Referring to official English bills like Rep. Steve King's (R-IA) HR 997, Gingrich said, "You find a way to bring it to the floor of the House every two months. And then those elites in government will be forced to answer 'Are you with 85 percent of the country, or are you against 85 percent of the country'" Gingrich outlined a five-step plan to promote assimilation. In addition to making English the official language it included banning bilingual ballots, focusing on English literacy as a pre-requisite for citizenship, prohibiting naturalized U.S. citizens from voting in foreign countries, and putting more emphasis on teaching American history and the principles of American civilization.
      "If you are pro-immigration into America, you should be pro-assimilation into the American way of life," Gingrich added. A copy of the former Speaker's statement entitled "The Way Forward on Patriotic Integration Starts with English as the Official Language of Government," is available on ProEnglish's website: www.proenglish.org.

Charity watchdog group rates ProEnglish: Four Stars
      Charity Navigator, a national non-profit organization that evaluates charities and tax-exempt educational organizations has given ProEnglish its 4 star rating for sound fiscal management. Charity Navigator, which can be found on the Internet at www.charitynavigator.org, exists to give people assurance that the groups they donate to are well managed organizations and worthy of their trust.

Sen. Inhofe plans new Senate drive for English
      Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) is expected to reintroduce his “National Language Act” in the Senate soon.
      In 2006 Sen. Inhofe was successful in getting an official English measure passed in the Senate for the first time in nearly 20 years. Unfortunately it was adopted in the form of an amendment to a Senate immigration bill that later died in committee.
       In recognition of his achievement ProEnglish gave the Senator the organization’s first ever Theodore Roosevelt American Unity Award last Fall. The award is given to honor members of Congress that have shown outstanding leadership in the battle to preserve English as the common, unifying language of our nation.

Kings renew joint push for official English
      Congress is infamous for oversize egos, and petty turf battles are routine. But for Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), preserving English as our common language is an overriding goal, regardless of who gets the credit.
      Both men reintroduced bills this year to make English our official language. And, in a move that is rare in Washington, each has co-sponsored the other's bill.
      Rep. Steve King's "English Language Unity Act," H.R. 997, would make English the official language and repeal President Clinton's 'multilingual Mandate," E.O. 13166, which requires federal, state, and local governments and recipients of federal funds to provide interpreters and translations for most non-English speakers.
      Rep. Peter King's "National Language Act," H.R. 769, would make English the official language and repeal the federal mandate requiring state and local governments to print ballots and other election materials in foreign languages.
      Rep. Peter King has also introduced a separate bill, H.R. 768, to repeal E.O. 13166.
      "I cannot say enough about the courage, leadership and example of these fine two men," said ProEnglish Chairman Bob Park. "All of us who believe in the 'melting pot' as an ideal for our nation are indebted to both of them," he added.
     
Constitutional amendments would make English official
      U.S. Representatives Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and John Doolittle (R-CA) have introduced constitutional amendments in Congress to make English the official language. H.J. Res. 19 and H.J. Res. 17 would require the federal government to use English for all public acts, "including every order, resolution, vote, and election, and for all records and judiciary proceedings of the Government of the United States and the governments of the several states." ProEnglish has endorsed both pieces of legislation. Constitutional amendments require the support of two-thirds of both houses of Congress, and three-fourths of all state legislatures in order to become law.

At least 18 States taking up "official English," eyeing ballots in '08
      Eighteen state legislatures are considering bills to make English the official language, including Michigan, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Kansas (see 'states considering official English' on pp.__). Lawmakers in Georgia, Missouri and Nashville, Tenn. are trying to put official English measures on the ballot in '08.
      The surge in official English bills coincides with moves by dozens of city and county governments to make English their official language. It also reflects increasing public frustration with Congress's failure to pass legislation to protect English's role as the common language of the U.S. at the federal level.
      ProEnglish has been active in helping state and local lawmakers draft and defend official English bills. Whenever invited ProEnglish testifies in support of these bills, as it did in Kansas recently.
      28 states already have English as their official language. Arizona became the most recent addition when 74 percent of the state's voters passed Proposition 103 in 2006. According to exit polls, the official English amendment won nearly 50 percent of the Hispanic vote.

States considering official English

Texas town's English ordinance has teeth
      Anti-English activists almost always use the same argument in their efforts to stop states, cities, and other jurisdictions from passing official English laws: such laws they say are merely symbolic and have no practical effect, so why bother.
      But now the Texas town of Farmers Branch near Dallas is demonstrating the practical effect that an official English ordinance can have when government officials actually enforce it. Local residents have noticed a number of changes since last fall when Councilman Tim O'Hare persuaded the city council to adopt a carefully worded ordinance making English the official language of Farmers Branch.
      The city's garbage collection schedule for holidays and fliers advertising events at the city library are now printed exclusively in English. Spanish no longer blares from television sets overlooking treadmills and stationary bicycles at the Farmers Branch Community Recreation Center. And notices and informational pamphlets printed by the City's parks and recreation department are now printed exclusively in English, instead of Spanish and English as they were previously.
      Meanwhile the City continues to print and disseminate information important to public health and safety in Spanish as well as English, as the ordinance allows. And since the ordinance passed, many of the claims circulated by the measure's opponents have been shown to be false. For example some local Catholic leaders had said that they would be forced to discontinue holding Mass in Spanish if the measure passed. But Mass continues to be celebrated in Spanish as well as English, just as before.

Bilingual ballot "Farsi" now playing in Hollywood
      The waste and divisiveness of printing ballots in foreign languages came home to voters in affluent Beverly Hills recently when the city decided to translate and print its absentee and regular ballots in Farsi for the city's March 6 elections for city council.
      The decision prompted hundreds of complaints in the city of 35,000 where an influx of Iranian immigrants that started with the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979, has increased to the point that some 25 percent of the city's residents are of Iranian descent and normally speak Farsi at home.
      Current federal bilingual ballot laws require states and counties in which at least 5 percent of the voters speak a foreign language and have difficulty speaking English, to print ballots and election materials in that language.
      Iranian immigrant Jimmy Delshad, who was in a tight race to become mayor of Beverly Hills and the highest Iranian-born official in the United States, agreed with critics. "The Iranian community is one of the most educated minorities in America and reads English well," Delshad said, according to an Associated Press story. "The ballots only caused confusion, and were an insult to many Iranians," he added.
      In 2006 the Bush Administration allied with Democrats to overcome strong opposition from a majority of House Republicans, and pass a 25-year renewal of the bilingual ballot provisions through Congress. ProEnglish testified to Congress against renewal.
High cost of multilingual government hits Georgia
      Georgia is discovering how costly the burden of translating and interpreting for non English-speaking immigrants is. According to Census data, the state has nearly half a million residents who do not speak English very well despite being far removed from any international border. While the number of people in that category has risen 42 percent in just three years, the cost of providing translation and interpreter services in the state is rising even faster.
      The Cobb County School District now spends $1.2 million just to communicate with families that speak a language other than English at home. In 2001 alone, the district spent $346,000 on eight full-time translators.
      Gwinnett County spent $539,000 for court interpreters, an increase of over 150% in just three years. Demand for such interpreter services is booming. Language Line Services, a company that offers interpreter services to many government agencies in Georgia, reports that just since 2000, requests for Spanish interpreter services are up 155%. And demand for other languages is rising even faster: for Vietnamese, requests are up 300%; for Russian, 400%, for Japanese, 700%, and for Hindi, 900%.

Nashville mayor blocks official English bill
      Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed a bill the city council passed that would have made English the city's official language. The bill, if signed, would have made Music City the largest city in America with English as its official language.
      'this ordinance does not reflect who we are in Nashville," Purcell said at a news conference shortly after vetoing the measure. The bill was opposed by a broad coalition of interest groups including the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights coalition, Catholic Charities, and the Tennessee Restaurant Association.
      The city council voted to override the mayor's veto, but the measure failed to win a large enough majority to pass.
      Councilman Eric Crafton, the author of the "English First" bill, said he plans to lead an initiative campaign to put the measure on the ballot in '08. Crafton, who won a U.S. Navy medal in the first Gulf War, is no stranger to controversy. In two terms in office he has been burned in effigy, survived a recall petition, been voted out of office, reelected by the same voters, and received numerous death threats.
      The fact that Crafton speaks fluent Japanese and lives in a bilingual household (his wife was born in Japan) is particularly annoying to critics of his bill.
      'the people who disagree with me, it kills them that they can't say I'm doing this because I'm a racist," said Crafton.


     

On teaching English
      "We do try to totally immerse them in the English language. And we have found that they make that transition very, very quickly, if they are totally immersed in English."

-- Carla Tafoya,
Cactus Elementary School Principal in Cactus, Texas
on teaching English in her school where 77 percent of the students speak little or no English
(Dallas News.com, Nov. 20, 200

ProEnglish testifies for Kansas official English
      ProEnglish director of government relations Ben Piper testified at a Kansas House of Representatives hearing this February to support a bill declaring English the state's official language.
      The hearing on H.B. 2140 was packed with opponents. Only Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, the bill's sponsor, and Piper appeared in support of the bill.
      'to keep people locked within a language barrier is not only cruel but it's unjust," said Rep. Myers. 'to encourage assimilation into a society is not only compassionate, but it's the right thing to do."
      Rev. Rene Tario, the director of the Wichita Hispanic Ministerial Alliance, denounced the measure, labeling it anti-immigrant.
      'throughout our nation's history, we have expected new immigrants to assimilate into our common, American culture. And one of the pillars of the assimilation process has been learning English," said Piper.
      Despite the relative absence of favorable witnesses, H.B. 2140 later passed the House by a vote of 118-2. The bill now has to pass the state Senate and be signed by Kansas' Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius in order to become law.
      By more than 2-1 immigrants themselves say the U.S. should expect new immigrants to learn English, according to a 2002 Public Agenda Poll. And immigrants who can speak fluent English earn nearly twice as much as non English-speaking immigrants, according to U.S. Census data.

Poll: voters blame Congress for slide toward Babel
      A new Zogby poll shows that 7 out of 10 voters feel the United States is in danger of being divided by language. It also found that 3 out of 5 (60 percent) say Congress and the president are not doing enough to protect English as the common language unifying language of the country.
      "We also know from two surveys conducted last year that the solution favored by 85 percent of the American public, including large majorities of Hispanics and African-Americans, is to pass legislation making English our official language," said ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin referring to earlier polls by the Rasmussen and Zogby polling organizations. 'the question that people need to ask every elected official is "Why haven't you taken action on this?" McAlpin added.
      In other findings the poll found that 92 percent of respondents believe that keeping English as our common language is vital to maintaining our unity as a nation, and 78 percent think that government should take a more active role in helping immigrants learn the language.
      The poll of 1,019 likely voters was commissioned by ProEnglish.

Bilingual label of the year
      The following is a translation of the single line of text in Spanish that appears on the label as the last line of lengthy instructions on how to use a one-gallon can of paint thinner made by the Porter Paint Company of Louisville, KY:

"WARNING: If you don't know English, get someone to translate the following instructions for you before attempting to use this product."

9th Circuit court to rule on ProEnglish E.O. 13166 appeal
      A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide soon if ProEnglish and its physician co-plaintiffs can challenge Executive Order 13166 (E.O. 13166) in court.
      First issued by President Clinton in 2000, E.O. 13166 requires government agencies and other recipients of federal funds to provide interpreter and translation services for persons who don't speak English. It covers doctors and medical providers that accept Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement, and says that entities which fail to provide such translation services for free can face civil rights prosecution, in addition to the loss of federal funds.
      Represented by attorneys from the Pacific Legal Foundation, ProEnglish and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons together with three doctors in private practice filed suit in federal court in 1994 challenging the legality of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) policy implementing the order.
      In 1995 a federal judge ruled in favor of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) motion that said neither ProEnglish nor its medical co-plaintiffs were sufficiently affected by E.O. 13166 to challenge it in court. ProEnglish and its co-plaintiffs appealed the decision and the 9th Circuit heard the case Feb. 13th.
      At the hearing a DOJ attorney argued that no one had the right to challenge the legality of E.O. 13166 unless DOJ brought suit against them for violating it. He stressed that DOJ is required to seek "voluntary compliance" with the order in all cases, before considering legal action.
      In rebuttal PLF attorney Sharon Brown pointed to the enormous power the government has to force compliance without having to file lawsuits. How many physicians she wondered, would be willing to risk a Justice Department lawsuit publicly accusing them of "illegal civil rights discrimination" in order to challenge the legality of an administrative order like E.O. 13166?
      A decision is expected some time this spring.

ACLU abandons challenge to city's official English law
      American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorneys who filed suit in federal court to overturn Hazleton, PA's laws making English the city's official language and trying to deter illegal immigrants, have quietly dropped official English from their complaint, in effect conceding the city's right to enact and implement the law.
      The move came in response to a legal brief the city filed defending the city's English ordinance, which drew heavily on the legal expertise and work of ProEnglish's general counsel, Barnaby Zall.
      ProEnglish Chairman Bob Park said, "This is a very big victory in the battle to protect English as the common language of our country. And it is very unlikely it would have happened without the legal assistance that ProEnglish gave Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta and his courageous city council to help them defend their law."
      Park continued, "This also is great news for the many counties, cities and towns around the country that adopted official English ordinances of their own after reading about Hazleton. We hope it will encourage hundreds more to follow suit, confident that their laws - if drafted with the same care that Hazleton's was - can withstand a legal challenge by the ACLU or any other group with an anti-English agenda."
      Park noted that this was not the first time the ACLU decided to abandon a lawsuit when pitted against ProEnglish. In 2001, the ACLU reversed course and abandoned an attempt to have Utah's Supreme Court throw out a 2000 Utah citizen's initiative making English the State's official language after ProEnglish intervened to defend the law's constitutionality

Philly chews on "cheesesteak" restaurant suit
      The city of Philadelphia's human relations commission sent a letter to the owner of a popular restaurant saying it has found evidence that a sign he posted asking patrons to use English when ordering is likely to constitute illegal discrimination. The sign that Geno's Steaks' owner Joey Vento has on his cash register reads, "this is America: When Ordering 'Please Speak English.'"
      The letter clears the way for the city to file a complaint charging Vento with a violation of the city's anti-discrimination laws.
      The controversy over the sign attracted widespread media attention after a story about it first appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer last May. Vento, the grandson of Italian immigrants who struggled to learn English, said he has never refused service to anyone on the basis of race, national origin, or any other prohibited ground. Geno's Steaks is well-known as one of two most popular restaurants in town for the famous Philly cheesesteak sandwich.
      Vento says the sign is an expression of his personal views and is precisely the kind of free speech that is supposedly protected by the First Amendment. He says he will not take down his sign despite the city's threatened prosecution.
      ProEnglish has offered to help Vento defend his right to have the sign if the city goes forward.

Cincinnati bar prevails in sign dispute
      To avoid a long battle over legal technicalities, Tom Ullum, the owner of a neighborhood bar near Cincinnati Ohio, changed the wording of a sign in the window of his bar that read "For service speak English." The bar's sign now reads, "Here we speak English." The new wording more accurately expresses Ullum's personal view that the language of the United States is English, and immigrants have the responsibility to learn it.
      Ullum's change dashed any chance that the sign's intent could be misconstrued as discrimination as local anti-English activists had hoped. So Housing Opportunities Made Equal (H.O.M.E.), the private agency that filed the complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) claiming Ullum's sign was discriminatory, quickly dropped its complaint.
      ProEnglish and the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a public interest law foundation, jointly intervened to defend Ullum after he learned that his sign was the target of an OCRC "discrimination" complaint. At a 2005 OCRC hearing Ullum testified that his bar had never refused to serve anyone on the basis of sex, color, race, national origin or any other basis prohibited by Ohio's civil rights law.
      But despite a total lack of evidence that Ullum had ever denied service to a customer who had trouble speaking English, and the fact that H.O.M.E. could not claim to represent any such person and had no right to file a complaint, the OCRC allowed the complaint against Ullum to proceed.
      "The reality is that the OCRC had to abandon its politically motivated persecution after Tom Ullum reworded his sign to clarify his view that Americans, old and new, should speak one common language. That is a victory for freedom and the First Amendment," said ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin. "It is also a victory for Tom Ullum, who had the courage to stand up to the diversity bullies at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and defend his First Amendment rights," McAlpin added.

Assimilation vs. Balkanization
      "We're never giving up our Mexican roots. I still consider myself Mexican. That's where we're so different from other immigrants. We just can't give it up."

--Maria Cantu-Dougala,
assistant vice president of Second Federal
Savings in Dallas, Texas and a naturalized U.S. citizen
(DallasNews.com, Oct. 11, 2006)

Anti-English group lauds
S. Carolina Senator
      One of the nation's leading anti-English lobbying groups gave Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) an award this month at its lavish annual awards dinner. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), or 'the Race' as La Raza means in Spanish, a Hispanic advocacy group, was ostensibly honoring Graham for his efforts to pass "comprehensive" immigration reform legislation that inlcudes an amnesty for illegal immigrants.
      But it's worth noting that Graham also was one of a dozen Republicans that tried to straddle the fence on votes to make English the official language in the Senate last year.
      Graham initially voted for Sen. James Inhofe's (R-OK) amendment to the Senate immigration bill to declare English the national language. But then he switched sides and voted for a second amendment backed by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and opponents of official English like NCLR that wanted to undermine Sen. Inhofe's amendment.
      NCLR testified against making English the official language at a hearing last year, claiming that all such measures were "extremist" and anti-immigrant.
      "NCLR must not be aware of polls that show 85 percent of all Americans support making English the official language, including a majority of Hispanics," said Ben Piper, director of government relations for ProEnglish.