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."
All Congresscritters should speak only English on the Senate floor.
This is America.
I don't answer direct questions that are MADE UP and not based in fact.
Have a nice day, my friend.
I already am.
Of course I do; but unlike some of you, I never expected to agree with every single thing he did.
Anyone who is not tremendously troubled by this is an unadulterated nut.
If Uber Politico Rove doesn't take this guy to the woodshed, and this kind of nonsense continues ... well it may be interesting in 2006-08.
And I don't actively look for things to carp about.
Yep! Can you say nucular?
Frank--
I think the President has made a huge mistake in ignoring the immigration crisis facing this nation. I view it as a cancer on the national body politic.
I think he was mistaken in his huge domestic spending agenda during his first term, capped off by his LBJ style hundreds-of-billions (trillion?)-of-dollars MediPill program. I believe he was mistaken to have refused to take a firm stand against reverse discrimination in the U. Mich. case. He was mistaken to have continued to federalize education, a role reserved to the states.
I didn't think we should pay to get back our plane from China.
I didn't much like the DOJ being named after RFK.
Signing CFR was a mistake, IMO.
Trying to deal with Ted Kennedy on education was ridiculous.
I don't trust Putin.
Ditto for John McCain.
Do you require more?
Now why did you ask?
Communicating with Spanish speakers is fine. If everyone on the floor of the Senate is certifiably fluent, then they can conduct business that way. I would be surprised if 10 Senators are certifiably fluent in Spanish. The place for communicating a message to Spanish speakers is in a press conference. Putting on a show disguised as official Senate business is just that...a show.
You don't actually think those speeches on the floor of the Senate are meant to convince other Senators, do you??????!?!??!?!? LOL....
It would be too much to expect for Senators on the taxpayer payroll to actually conduct the legislative business of the nation. They are too busy being self-absorbed politicians.
You don't read my posts very carefully then. I just don't slit my wrists or threaten to "sit home" with my vote.
Despite what some think around here, I'm not much of a drama queen. I leave that to the unappeasables.
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