Pete Domenici: “Let me begin by stating emphatically that I fully support English as the official language of the United States.…”

“Let me begin by stating emphatically that I fully support English as the official language of the United States. However, I cannot vote in favor of an amendment that would eliminate rights that currently are reserved for my constituents under the New Mexico Constitution. We must be cautious before we act and it is the devil in the details of the amendment that was placed before the Senate, which would chill and infringe on the constitutional rights of our diverse citizenship and would stand in direct contradiction to the constitution of my home State of New Mexico that makes this amendment overreaching. Most people do not know that Congress delayed New Mexico's admission to statehood until speakers of English became the majority of the State.”