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 am less than impressed and hence we disagree.
It was not always so. My mother's citizenship booklet was printed in ENGLISH ONLY.
And that's the beauty of it. Viva Martinez.
~Oh, brother~
LOL
"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."
Benjamin Franklin had his concerns over the rising number of German immigrants who were pouring into Pennsylvania. He had "misgivings about Germans because of their clannishness, their little knowledge of English, the German press, and the increasing need of interpreters. Speaking of the latter he said, ‘I suppose in a few years they will also be necessary in the Assembly, to tell one-half of our legislators what the other half say.'" (Keely 1979, 9)
Doesn't matter. The govt should conduct all its business in English. I would have objected and not allowed him to do it. The Senate has its traditions, and I am not sure if others have been allowed to speak in a foreign language.
Mel Martinez switches to Spanish on the floor to back the Hispanic nominee for attorney general.
I checked because you spelled Al Gonzales' name wrong.
If this is true, it does nothing to solve the stated problem and simply creates a different kind of government control - we already know that you can only invest in what they allow you to invest in.
And I share your concern about inflation of the selected "winners" from the influx of a huge sum of new money.
Ain't nuthin' conservative about it, from what I've seen so far.
Some people still care about traditions.
What are these freaks going to do if they find out that Condi Rice spoke to Putin in Russian when he visits this country? Does that make her un-American?
Speaking of Lawrence Welk and his accent ... I live in an area of Wisconsin where the farmers (who were all born here) still speak with German accents. Their ancestors immigrated here and purchased their farms in the 1840s. School was conducted in German here 1/2 of each day until WWII.
Perhaps it is your overestimation of your own self-importance that will prevent you from ever becoming a Senator, then...
I'd love to see the thread that would result from someone speaking Arabic on the Senate floor.
The Spanish-speaking audience was in the room thanks to Spanish-language television cameras trained on Martinez. And what's wrong with a little stagecraft? It's an integral part of politics. Had Kerry not been such a bad actor, he might be president today.
That's just what I was thinking.
Anyhow, I love Senator Martinez. Hope to see more of him.
I find it...typical, that the media has been drooling all over Barack Obama, whom I admit is a interesting man and is well spoken, but has ignored Martinez, who is the first Cuban-American Senator.
My self-importance? I am the one sticking to traditions. It is the Senator's self-importance that somehow the Senate must make an exception for him that should be questioned. I don't blindly support any and all Republican. The Senator has shown no respect to over two-hundred years of tradition, unless I am wrong about that and there is nothing out of the ordinary in making a speech in a foreign language on the floor of the Congress.
Sometimes, and sometimes it is apt.
Just like the other terms are properly applied in certain situations.
The Senator showed proper respect, he formally asked for permission to speak in Spanish on the Senate floor, and the Senate gave him that permission.
It is you who said that you would have objected. The Senate did not.
I guess the St. Petersburg Times is just blowing the pitch-pipe for the "Rodney King and 'Why Can't We Just Get Along' Singers".
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