[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 137 (Wednesday, September 6, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page E 1703]]


   SENATOR DOLE'S CALL FOR RECOGNIZING ENGLISH AS AMERICA'S OFFICIAL 
                                LANGUAGE

                                 ______


                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 6, 1995
  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, many of us in this House--indeed, close 
to 200 of us--have joined in sponsoring various legislative measures 
that would declare English as our country's official language. Beyond 
mere declaration, and depending on the particular proposal, these bills 
and resolutions contain various mechanisms of implementation and 
enforcement.
  The movement behind recognizing English as our official language, I 
believe, is growing by the day. I continue to receive communications 
from my constituents, asking that we, in Congress, take action 
accordingly, and I am pleased to be a cosponsor of two such English 
language measures, H.R. 123 and H.R. 1005.
  And, Mr. Speaker, it is with this emerging English energy in mind 
that I take particular pleasure in making available excerpts from a 
speech by the distinguished majority leader of the U.S. Senate, Bob 
Dole, in which he stressed the unifying role of one language. Senator 
Dole addressed the American Legion Convention in Indianapolis, IN, 
earlier this week on Labor Day.
       You are Freedom's heroes and American patriots, and I'm 
     proud to be among you. Each of you has answered America's 
     call--whether it was to fight for our freedom, or to defend 
     the peace in which we have prospered for so many years. Each 
     of you knows what it means to wear the uniform of your 
     country, to put your country first and to be willing to bear 
     any sacrifice to keep her free.
       Because of you, and those who came before you, we Americans 
     are the freest people on earth. And you know as well as I do 
     how we stay that way; we must remain the strongest country on 
     earth.
       That's what I want to talk with you about today. Keeping 
     America strong--in her might and in her heart, in the face of 
     external enemies and in the presence of threats from within. 
     America is still the land of the free and the home of the 
     brave, and a great century of hope and opportunity is about 
     to unfold before us. But to claim that future, America needs 
     your help. For some in America believe our might is no longer 
     needed, and some think our definition of what it means to be 
     an American is out of date.
       Of course, neither is true. Can there be any doubt that the 
     world is still a dangerous place? Yes, the Cold War is over. 
     We won one of humanity's greatest struggles against 
     totalitarianism and oppression. But today peace is threatened 
     and dark forces are multiplying in almost every corner of the 
     world.
       For the demands of freedom require us to modernize our 
     forces, to maintain our technological edge, and to ensure 
     that America remains the world's one and only superpower. We 
     will never apologize for that. Our goal is not just to be 
     strong enough to turn back a threat. We must be so strong no 
     one ever again is even tempted to threaten us, at all.
       But if we are to return this country to greatness, we must 
     do more than restore America's defenses. We must return as a 
     people to the original concept of what it means to be 
     American. This means tackling subjects the arbiters of 
     political correctness don't even want discussed: For example, 
     English must be recognized as America's official language. 
     Western tradition and American greatness must be taught in 
     our schools. And the Federal government just end its war on 
     traditional American values.
       America has always been more than just a place on a map, it 
     has held a claim on our hearts. We are a nation dedicated to 
     a proposition: that all men and women are created equal, 
     endowed by our Creator with certain, inalienable rights. Our 
     forefathers rejected race and religion as the forces to form 
     a nation, choosing instead the ideals of freedom and 
     democracy. It was a radical gamble, and ever since we have 
     held it to be an article of faith that those who would be 
     Americans must first abandon lesser allegiances. As Franklin 
     Roosevelt once said, ``Americanism . . . is not, and never 
     was, a matter of race and ancestry.''
       Succeeding waves of immigrants have been drawn to America 
     by this idea. Lacking the centuries-old, primal bonds of 
     other nations, we have used our language, our history and our 
     code of values to make the American experiment work. We have 
     used them to forge millions of diverse individuals into one 
     people with a common purpose. Language, history and values: 
     these are the strings that bind our hearts to America. These 
     are the forces that have held us together--allowing us to be 
     diverse and yet united, to absorb untold millions of 
     immigrants while coming the closest any country ever has to 
     the classless, upwardly mobile society of our ideals.
       But these keys to unity are under attack from our 
     government and from intellectual elites who seem embarrassed 
     by America. What we see as opportunity they see as 
     oppression. Where we see a proud past, they see a legacy of 
     shame. What we hold as moral truth, they call intolerance. 
     They have false theories, long dissertations and endless 
     studies to back them up. But they know so much they have 
     somehow missed the fact that the United States of America is 
     the greatest force for good the world has ever known.
       Yes, we have our faults. But part of what makes me so proud 
     to be an American is the constant effort of our people to do 
     better--to make our country right and good and just. 
     Unfortunately some policies and programs born out of that 
     desire have gone awry. Begun for the best of reasons and then 
     hijacked by the Embarrassed-to-be-American crowd, certain 
     Federal programs are untying the strings of citizenship.
     

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