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."
I don't know what Mexicans you are talking about that don't speak spanish. The ones I know in Texas speak spanish just fine. Don't lump all Mexicans together.
The Republicans are taking the gloves off and starting to wonder aloud if the dems are racist and trying to keep Gonzales down due to his race and Martinez employed their shared language to that effort.
And they're absolutely right to do it. That is the reason the dems are blocking Gonzales, at least in part.
The Senate should not have made an exception.
You are a liar!
Why?
Ask you friends if they understand Cubans speaking Spanish. You might be surprised. Besides, I didn't say Mexicans don't speak Spanish, I said that they don't speak the correct version of Spanish. The Mexicans from around Mexico City speak correct Spanish but the rest do not.
The Senate did grant permission which was the correct thing to do.
You are wrong (as is your habit).
I don't think it's fair to put words in his mouth like that.
The only Mexicans that speak correct Spanish are not only in Mexico City. How about Monterrey, Guadalajara, Veracruz, etc. The main reason that Cubans and Mexicans along with Colombians, Venezuelans etc. MAY have trouble understanding each other is because of the accent. Just like in the United States people from the south may have trouble understanding people from the north and vice versa. It is because of the accent. Take Louisiana and Texas. We each might use a different word to describe something but we understand each other quite well, of course.
I hope this helps.
At least you understand. This is all I am saying that most of the Mexicans don't understand the Cuban Spanish. Evidently, Martinez was speaking to the Cubans not the Mexicans.
Are you saying that the Mexicans did not understand what Senator Martinez said in Spanish?
Don't ask me, ask your friends.
I'd love to hear Sen. Lieberman speak German on the Senate floor and hear all the cr@p that would fly from that.
When I go home I will listen with my faulty Spanish I picked up in Miami. (Donde esta los ratones?)
I bet it was pretty vanilla, and everyone probably understood. I was in St. Maartin, and when some guy said something in spanish there, is sounded more like dutch! :-)
You're right about that. Maybe it was just your Mexican American friend didn't know much Spanish, being born here and all. Possible. Cubans speak spanish really fast, too. The people in Argentina speak Spanish with an Italian accent. Really beautiful.
you are in America, you have the right and privilige to learn another language!!
That seems to be the last thing he wants to do.
"Personally, I would worry about a policy that permits someone, a local law enforcement official, to use this authority somehow as a club to harass -- they might be undocumented aliens, but otherwise lawful citizens. That would be troubling. That would be troubling to the president who, as a governor of a -- former governor of a border state understands and appreciates the roles that immigrants and undocumented aliens play in our society."
Check it yourself:
AG Nominee Gonzales on Illegal Immigration (Confirmation Hearing Excerpts)
But don't let that stop you from believing otherwise.
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