ProEnglish Support Makes “Official English” the Law in Frederick, Md
Phil Kent
February 23, 2012
ARLINGTON, VA— ProEnglish, the nation’s leading advocate of official English, testified before the Frederick County, Maryland, Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday prior to the panel voting four-to-one designating English as the official language of the county government.
“County Attorney John Mathias used the ProEnglish model language as a guide while writing the proposed ordinance, choosing it because the wording has withstood legal attack when adopted elsewhere,” says ProEnglish Executive Director Robert Vandervoort.
Board of Commissioners President Blaine Young introduced the measure and presided over the hearing. Frederick is the first county in Maryland to adopt English as its official language of government.
ProEnglish Director of Government Suzanne Bibby testified before the commissioners and urged them to approve the ordinance. “Instead of encouraging immigrants and their children to learn English, many governments— at the local, state and federal levels— are making it their policy to communicate with non-English speakers in their native languages,” Bibby said. “These kinds of policies represent a total reversal of the ‘melting pot’ tradition.”
“Passing this ordinance will help promote immigrants’ successful integration into American life, save taxpayer dollars, and set a good precedent for other counties and the Maryland state legislature to follow,” Bibby said.
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