Toby Roth: “we Americans are people from every corner of the globe, every cultural, every religious, every linguistic, every ethnic…”

“we Americans are people from every corner of the globe, every cultural, every religious, every linguistic, every ethnic background. We are the most diverse nation in the world. Yet we are one Nation, one people. Why? One of the main reasons is because we have a wonderful bond, a wonderful common glue, a commonality called the English language. From the very beginning of our government, Mr. Chairman, from 1789 to 1968, 179 years, we did not have bilingual education as a governmental policy. Then in the 1960's, the period of the Great Society, the concept of bilingual education was established. Now for 25 years this issue has not been debated, and that is one of the reasons, one of the main purposes, for my amendment. Bilingual education is a failure. It costs the taxpayer, Federal, State, and local government, billions of dollars. It pits one group against another, and sets up now and in the future, linguistic ghettos, and it sets up entire subcultures. This is not what we want in America because we realize what they will mean to America's future. It only helps bilingualism, only helps professional activists and politicians who profit from this policy.”