Douglas Alexander: “I think Senator Inhofe, the Senator from Oklahoma, has been looking at the original motto of the United States which is…”

“I think Senator Inhofe, the Senator from Oklahoma, has been looking at the original motto of the United States which is above the Presiding Officer's chair: e pluribus unum, ``one out of many,'' in our antecedent language of Latin because he has done a very good job, I think, of helping to say what the body as a whole would like to say, and I hope this is something all Senators can agree on. Here is what the Inhofe amendment, of which I am proud to be a cosponsor, does. No. 1, it states the obvious: that English is the national language of the United States. But in so stating, it does not prevent those who are today receiving Government services in other languages from continuing to do so. We can have those discussions at another time. The second thing it does is it adopts an idea that has been suggested by Senator Grassley, the Senator from Iowa, on another occasion during the debate on this bill; that for those immigrants who are currently in the country illegally but who may be able to adjust to a legal status under the way this bill is finally written, it establishes a clear English language requirement for them to become lawful permanent residents. The third thing it does is it establishes clear goals for the tests that immigrants take to become new American citizens, so that they know English, our common language, and so that they know American history. That test is currently being redesigned by the Department of Homeland Security.…”