Jim Inhofe: “I know we can get bogged down. I suspect the reason this particular amendment that has been proposed numerous times in…”

“I know we can get bogged down. I suspect the reason this particular amendment that has been proposed numerous times in the past but not in the last 23 years, and that it is going to get bogged down on a lot of technical questions, is that perhaps some people do not want this amendment, so they come up with all kinds of technical reasons to oppose it. But what we are doing is declaring--we are making a declaration--that English is the national language for the United States of America. We are taking the exceptions, for example, the Court Interpreters Act. Before the Court Interpreters Act passed in 1978, defendants did not have a right to an interpreter. It was up to the Court's discretion. The Court Interpreters Act protects already existing constitutional rights such as in the sixth amendment, the fifth amendment, the 14th amendment, amendments on due process. It is very important to know that is one of the many exceptions that is written into law. It is a very important exception. You also have some exceptions found in the Voting Rights Act. Somebody mentioned this morning some disaster could take place in California, a tsunami or something such as that, and when the eviction notices come, obviously, if you are addressing Chinatown, it would be in Chinese. We know that. That protection is there. I believe we have covered the legitimate concerns that are out there. I know there are some people who do not want this to happen who are going to vote against this.…”