Joe Cunningham: “that is not all this bill does. Only one-tenth of 1 percent of all Federal documents go out under current law. But law…”

“that is not all this bill does. Only one-tenth of 1 percent of all Federal documents go out under current law. But law is more than just law, it is symbology. How many of my colleagues watched Kerri Strug in the Olympics win a gold medal? When seeing that American flag come down, I bet many of my colleagues had tears in their eyes. That was powerful. That was power. That empowered not only Kerri Strug and the gold winners, but the American people. How many of my colleagues have ever witnessed or participated in a swearing-in ceremony? I have, many of them; and I want to tell my colleagues when they stand up and they hold up their hand, that is powerful and it is strong and it empowers those immigrants and the rest of the American citizens. That is important. It is not just law, it is empowerment of our children. Mr. Speaker, I look at over and over, there are 320 languages, over a thousand dialects, and the reason for the bill, this is the Bill Emerson bill, that there is an increasing number of American citizens that do not understand, write, or communicate orally with the English language, and we are saying that in the thirties and the forties and the fifties there was a different attitude, that when one came they learned English, and over a period of time that number is reduced, and we want to empower our children. We are not building a wall, we are tearing down a wall, because if I was mean-spirited, I would say: Stay where you are.”