ProEnglish Chair Rosalie Porter to Testify Before Congress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                     Contact: Robert Vandervoort
July 24, 2012                                                                                    Phone:  (703) 816-8821   Email: robertv@proenglish.org

Speaking on the Need to Pass Official English Legislation

(Arlington, VA) ProEnglish, the nation’s leading advocate for official English, today announced that their Chairwoman of the Board, Dr. Rosalie Porter, will speak before the United States House of Representatives in support of official English legislation.  Her testimony will be heard in front of the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution on Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 2:30 pm in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

“It is essential that Congress pass legislation declaring English to be the official language of our federal government,” Dr. Porter stated.  “Language is one of the greatest ties that bind a nation together, and declaring English to be our official language sends a clear message to immigrants to assimilate.”

“Making English the official language of the United States will also help the federal government avoid unnecessary and costly translation services that prevent people from learning English,” Dr. Porter added.  Dr. Porter will be testifying in favor of Rep. Steve King (R-IA)’s “English Language Unity Act,” (H.R. 997), which currently has 120 bipartisan cosponsors.

Dr. Porter immigrated to America with her family from Italy at the age of six.  When she arrived, she did not speak a word of English.  She now holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  She is the author of Forked Tongue: The Politics of Bilingual Education and American Immigrant: My Life in Three Languages.