Free Republic

If we’re different colors we deserve different languages! Right Amy?I see where Amy Klobuchar has changed her mind (aka pandering if you’re a politician) and now does NOT think English should be the national language of the United States. I wonder what she thinks SHOULD be our official language, Yiddish? Navajo? Aramaic?How about Esperanto?  The artificially constructed language created in 1887 by Polish ophthalmologist and linguist L. L. Zamenhof. He had hoped that his language - which he saw as a tool to gather people together through neutral, fair, equitable communication - would lead to a world free of war....

Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said at a recent campaign stop that English should not be the official language of the United States, even though she voted for a pro-English language bill during her time in the Senate. Klobuchar said at the campaign event in Las Vegas on Friday that she has “taken a strong position against” the English-language amendment, which she voted in support of in 2007, the Associated Press reported. “I think that when you look at a state like this state, and a country like ours that is so diverse, you don’t want to have...

SNIP Klobuchar was one of 17 Democrats to support a 2007 amendment that would have reversed President Bill Clinton’s executive order requiring federal agencies to provide materials in languages other than English. It passed 64-33, but the larger immigration bill died. The amendment’s sponsor, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, said after the June 2007 vote that the amendment was about “preserving our culture and heritage” and would “send a message to all those who have come to our country and all those who will immigrate here in the future that English is the language of our land.” Klobuchar joined other...

Aaron Schlossberg, a lawyer in New York, was caught on camera berating staff members of a restaurant for speaking Spanish with customers. A lot of multilingual countries promote an official language, but the United States has never done so with English. In fact, the US has no official language. "The Founding Fathers didn't see a need to declare one," Dr. Wayne Wright, a professor of language and literacy at Purdue University, told CNN. "English was pretty much the dominant language of the United States at the time and they didn't want to offend their fellow Americans who helped fight for...

Not a single voter from the EU’s 28 member states — which have a total population of 508 million — has yet to vote in favor of Turkish membership. But MEPs voted 375–133 to back the initiative by President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, who asked the Dutch EU Presidency to add Turkish to the bloc’s 24 official languages in order to boost attempts to reach a reunification agreement on the Mediterranean island. The move, expected to add £25m to the EU’s annual budget, has infuriated critics who last night said it was further proof that Turkey’s accession to the EU...

Illegal immigration issue is a timely reminder “Language is a unifying instrument which binds people together. When people speak one language they become as one, they become a society”—S.I. Hayakawa Donald Trump’s stance on illegal immigration is a timely reminder that assimilation (to a common language, culture and values) is what makes the United States exceptional. If we are to continue to be the greatest nation on earth then we must remain a melting pot. As Senator Hayakawa so eloquently explained, “The United States, a land of immigrants from every corner of the world, has been strengthened and unified because...

"...the U.S. is one of less than a dozen countries in the world without an official language. "Requiring the use of English does not mean that our society does not value the preservation of cultural heritage. However, the ability to communicate in one standard language in the workplace, in our schools, and in official settings not only improves our efficiency as we carry out our daily activities, but it more importantly builds unity among citizens and creates a sense of national pride. That is why I have consistently advocated for making English the official language of the United States. "English...

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This is the simple but powerful text of the 10th Amendment to our Constitution. The first impression a reading of Obamacare’s scheme brings to mind are the many blatant violations of the 10th Amendment it contains. One such violation is the demand that ALL medical service providers and facilities be compelled to include on staff translators able to render “language-appropriate services” in potentially hundred of languages. Page 91 lines 4 – 7...

Alarmed that a professional golf association proposed to exclude competitors who don’t speak English, the state Senate acted today to prohibit businesses in California from discriminating against customers, including refusing them service, based on the language they use.(snip) State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) said the policy raised an issue that required changes to state civil rights laws that already protect employees from discrimination based on language.(snip) SB 242, which now goes to the Assembly, was approved on a 21-15 vote, with Republican lawmakers opposed based on concern it would open businesses up to a rash of civil rights lawsuits...

With all the illegal aliens coming into this country, and liberals obsessing over multiculturalism, I'm wondering how soon they will be declaring a new official language for the United States. Of course, there's no doubt about what the official language will be. Isn't it obvious? As an homage to our Linguist-in-Chief, He Who Can Do No Wrong, I hereby declare the New Official Language: AUSTRIAN!!!!!

WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate may consider making English the national language, not the common language included in immigration reform legislation. The proposal from Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., would reduce the government services provided in languages other than English, the Washington Times reported Friday. There is not an entitlement for language, other than the English language, to be given to people who want government services, Inhofe told the Times. Many Democrats oppose the measure, which would lift President Bill Clinton's executive order encouraging government services to be delivered in different languages, and its fate as an amendment...

SAN BERNARDINO - Strife over the importance of bilingual education in a mostly Latino district has undermined civility in school board affairs. It reached a crescendo Tuesday when a county school board member denounced a San Bernardino City Unified school board member's father as a bigot and a racist dog. The insults lobbed by activist Gil Navarro at Tuesday night's San Bernardino school board meeting prompted two board members, Judi Penman and Louise Ayala, to leave in a rage. Disagreements over bilingual education and support for Latino groups have roiled the district for weeks. Ruben Lopez, Ayala's father and target...

Senate passes English bill By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOPEKA (AP) -- Legislation making English the state's official language is more form than substance, according to the chairman of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, which endorsed the bill. ''It's a nothing bill. It acknowledges that English is what we speak here,'' Sen. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina, said Wednesday after the committee sent the House-passed bill to the Senate for debate. The committee removed a section allocating $500,000 to pay for programs that teach English to adults. The bill still requires the state Board of Regents to establish English classes in...

There are hundreds of dialects among China's 1.3bn people Only about half of China's population can speak the national language, Mandarin, according to the state news agency Xinhua.More men speak Mandarin than women, and more urbanites speak the language than those in rural areas, Xinhua said. For many years now, the government has tried to increase the use of Mandarin, to promote social cohesion. But China has hundreds of dialects, some of which - such as Cantonese and Hokkien - have strong regional support. In a survey of 500,000 people around the country, the Ministry of Education found that...

2. Voters need to understand what they're voting for With English as the national language, American ballots would never be offered in any foreign languages, and for good reason. By what legitimate justification do we allow non-English speaking citizens to cast their ballots for candidates whose positions, platforms, and other important pronouncements are unintelligible to the voting citizen? The American government, despite periodic legislation coercing bilinguality, mainly issues its decrees in English. One who lacks the capacity to understand and interpret the actions of his government should not be granted the ability to issue elective referenda on that which he...

CARPENTERSVILLE -- A voice over the bullhorn led chants in Spanish, yelling "aqui estamos y no nos vamos" -- "we are here and we are not leaving" -- as hundreds gathered to protest an ordinance targeting illegal immigrants. Nearby, a group of six men stood watching. "Speak English! We can't understand you. What? What?" one man sarcastically yelled back at the crowd. Carpentersville residents, immigration activists, Illinois Minuteman members and gawkers stood next to each other on the front lawn of village hall Tuesday night as a national debate on illegal immigration played out locally. The crowd, estimated at 1,500,...

PHOENIX - Arizona lawmakers agreed to let voters decide whether to deny more state services to illegal immigrants and whether to make English the state's official language. The GOP-dominated Legislature rejected other ballot measures to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona, set state punishments for businesses that hire illegal foreign labor and stop communities from prohibiting police enforcement of federal immigration law. The ballot questions emerged after Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano rejected a wide-ranging immigration bill two weeks ago, saying it would have been too easy on errant employers and too expensive for police agencies. The two measures...

The Illegal Immigration and English-Only Debates Have Heated Up in Southwestern OhioThe two issues (English as official language and illegal immigration) should be kept separate. If you speak perfect English and you're here illegally, the law says you should be deported. If you're here legally, struggling with English, and don't think the official language idea is a good one, it's your right as a citizen to speak out, vote, and even run for office. You see? They're separate. But now, thanks to our local PC paper and a local legislator, the two will probably be joined at the hip around...

<p>"I don't want us to get in a situation of having an independent Quebec-type movement in this country. By having a common, unifying language, you forestall something like that," said Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-5th.</p> <p>WASHINGTON - A Virginia lawmaker, Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., is stepping into the forefront of efforts to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to make English the nation's official language.</p>

Aiming to unite all residents of the United States under one common language, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) introduced a Constitutional Amendment that would declare English the official language of our nation. Reversing the recent tide of divisive and piecemeal multilingualism, H.J. Res. 94 would ensure that government business is conducted in English, providing a common ground for communication and understanding. First proposed by Senator and U.S. English, Inc. founder S.I. Hayakawa, legislation that would make English the official language of the United States has been one of the most widely supported measures in the past 20 years. More than 550...