights with action.
'. •. Many of those who spoke at the
"listening session" hosted by.
" Glickman described the sprawl
. ~g, 90,O(JO~~nlployeedepartment .
· as ruled bv an entrenched net
work of em'ployees who fostered a
culture that tolerated racial and
sex discrimination.
Women talked about being
passed over for promotions and
cited instances of sexual, harass
ment. Asian Americans com
plained about a "sticky floor" that
caused them to languish in entry
,level jobs. Blacks talked about
"glass ceilings" and of being ig
John Boyd, president,
" nored when bosses awarded per
National Black Farmers Association
· formance bonuses.
. But the most dramatic testimo .ltdt 011 his property. The spray-,
· IIV came from members of the Na
painted message on it was: "KKK
ti'unal Black Farmers Association, Go Home Niger Isicl." Members
who brought the Jefferson Audito of the black farmers group carried
rium at department headquarters the banner around the room,' then
to a hush when telling of losing
mounted the stage to hold it be
their livelihoods because of what
hind Glickman and the "civil rights
they called rampant loan discrimi action team" he has assembled to
nation within USDA, which is the deal with the department's dis
lender of last resort for America's crinlination problems.
farmers.
James W. Myart Jr., a San An
Over the vears. department
tonio civil rights attorney who is
civil' rights in~estigators have af
general counsel to the farmer::;
firmed that discrimination did oc group, said' the stress caused by
cur in a' series of cases where
the discrimination faced by black
black farmers~whose ranks are
farmers has sometimes resurted
dwindling at three times the rate
in devastating health problems.
of white farmers-have been de
James Bowie, a Louisiana farm
nied operating or other loans, but
er who said he lost all but 40
USDA has not yet settled those
acres of his land because' of dis
claims.
nimination within USDA: report
"We have come here to cash a €'d having suffered multiple
check," said John Boyd', a southern
strokes because of the stress rt'
Virginia farmer and president of lated to his case. His wife also has
the farmers group. "We have yet
had stress-related health prob
lems, he said. .
to receive a settlement . ',' but
A
" lJIb' .
hdve yet to
recezve a
settlement ... but
we have been
receiving a lot 0/
lip service."
TlltJRSOAY, h\l'.'\R\ 23.:J 9'()i
Pointing to a frail Bowie. Myart
. told Glickman: "Look at what this
has done to him. His last wish is
for you to give him his land back
so he can be buried on it."
Yesterdav's session was the lat
est in a series of gatherings Glick
man and his top deputies have
been holding across the country
this month in the wake of a new
wave of publicity about racial dis
crimination in USDA programs
and among its employees.
"I don't want the vestigi;! of dis
crimination to afflict this depart
ment," Glickman said in explaining
why he ordered the sessions.
He added that. information
gathered during the hearings will
be used to develop recommenda
tions for helping the department
address discrimination com
plaints, which have come up re
peatedly over the years. The civil
rights action team is scheduled to
make proposals to Glickman by
mid-February .
"This is going to be'my legacy,"
. Glickman. told reporters. ~'We~re .
going to shape this place up. Peri
od."
Glickman last month ordered a
temporary halt to farm foreclo
sures until each case was re
viewed for po:ssible racial discrim
inationor other problems.
Glickman also has authorized
a USDA official to look into and
if·warranted-settle discrimina
tion complaints on' file against
USDA.
.
In addition, Farm Service
Agency Administrator Grant Bun
trock, who oversees many farmer
loan programs. has announced
plans to re:sign. officials said.
But while Glickman is talking
tough, some of the department's
longtinle employees are skeptical
about· whether hi::; words will re
sult in action.
In her statement, Karin Leperi,
a 13-vear USUA employee, criti
cized . the department for hosting
"grandstanding ceremonies" that
do not "demonstrate substance"
while employees accused of dis
crimination sometimes are pro
moted into the upper reaches of
the USDA hierarchv.
"My challenge t~you ... is to
add substance where only form
currentlv exists," Lepe!'i told
Glicklnal{. "Ont' wa~' to get sub
stance is by penalizing those per
petrators of ch·n rights violations,
rather than re",:uding and pro
moting them."
�11/06/95
19: 00' ,
'5'202 5.14 5499 ,
OLA
U.S.' bePARTlt-fENT OF JUSTiCE
, OFFICE OF LEGISLAnVE AFfAIRS
FACSfMILE COVER SHEET
TO:
"FAX 1'0.:
FROM: '
PHONE:
, DATE:
, JOHN' TRASVI&A
202/514-2111
11/-6
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NO, O:F' PAGES: _ _ ______~ (EXCLUDING COVER)
'v '
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141 001
�11/06/95
19:00
'6'202 514 5499·
OLA
ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE DOJ PROPOSED TALKING POINTS
The government has a ,proper iole, ,indeed a responsibility, t6
encourage English language proficiency. The government should
fulfill that responsibility by educating children and adults.
All Americans, regardless of class or numbers of generations in
the United States, must have English language skills to advance
economically and socialiy in the society.
In addition, the government also has' a responsibility'to
protect the safety, health, and rights of its citizens .. The~e
are any number of appropriate uses of languages other than
English by the government, such as' OSHA warning signs, court
interpreters, publ
health and voter information.
We have not yet taken a formal position on the various English
Only proposals now in Congress. However, we are studying them
carefully and are paying particular attention to proposals which
may hinder the government~s essential ability to fulfill its
responsibilities to its citizens, such as requiring federal
employees to communicate only in English to United States '
citizens.
Amending the Constitution or limiting people's rights under
the Constitution is very serious business. Thus" it is important
to explore the serious practical implications of English Only
:j..egislation or constitutional amendments on the everyday lives of
Americans in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.
Ii
i
�I .11/06/95
,(,
19: 01
f)'202 514 5499
!4J 003
OLA
Talking Points on English Only and Section 203 of the Voting
Rights Act
"
~-Language assistance for voters has been provided since 1965
and l after careful examination and documentation, was expanded by
Congress in 1975, 1982 and,1992.
Section 203 was first added ~o
the Voting Rights Act in 1975 in recognition that large numbers
of American citizens spoke languages other than English and had
been
fectively excluded from participation in our electoral
process.
--Each enactment and amendment of Section 203 enjoyed strong
bipartisan support. The 1975, 1982 and 1992 laws were signed by
Presidents Ford,. Reagan and Bush.
--Congress found that the denial of t~~ right to vote among su~h
citizens' was directly related to the unequal educational
opportunities afforded them resulting in high illiteracy and low
voting participation.
.
-~As Senator
~ectiori 203.
Hatch noted
"The right
of human rights. Unless
box, citizenship is just
in connection with the 1992 e~tension of
to vote is one of the most fund~mental
government assures access to the ballot
an empty promise."
--The Voting Rights Act
carefully targeted to those
communities with large numbers of language minority U.s. citizens
of voting age who are not fully proficient in English.
Ittakes
into account the special circumstances of Native Americans who
continue to speak their traditional languages and residents of
Puerto Rico who are U.S. citizens by birth but, when they were
childrenj studied in primarily Spanish language schools.
I
--Voter registration and participation rates among Latino U.S.
citizens have increased dramatically since Section 203 was
enacted.
Language assistance in registration and at the polls
makes a real difference for citizens, particularly the elderly,
with limited English language abilities.
--Getting a bilingual ballot on Election Day does not discourage
the learning of English the remaining 364 days a year any more
than a ban on literacy requirements for voting discourages
literacy.
--Congress examined the cost of bilingual compl~ance when it
extended Section 203 in 1982 and 1992 and concluded that it was
not b~rdensome.
Indeed, in many jurisdictions, the ~ost is
literally pennies per ballot and 'local registrars do not keep
track of separate expenditures.
--Section 203 requires that voter information be provided in the
language they understand best so that they may 'be informed
.
voters.
The entire citizenry benefits when citizens can cast
informed votes.
�•.' ;, APR'-la-96 THU 06: 'lOPN
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• Office .for. Civil Rights ~ , .
, . Olflce of the Director.' , .
.:RoOTn 5400, Cohen Building'" '
, "330 Independence Avenue;SW
: " Washington, DC202D1 .
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Date:
4/1"96
......
aC aKa~a-QC .
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P%10~i~y: ~O~l
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�Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative .
marker by t1~e William J. ~linton ,Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a publication .
.,
Publications have not been scanned in their ~ntirety for the purpose
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Stephen Warnath - Civil Rights Series
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Domestic Policy Council
Stephen Warnath
Civil Rights Series
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-1997
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36406" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/641686" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Description
An account of the resource
Stephen Warnath served as Senior Policy Analyst in the Domestic Policy Council. The Civil Rights Series includes material pertaining to the Civil Rights Working Group and topics such as affirmative action, English only, age discrimination, religious freedom, and voting rights. The records also include confirmation briefing materials for Department of Justice (DOJ) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) nominees. The records include briefing papers, correspondence, schedules, testimony, reports, clippings, articles, legislative referral memoranda, and memos. The majority of the memos are internal between the Domestic Policy Council staff and the staff of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and between the Domestic Policy Council staff and Congress.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Extent
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134 folders in 13 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
English Only [1]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Domestic Policy Council
Steven Warnath
Civil Rights Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 5
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Warnath-DPC-Civil-Rights.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/641686" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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2/8/2012
Source
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641686-english-only-1
641686