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."
The man is just NOT a conservative. Even "English Only" must be watered down.
You're right. The Attorney General of the United States is just a low-grade lackey with no direct knowledge of what the President thinks or doesn't think.
Languages have no hold on him.Neither do borders.
I love the absurd hyperbole on FR by the Borderbots.
So, do you think Reuters just made up the whole thing?
It was beautiful. In a sad way. Reminded me unfortunately of 1991.
Yes it has been disappointing, but remember, nothing has been finalized until the House and Senate hugs, kisses, and makes up, then sends their Gum Drops to GWB for signing, or vetoing. Everyone in Washington is feeling the intense heat. After it's all done, will be the time for overall performance measurement/ratings.
**************
That's pure narishkayt.
LOL. The President who put his presidency on the line to protect the people of this country wants to sell it down the river. /s LOL.
Neither do borders
The poison of political correctness has reached the top of the Republican food chain.
A lot of politicians are bilingual these days
troll alert!
No kidding.
"which is no more than common sense"
Perhaps he should govern from his head, instead.
"Why is it after 200+ years of being a Nation that we want to now have an official language? We survived Germans, Dutch, Swedish, Italian etc with English intact, so why cant we survive Spanish?"
If I remember correctly, the U.S. Government never printed forms in Germen, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, etc. Also, I don't remember having 12 million German or Italian illegals at any one time.
It's Spanglish.
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