Speech #1040254199

We are proud of our Nations ability to assimilate people from around the world Into one cohesive society. The purpose of H.R. 123 is to build upon our Nations historic tradition as a melting pot of diverse cultures from around the world. and to bind us together through the use of English as a common language. This bill establishes a much needed uniform Government language policy. promotes assimilation. saves taxpayers money. and empowers Immigrants to realize the American Dream for themselves. This bill is needed because currently the Federal Government does not have a uniform national language policy on publishing documents or conducting its business. Whether documents are published in a foreign language depends in large part upon which particular Federal statute is involved. In addition. over the past 20 years the Federal Government has increased the official duties it performs in other languages resulting in a very costly de facto multilanguage policy. This bill corrects this piecemeal approach by establishing English as the official language of the United States Government and requires the Government to conduct all its official business .in English. H.R. 123 will not only establish a uniform national language policy for the Government. but it will promote assimilation of immigrants. rather than isolation and separation. The current policy fails to encourage recent immigrants to learn English. The failure to encourage immigrants to earn English may be the easy thing to do. but It is not the compassionate thing to do. The compassionate thing to do Is to encourage Immigrants to learn English. A firm grasp of the English language is a key to succeeding in America. Learning English not only helps immigrants assimilate. it is the key to having the opportunity to realize the American Dream. Studies show that people who learn English earn more for their families. and confirm that the ability to speak English can make the difference between a lowwage job and a highwage managerial. professional. or technical job. In 1994. the Texas Office of Immigration and Refugee Affairs publicized a study of Southeast Asian refugees in Texas. The study showed that individuals proficient in English earned more than 20 times the annual income of those who did not speak English. H.R. 123 empowers each new generation of immigrants the opportunity to realize the American dream. Nothing in this bill would in any way limit the ability to individuals to speak their native tongue. This bill simply limits official Government business to the English language. Not only does this bill benefit the immigrant. it also benefits the taxpayer. There are hundreds of languages spoken in the United States. According to the GAO.