James Traficant: “For some reason everybody is afraid to speak what they really feel. I am not opposed to all of the languages and the…”

“For some reason everybody is afraid to speak what they really feel. I am not opposed to all of the languages and the different ethnic heritages in our Nation, but I support the English language as our official language. We are all immigrants. Some came with knapsacks on their backs. Some came in the belly of slave ships. Black, white, Christian, Jew, we all have one thing in common. We are all Americans. And the glue that binds us together is our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our language. The English language. Mr. Speaker, it seems every time we have this debate, it is muddied with the politics of fear. The politics of separation. The politics of division. The politics of hate. The politics of ethnicity. One Nation under God. One Nation, not separate communities. Congress should ensure that America is a nation of one people, not separate communities, and we do that by fortifying our language. Mr. Speaker, I support English as the official language. So be it. And I advise the Congress to look at it in that vein and remove the politics.”