José E. Serrano: “the debate today has been at times painful for some of us because, as was stated on the floor on many occasions, this…”

“the debate today has been at times painful for some of us because, as was stated on the floor on many occasions, this debate takes what is really a nonissue, this fear that somehow the English language is going to be lost to all of us as our common bond, and puts it on the floor of this House as one of those issues that questions people's patriotism. So, of course, if we go throughout this country and tell people that somehow the American flag is in danger of being burned, people react in a certain way to that against burning of flags. If we tell them that the only way we are going to save our schools is by praying in school, people will react to that in a positive way. If we tell them that because other languages are spoken in this country at any given time, and recent times, that the English language is in danger of disappearing, therefore, the country is in danger of disappearing as the country that we know. But the fact of life is that some people much brighter than I, than many of us, somewhere interestingly enough in my city on Madison Avenue in an advertising agency decided that this is one of those hot button issues that touches people, confuses them, and gives them what they think is a solution to their problems. That does not talk about poverty in America. It does not talk about the working middle-class struggling to pay a mortgage and send their children to school. It does not talk about taxes. It does not talk about the environment.”