Posted on 12/05/2005 6:20:50 PM PST by Robert Drobot
Congressman Peter King (R-NY), now Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, has reintroduced his National Language Act (H.R. 4408) in the 109th Congress.
Congressman King's bill is a strong (???), self-executing ( got that right! ) official English bill in its own right. Look at Section 163:
Congressman King's bill, if passed, would also eliminate the bilingual ballot mandates contained in the Voting Rights Act. Citizenship ceremonies will be conducted solely in English.
What a pile of dung this is. The "...."Unless specifically stated in applicable law...." portion of this bill keeps in place all the damnable state law that allows every non-European language to be used on election ballots.
Another dog and pony show - this time it's a Republican acting as the ringmaster of this phony circus mocking our national language.
Why do you want the federal government to over-ride a state's right to print ballots as they choose?
"What a pile of dung this is. The "...."Unless specifically stated in applicable law...." portion of this bill keeps in place all the damnable state law that allows every non-European language to be used on election ballots."
What is wrong with non european languages? if i didnt know better, I'd say your post hints of racism. Why is it ok to have spanish but not chinese or vietnamese?
simply put, while it would be great to have people assimilate and learn english, i know more than a few immigrants who are simply too old to learn much english beyond a few phrases and words. I can understand the frustration at native born citizens not learning english, but lets not forget that there are more than a few naturalized citizens who simply cant.
I think that smacks of some serious reverse racism for the 200 million of us that do speak english, and enjoy our birthright of english being the linga franca of our laws and founding documents.
The law only addresses the federal government.
portion of this bill keeps in place all the damnable state law that allows every non-European language to be used on election ballots.
The comment indicated a failure to read the content of the article.
My great grandfather insisted that his children speak only English. He only spoke Welsh with his wife. Both of them were legal immigrants from Wales in 1863. My grandfather (the youngest of 19 children) barely understood any Welsh at all. I've learned Welsh as a means of researching family history. My son learned Spanish as a means of expanding his real estate business. English is still the lingua franca of successful persons in the USA.
If King introduced this as a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, he would have my support. There is no way this could hold up in court if challenged on either first or tenth amendment grounds.
Anyone who wants their kids to be successful will push their kids to learn English. It also helps, however, to know another language, especially one of the biggies (Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, etc.).
NY State provides ballots in Spanish, Russian, Polish, and Italian, all four of which are European languages.
I strongly agree. I have to travel out of the country frequently. I satisfied the written/oral proficiency exam in German to graduate from Revelle College, UCSD. Since then, I've had to pick up enough vocabulary to muddle through in French, Italian and Turkish. My fluency in Welsh written/oral is almost equal to the German fluency. I dabble in Arabic and Mandarin when I can find fluent speakers to correct my pronunciation...especially Mandarin. My command is Spanish is poor...even though I have a large vocabulary ingrained from 40 years in San Diego.
As a consequence of learning French and Welsh, I can understand written Breton. I haven't heard the language spoken, so there is no guarantee of actually understanding it in that form.
Polish is on my "to do" list. Especially if NATO decides to relocate facilities from Belgium/Germany to Poland. The books and tapes are already on my shelf.
The whole thing with putting Spanish on voting ballots started when the mayor of Miami did it to get the Spanish-speaking voters to vote for his re-election. It grew from there. There was no excuse for him to do that. NO ONE who can't speak and read English should have a right to vote.
***...but lets not forget that there are more than a few naturalized citizens who simply cant.***
They should not be naturalized if they can't even read and speak English.
"NO ONE who can't speak and read English should have a right to vote."
that is incredibly harsh. I am amazed you even said that. How many immigrants coming to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s spoke english?
no what i mean is if you have an election in an area with a sizeable minority then it should be ok for the local officials to have ballots in the language of that minority as well. For example, it would make sense to have chinese in chinatown.
If you know english, fantastic. There is a ballot for you. If you dont and happen to be a common group, here it is in that language. It is simply easier that way. If you arent in the common group, try your best with one of those offered.
"NO ONE who can't speak and read English should have a right to vote."
Where is that gem in the constitution?
No, Robert. Multilingualism has been created by executive fiat, Executive Order 13166, for instance. It's the word, "specifically" that is the magic bullet, here. The courts have inferred that other laws create such rights where none such rights exist.
King's co-author on the bill is none other Libertarian Wild-Man Ron Paul. Believe me, Ron Paul is not one for fake gestures. If I were to fault Peter King for one thing, it's that he won't support Steve King's HR 997, because he believes it is too weak.
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