Senator Barack Obama recently said.."we need to make sure your child speaks Spanish"

Make English the official language of the United States Urge your Congressman to support H.R. 997

Senator Barack Obama recently said that instead of worrying about immigrants learning English, Americans "need to make sure your child speaks Spanish."

We disagree. While it is clearly an advantage to learn to speak a foreign language in today’s world, Americans have good reason to be worried about the growing numbers of immigrants who refuse to learn English.

One of the reasons why they refuse to learn English is that – without the consent of the American people – our government has completely changed its policy to one of providing more and more services in foreign languages. This eliminates one of the biggest incentives immigrants have to learn English.

Congressman Steve King of Iowa has introduced a bill to correct this. H.R. 997, the “English Language Unity Act,” declares English our official language and:

*Requires the federal government to communicate officially in English, including informational materials and forms.

*Creates a uniform rule for testing the English proficiency of candidates for naturalization.

*Requires that naturalization ceremonies be conducted in English.

H.R. 997 also repeals Executive Order 13166, which tries to force state and local governments to provide translations and interpreters for non-English speaking immigrants in their native language.

Throughout our history, Americans have expected immigrants to assimilate, and the key to assimilation is learning English. This is the American melting pot. Generations of immigrants have worked hard to learn our common language, English, and become full-fledged Americans. But today official multilingualism threatens to destroy the great “Melting Pot” crucible that enabled us to forge one nation out of millions of immigrants from all over the world.

The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have an official language. A big majority of 30 U.S. states already have made English their official language. And a 2006 Rasmussen poll found that an overwhelming 85 percent of all Americans, including large majorities of every minority group, favor making English our official language.

Yet Congress still has not acted to make English the official language of the United States.