Political Quotes

“I have been informed that the gentleman picked the wrong example--Israel--because they have more than one official language, but that is okay. The more the merrier. The fact of life is that the gentleman picked the example of someone who learned English. Well, everybody wants to learn to speak English. If you go to my community in the South Bronx, you see small-business owners. Those are the best examples. Some of them speak what we would call broken English. Some of them speak perfect English. Their children, half of them no longer speak Spanish; they speak English. Their children are attending Fordham University or a university down South. They are not going to be bodega owners when they grow up, or cab drivers. They most likely will go work on Wall Street or somewhere else or teach. In other words, we have a pattern in this country that hasn't been broken. What made us great is the fact that people come here, they adapt, they become part of this country, and then they defend this country with everything they have got, including their blood. That happens all the time, it happens all the time, and it is not going to stop happening. So if you have a worry--and I have heard you for years--that somehow speaking Spanish is going to wreck this country, on the contrary. Just learn to speak Spanish and you will feel much better. I yield back the balance of my time.”