House OKs English-Only Legislation

The House voted Thursday to declare English the official language of the United States and limit the federal government from conducting business in foreign tongues, despite cries from opponents that the move would be divisive and unnecessary.

By publishing bilingual government documents, requiring bilingual ballots and conducting routine government business in Spanish, French, Vietnamese or Tagalog, the federal government is discouraging many Americans from learning English, supporters said.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate, but it faces several more hurdles before it comes up for a vote. The White House has threatened a veto, calling the House bill “unnecessary, inefficient and divisive.”

“In my district, I run across households and entire blocks where no one speaks English,” said Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-San Diego), a sponsor of the bill. “There’s an increasing number of people like that who aren’t motivated to learn English.”

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), in a rare floor speech, told colleagues to look north to Canada to see how dual languages can lead to strife. If it does not emphasize English, he said, the United States will experience “decay of the core parts of our civilization.”

“Our greatness in part comes from our ability to be a melting pot,” Gingrich said. “While I cherish every person who comes . . . here legally and seeks to pursue happiness . . . I want them to become American. And part of becoming American involves English.”

But critics said that the bill’s supporters are creating a threat where one does not exist. They noted that 97% of all Americans already speak English and that more than 99% of all government documents are printed in English.

“The bill we have before us today is unnecessary,” said Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas). “It is insulting. It is divisive and it is discriminatory.”

Calling the bill absurd, Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) quipped: “I think some cities are going to have to change their names--maybe Dodgerville for Los Angeles.”

The bill, approved 259 to 169, would forbid the publication of bilingual government documents, repeal the requirement that states prepare bilingual ballots in areas with significant immigrant populations and forbid government officials from conducting business in foreign languages.

The bill specifically exempts foreign languages used to conduct international relations, trade, the census and national security. Foreign languages also could be used to help preserve the public health or safety, the bill says.

The legislation, called the English Language Empowerment Act, says that no person should be denied federal government services, assistance or facilities because he or she speaks English. A special civil action could be filed to enforce the provision.

The bill also would direct any cost-savings to bilingual education. But the Congressional Budget Office said that the legislation actually might end up costing money if government offices are forced to hire more bilingual staff to handle inquiries now handled through documents.

“Part of the problem is the ambiguity of the legislation,” said Lisa Navarrete of the National Council of La Raza. “We think it discourages even more people from voting and opens the door to frivolous lawsuits, if people are offended by the use of other languages. It might be worse than that.”

The General Accounting Office has found that about 265 of 400,000 government documents are published in foreign languages--from Internal Revenue Service forms in Spanish to U.S. Postal Service brochures in nine languages.

Critics of the practice say that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has conducted citizenship ceremonies in Spanish, which would be specifically banned in the bill. Lawmakers also complained that the IRS has distributed 500,000 income tax forms and instruction booklets in Spanish at a cost of $113,000. Only 718 of the forms were returned, resulting in a huge cost per form, lawmakers said.

Cunningham said that the bill is designed to help those who do not know English by taking away federal government crutches. Non-English speakers earn 20 times less than those who know the language, he said, and are far less likely to succeed.

“My wife teaches Spanish,” Cunningham said. “My daughters are bilingual. Bilingualism is great, but [in this country] one of those languages should be English.”

Republicans have seized the official-English issue as a politically popular way of distinguishing themselves from the Democrats. GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, warning of “ethnic separatism” in America, already has endorsed the declaration of English as the official language. Party activists want to see such language in the Republican Party platform.

But backers of the bill noted that President Clinton had signed a law making English the official language of Arkansas while he was governor. Twenty-three states have declared English the official language within their boundaries, including California.

* IN AGREEMENT: All Orange County congressmen back English-only bill. (Orange County Edition, A7