Doug Bereuter: “this Member is pleased to express his support for H.R. 123, legislation to declare English as the official language of…”

“this Member is pleased to express his support for H.R. 123, legislation to declare English as the official language of the United States. This Member not only is a cosponsor of H.R. 123, but also this Member has a long track record of cosponsoring comparable legislation since 1985. Non-English speakers in a society where English is the predominant language are almost certainly doomed to be at an economic disadvantage in this Nation. One only has to look to the continued, divisive problems in Canada, Belgium, or other bilingual nations to realize that the United States would be well advised to avoid such a situation. Despite the lack of political courage among a few Representatives and Senators who represent border States, it is high time that Congress act on this matter. This bill eliminates the existing Federal mandate for bilingual ballots; however, it does not make bilingual ballots illegal. Therefore, a State may continue to provide election ballots in more than one language, but only if the State so chooses. Additionally, H.R. 123 requires that all citizenship naturalization ceremonies be conducted entirely in English.”