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."
He's our new AG.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1335350/posts
My best wishes to the new Attorney General. I hope he does a great job in enforcing the laws of the land.
Muy bueno!
I think the short version is if your skin is darker than his and you speak with an accent, you have two choices: work on his home or go back to Mexico.
There's certainly nothing in being a first generation immigrant that prevents anyone from also being racist or anti-immigrant. Just another version of NIMBY.
If he's conservative, HELL YES!
When did I say I am anti-immigrant? You are acting like a liberal Democrat. Even if he was born in this country and spoke in Spanish in the floor of the Senate, I would object that too. Either you don't know what anti-immigrant means, or you like to accuse people of prejudice by nature. You either don't know anything, or vulgar. Maybe both.
I would submit that the intimidation goes the other way, too. Why is it that any time someone raises concerns, they are accused of race-baiting? That claim is often used to excuse those who DO cross the line of racism.
So, let's not stifle discussion of the fact that there are real racists out there. Let's see the intimidation end on that front, as well, please. Or does thenon-intimidation request only go one way?
Agreed.
It wouldn't bother me in the least and it wouldn't bother most freepers. Why should it? I would only mock it if the context demanded it, and if a dem did it, it probably would be laughable. But it would not be Spanish-speaking per se, but what and why they said whatever they did en Español.
So then, what do you have against hispanics?
I think it will. Martinez is a great guy, very pro-life, and somebody I was really happy to work for as a GOP campaigner.
If they were Conservative, the last thing they would do is go against tradition and custom. And anyone that would welcome arabic used to deliver a speech in the Senate is a fool.
Bingo!
Maybe the Republicans will get 45% of the hispanic vote next time.
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