"Aaarg!
Oh, what a world, what a world..."
Posted on 02/03/2005 9:25:35 AM PST by kjfpolitical
WASHINGTON - Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, the first Cuban-American elected to the U.S. Senate, on Wednesday apparently marked another first: delivering the first Spanish speech on the Senate floor.
Martinez, a Republican from Orlando, was speaking in favor of President Bush's nomination of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales as the new U.S. attorney general. Gonzales, a Mexican-American, would be the first Hispanic to hold that post.
After praising Gonzales in English as a qualified public servant and a role model for Hispanic-Americans, Martinez switched to Spanish and addressed all "those who came to America to create a better life."
"Judge Gonzales is one of us," he said in Spanish. "He represents all of our hopes and dreams for our children. Let us acknowledge the importance of this moment, for especially our youth.
"We cannot allow petty politicking to deny us this moment that fills us all with such pride."
It was the new senator's first floor speech since he was sworn in last month, and it came during Republican debate on Gonzales' nomination, to a mostly empty chamber. Martinez sought permission to use Spanish beforehand, then gave the English translation for the Congressional Record.
Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, one of a handful of Republican leaders there to hear it, congratulated Martinez when he finished. "I'm sure that this is not only the first time we've had a bilingual first speech in the Senate ... (but) you could not have picked a more important topic," McConnell said.
The Senate is expected to confirm Gonzales' appointment today, despite opposition from many Senate Democrats who say he once advised the Bush administration that torture may not always be unlawful.
Kerry Feehery, Martinez's press secretary, said the senator used Spanish to underscore the importance of Gonzales' nomination to Hispanic-Americans. "It's a historic moment for the Hispanic community and we shouldn't lose sight of the barriers it's breaking," she said.
While Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose wife is from Mexico, and President Bush frequently speak Spanish to connect with Hispanic audiences and potential voters, Martinez's speech appears unprecedented in the Senate.
Associate Senate historian Don Ritchie said the Senate has had several other Hispanic members, "but we don't have anything in our files that indicates that either of them ever used Spanish in their speeches on the floor."
Last year, former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., used a Native American language when introducing a bill, and guest chaplains have said prayers in both Chippewa and Sioux, he said. In the 19th century, senators frequently used Latin phrases but never delivered speeches in Latin.
Ritchie said it is difficult to know exactly what has been said over the past 200 years: Remarks delivered in a foreign language generally don't show up in the official proceedings, simply because those who record the floor debates can't transcribe them.
In place of Martinez's Spanish remarks Wednesday, the unofficial transcript says simply, "Speaking in Spanish."
Univision, the Spanish-language TV network, and CNN en Espanol carried the morning speech live, as did C-SPAN. Feehery said she doubts Martinez will give many bilingual speeches on the Senate floor, "but if it's an important issue to the Hispanic-American community, both in Florida and nationwide, he will."
Because some people still care about tradition. Senators are nothing but transients in that body, whereas tradition stays forever. More importantly, a foreign language has no place in official business of the US govt.
Just as I predicted. You Tancretoids are certainly one trick ponies.
This country has a tradition of welcoming immigrants with open arms. How come you're so against some traditions and not others?
Isn't that special? Perhaps I can deliver one in a Welsh dialect one day. Apparently, yapping on the Senate floor is not done for the purpose of communicating. If that were the purpose, the speaker would choose the common language of every person in the room and select a vocabulary tailored to the audience. This was Hispanic showboating to grab a newspaper headline.
My gripe with Gonzales is his anti-gun record.
LOL!
That is an absolute lie.
"Aaarg!
Oh, what a world, what a world..."
Not true.
Scripture! Don't forget about that!
The WorldNetDaily article is WRONG.
He was in the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans in Houston, Texas, which helps the youth in Houston; and it was years ago.
There is not one bit of proof that he EVER belong to LaRaz or was one of its "high officials." None.
BTW, don't give WND as a source; they're wrong more than they're right.
>>More importantly, a foreign language has no place in official business of the US govt.
You gonna get rid of all the Latin minted on our coins too?
Now Kerry is gonna want to give all his speach in French .... c'est domage, ca.
The headline does not even follow from the article, which only states that Gonzales was *backed* by NCLR, not a member of it.
That never stopped anybody from using it as PROOF that Gonzales is a part of LaRaz; heck, yesterday one of them claimed he wrote their "agenda" for them.
Oh, so I'm a liar (Howlin's post # 127) because I believed WND, an untrustworthy source? Thanks for straighening me out. Glad to hear that Gonzales repudiates La Raza's agenda (BTW, why did they back him?) and is not an open-borders advocate.
Probably asking for another donation as well.
What you posted was a lie. Live with it.
Perhaps you should actually READ the article you use as your sources, eh?
HELLO, there wasn't hardly anyone IN the chamber -- the speech was meant for the audience at large, as in TV -- part of it was in English and part (most?) of it was in Spanish. Or do you not think communicating a message to Spanish speakers should be allowed?
You don't actually think those speeches on the floor of the Senate are meant to convince other Senators, do you??????!?!??!?!? LOL....
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