English Is Still Not Our Official Language, But This Bill Could Change That

[rockin'robin]

Today, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced S. 678, “The English Language Unity Act” to make English the official language of The United States. This includes governmental operations because, as ProEnglish, the leading advocate for this cause says:


“Our national unity and ability to communicate effectively is undermined by the dangerous precedent of bilingual and multilingual communications that are increasing from elected government officials,” says ProEnglish Executive Director Robert Vandervoort.

The bill makes common-sense exceptions to permit the federal government’s use of other languages, such as in cases of national security, international relations and trade, tourism, public safety and health, and protecting the rights of victims.

This bill has been receiving more co-sponsors like Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), David Vitter (R-La.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) proving this could be a good time to pass this type of bill.

Sen. Inhofe says the bill will help a diverse nation communicate:


“The United States’ culturally diverse population is what makes our nation great, and what helps us move forward together as a society is the ability to communicate to one another,” Inhofe said. “The English Language Unity Act declares English as the official language of the United States and will help set legal immigrants on a path to success as they integrate and work towards becoming citizens. As a nation built by immigrants, this legislation will strengthen the cords of unity that comes from sharing one vision and one official language.”

The 2010 census reveals that around 60 million people speak a language other than English at home and the expense to taxpayers of multilingual translations is rising at the local, state and federal governmental level,” says Robert Vandervort.

Thirty-one states already have English as the states official language.

A Rasmussen poll indicates an overwhelming 83 percent of respondents believe English should be the official language of the federal government.

Linguist and poet John Nist’s said in 1966 that language is used "primarily as a means of communion rather than as a means of communication." People seek commonality with others and the basic starting point is speaking the same language.

If the bill passes both chambers, it will be interesting to see if President Obama vetos it.

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/english-still-not-official-language-may-soon-be

 

[PowerON]

It would save money and energy for staffs who responsible for language, ads, etc.

 

[Bebonang]

There will be different languages that the diverse people like Native people want to speak their own language (different native dialects). Here in New Mexico, we have both English and Spanish while in Canada especially in Quebec they have both English and French. Most of Natives in North America want to speak their own languages and if they want to speak English, they can have both.

But still the government should not force them if they decide not to use English as their primary language. What about Deaf people who would rather use ASL to sign and not have to use voice for speaking English? Every one have a reason whether they want to speak English or not. It is up to the individuals. We will always have interpreters for different diverse people including ASL interpreters. No big problem.

 

[soutthpaw]

This type of legislation could have devastating effect on the Deaf and out access to ASL interpreters.

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