Political Quotes

“What America needs is English plus, not English only. What America needs is to teach English, not preach it. What America needs is to respect diversity, not divisiveness. The last time I visited the Statue of Liberty, that eloquent lady did not say ``Spanish-speaking people not accepted here.'' The blood spilled and lives lost by thousands of Spanish-speaking American veterans has not been limited to English only, and it is wrong to deny those veterans the very rights for which they fought. Whether intended or not, this debate on English only is divisive and insults the culture of millions of Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Korean Americans and others. Mr. Chairman, the brightest days of America's history have come when we were inclusive, when we added women and racial and religious minorities to the rights enumerated in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The darkest days of America's history have come when we excluded our citizens from full participation in our democracy; for example, when black veterans were allowed to die for the very freedoms they were denied right here at home. I hope this will be a bright day for all of America's citizens, not a dark day that will turn us backwards into a quagmire of divisiveness. The 3 percent of American citizens that do not speak English, many of them seniors living with their children in their homes, hardly pose a threat to the greatest democracy in the history of the world.”