Language Bill Divides Americans

"Making English the official language hurts our immigrants and we are all from immigrant descent," Kellie O'Hara, of Davenport, told the Quad-Cities Online newspaper on Saturday, May20 .

Nora Dvorak, former director of the Refugee resettlement Office in Davenport, said the legislation gives an unwelcoming feeling to newcomers to the country.

The move was even seen as chauvinistic and an overture to conservatives claims that immigrants were destroying the American identity.

"It is cultural chauvinism at its best and reactionary nativism at its worst," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association.

"It is premised on the false notion that new immigrants cannot be assimilated, which is false. And that has been demonstrated repeatedly in history."

The Senate voted Thursday, May18 , to designate English the national language of the United States, and to effectively ban federal government ordinances and services in any language other than English.

The 63 - 34vote, on an amendment offered by the Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, split the Senate along largely party lines.

Not only does it overrule any claims to multilingual services, but the measure also stipulates rigorous testing to ensure would-be citizens have a sound knowledge of both the English language and US history.

Adding to the confusion, the Senate also adopted a softer amendment calling English the "unifying language" of the United States. Senators take both versions into negotiations over a final bill with the US House of Representatives.

"Embedded in Culture"

Californians also wondered what all the fuss was about in a state where many of its names hark back to the Spanish missions.

"Are we going to change the names of cities? What are you going to call San Jose or San Diego or San Francisco, if you look at the rules?" asked immigration activist Oscar Sanchez, adding that Spanish was simply "embedded in our culture."

"Changing French fries to freedom fries didn't work, did it?" he told Reuters.

Bob Imler, head of a Hispanic organization in Illinois, said most immigrants are making an effort to learn English.

"A lot of Anglo students are taking Spanish as second language. You can argue it's a bit hypocritical to say it's necessary for children to speak more than one language, and then there's this (legislation) that says we can only speak English," she said.

"I think it smacks of hypocrisy."

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Friday, May19 , revealed that US President George W. Bush had long opposed making English the country's national language.

"The president has never supported making English the national language," Reuters quoted Gonzales as saying.

"English represents freedom in our country and anybody who wants to be successful in our country has a much better chance of doing so if they speak English," Gonzales said. "It is of course a common language."

But, Gonzales said, "I don't see the need to have laws or legislation that says English is the national language."

Unifying

Some Americans, however, hailed the move as unifying the country under one language.

"(The English language is) the one thing in a diverse nation that brings us all together as one," said Rob Toonkel, the spokesman for US English, Inc., which is nation's oldest and largest non- partisan citizens' action group.

"By having the government put emphasis on English, it will teach you how you can do business for the rest of your life in America," he told the American newspaper.

Illinois citizen Aimee Miller said that English is spoken by all people in the United States.

"It doesn't have to be the only language, but you should learn to communicate."

On the streets of heavily Hispanic Los Angeles, both Latinos and non-Latinos said what is decided on Capitol Hill will not change their plans to learn the language.

"If you went to France, you would learn French. This country is built on English so you need to learn it," said Elmira Ross.

According to a 2005 Zogby International poll, 79 percent of1 , 001likely voters said they favored making English the nation's official language.

The debate on English is part of an amendment to the contentious immigration reform bill to determine the fate of some 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

The US Congress has been deadlocked over a controversial immigration bill to determine their fate.

The bill, passed by the House of Representatives last year, would make it a felony to be in the US without proper papers, and a federal crime to aid illegal immigrants.

It also allows the construction of a700 -mile (1,126-kilometer) wall along much of the US-Mexico border.

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