Posted on 05/19/2006 1:24:24 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
HOUSTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush has long opposed making English the country's national language, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Friday, the day after the Senate voted to do so.
The vote came in an amendment to proposed legislation overhauling U.S. immigration law and directed the government to "preserve and enhance" the role of English. Opponents said it could affect the status of some multilingual services offered by government organizations.
Adding to the confusion, the Senate also adopted a softer amendment calling English the "unifying language" of the United States. Senators take both versions into negotiations over a final bill with the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gonzales did not directly address Bush's position on the controversial amendment because the Senate has not yet voted on the whole bill. But he said that Bush has in the past rejected such efforts.
"The president has never supported making English the national language," Gonzales said after meeting with state and local officials in Texas to discuss cooperation on enforcement of immigration laws.
He said Bush has instead long supported a concept called "English-Plus," believing that it was good to be proficient in more than one language.
"English represents freedom in our country and anybody who wants to be successful in our country has a much better chance of doing so if they speak English," Gonzales said. "It is of course a common language."
But, Gonzales said, "I don't see the need to have laws or legislation that says English is the national language."
While visiting Arizona on Thursday to press his plan to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border spoke of the need to unite Americans.
"We've got to honor the great American tradition of the melting pot," Bush said. "Americans are bound together by shared ideals and appreciation of our history, of respect for our flag and ability to speak the English language."
Intervening in a recent furor over a Spanish-language version of the national anthem released by Latin pop stars, Bush said that the "Star-Spangled Banner" should be sung in English.
The United States currently has no official language and the amendment was showing signs of further inflaming an already incendiary issue, with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada calling it "racist."
to warm and fuzzy for my liking.
We all know how Reuters twists quotes to fit their agenda.
Yet some people fall for it again and again.
Because the Germans, Dutch, Swedish, and Italians had to follow US Imigration laws to get here, and so they came in at a controlled rate. They also came here because they wanted to be Americans. They didn't come here in droves with the full intentions of turning around and going back home in a few years.
They did the paperwork and played by the rules to get here.
These ILLEGAL immigrants are NOT the same. They didn't follow our laws to get here. They have no vested interest in our country. They took the shortcut to get here and a lot of them have no intentions of staying.
Apples and oranges.
Ich wunsche ihnen eines Schones Wochenende!!!!!!!
Sure, no problem. That doesn't mean English can't or shouldn't be the official language, though.
Don't understand this one at all.
Enter the 2006 FR registration kick line!!!
Should there be a sarcasm tag there?
Well, we can look at it this way, he has nothing else to ever run for. This job is it. He retires to the ranch, to get his big bucks in retirement pay from the tax payers, to get the big bucks to speak before some convention or bunch of folks. He doesn't have to worry about a job, money, benefits, medical care, etc. He has armed guards to watch over him and his family. He has no worries when he leaves the White House. The same with all presidents. He will go off into the sun set and do whatever he wants. It is we, the public, who will be stuck trying to live day to day with these sorry decisions he is making now. Based on his spending, his inaction on the boarders, his ignoring the conservative base, I truly regret voting for him. I support his war on terror, but the other stuff drives me crazy.
He was also on the board of directors of their state affiliate in Texas. I don't trust him at all.
Not really. The "base" has really been looking for some "red meat" from the Prez. Regardless of the source, this could be it. Unfortunately it could be his move to drop even lower in the polls, but I already am certain he doesn't care about them. He governs from his heart.
Who let the Nazi's out? /s
Damn.
Republicans need to get as far away from this jerk as they can before November.
cafepress.com
English-Plus?
Get real. When we can't support English as the official language of the U.S., you've lost this Bush-bot.
States and cities are still free to print ballots, publications, etc. in as many languages as they want. Certain statutes require information to be printed in other languages.
This is all a tempest in a teapot!
AG Gonzales is a very loyal and trusted agent of President Bush. The idea that he'd waltz in front of a microphone and start talking out of his @$$ on such a sensitive matter is comical.
gotta wonder just which side he is on......
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