William R. Richardson: “the English Language Empowerment Act of 1996, is a bill we do not need. Everybody in American realizes that English is…”

“the English Language Empowerment Act of 1996, is a bill we do not need. Everybody in American realizes that English is the language of the land. At a time when we are trying to deregulate government, why are we adding more laws to our books? This bill would not only prohibit the Federal Government from conducting its official business in a written language other than English, but it would repeal a Federal law requiring bilingual ballots for many non-English speaking voters. As a consequence, it will jeopardize the effectiveness of our government and deprive thousands of people of their right to participate in the political process. In my district alone, one out of every five of my constituents is Native American, and they will be directly affected by this bill. This bill, as proposed, does nothing to protect the already endangered languages of Native Americans and Native Alaskans. Let's be clear, this is a bad bill--but if it has to be considered, I will support Congressman Cunningham's amendment which exempt native American languages. We cannot limit the ability of native Americans to actively participate in the political process. We should not only allow but also encourage people to speak languages other than English. It is good for our economy and for the advancement of our people. Congressman Cunningham's amendment would improve this bill by protecting native American languages, and therefore, as bad as the overall bill is, we should vote for this amendment.”