Speech #1020190846

I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from California . Uke many of us in the House. I am the son of immigrants. My father came to this country In 1902. and my mother in the twenties. It was not until 1953. 51 years after he arrived in this country. that my father was allowed to become a citizen. Until that time. it was against the law in this Nation for any Asian immigrant to be naturalized. Mr. Chairman. just as surely as those racial exclusion laws excluded my parents from citizenship. the Rohrabacher amendment would exclude the voices of todays newest Americans from our political life. There are some in this country who argue that bilingual ballots will convince immigrants that learning English is not necessary. They believe that bilingual ballots are some kind of handout to lazy immigrants who cant be bothered to learn English. Well. Madam Chairman.