[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 11, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6123-H6124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HOUSE SET TO ELIMINATE BILINGUAL VOTING BALLOTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Roth] is recognized during 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, later today the House Judiciary Committee will 
mark up legislation repealing the federally mandated law which requires 
bilingual voting ballots. It is about time this action was taken.
  In the United States today there are some 375 voting districts across 
this country that require the printing of ballots in foreign languages.
  In theory, these services should not be needed at all. Voting rights 
are extended to American citizens and, by law, English is a requirement 
for citizenship in this country. In 1905 this Congress passed a law 
that said that in order for one to be a citizen and to vote, one had to 
have a working knowledge of the English language, so we should not even 
be providing government services in direct contradiction to the spirit 
of the law.
  So I think this legislation which is before the Committee on the 
Judiciary today is preeminently legislation that we should be 
addressing now and should also be voting on this session of the 
Congress. These services of bilingual ballots are very expensive and 
unnecessary. By and large, multilingual ballots are rarely requested 
and even less often used than they are anticipated.
  In one recent election in California, it cost something like $100 per 
ballot that was used. So not only are bilingual ballots in 
contradiction to the present law, the spirit of the law, but also they 
cost the taxpayers one heck of a lot of money.
  These ballots have other, more serious costs associated with them, 
too. For example, providing these special services creates the fiction 
that newcomers in this country can enjoy all the benefits of 
citizenship without learning the language of the land.
  It is important to remember that if one wants to be successful and 
have their children be successful in our country, that the new 
Americans I think realize more than anyone else that the ladder of 
opportunity, the rungs of that, are the English language. Because in 
order for one to read a want ad, in order for one to fill out 
applications, in order for one to become integrated into the society, 
English is extremely important. One cannot become successful unless one 
has a good understanding of the English language. I think reality tells 
us that this is true.
  Also, exercising one's rights of citizenship involves more than just 
casting a vote. It means making a thoughtful decision regarding the 
issues and the candidate. Multilingual voting ballots give individuals 
the right to vote without granting them the power to cast an informed 
vote. How can a person who is not versed in at least a working 
knowledge of the English language take part in the political campaign, 
listen to the debates, listen to the issues and therefore cast an 
informed ballot?
  Mr. Speaker, multilingual ballots are another vestige of the 1960's 
obsession with the Great Society and the caretaker state in the 1960's, 
when we had the Great Society and government was going to do everything 
for everybody. Now this vision of government is bankrupt and we must 
dismantle the legislative relics of that era. That is why the 
legislation which is only a first step that is being taken up in the 
Committee on the Judiciary today is so important, because it is getting 
us back on the track of commonsense government again.

[[Page H6124]]



       THE 104TH CONGRESS IS LEAST PRODUCTIVE SINCE WORLD WAR II

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, today is Bob Dole's last day in the U.S. 
Senate. I would like to salute the legacy of outstanding public service 
that Bob Dole has given to this great country of ours.
  While it is his last day, I truly do understand why he would like to 
depart the Congress of the United States. If we take a look at what has 
occurred in the 104th Congress, we can get some idea why anyone would 
want to distance themselves from this failed 104th Congress.
  The gridlock strategies that have been imposed by the Speaker of the 
House, Mr. Gingrich, have led to the dubious distinction for the GOP-
controlled 104th Congress as the least productive Congress since World 
War II. By any measure, the 104th Congress has been a failure.
  This lack of productivity of this Congress has been noted by neutral 
commentators. Helen Dewar of the Washington Post has written, ``Their 
ambitions have far outstripped their legislative achievements, 
resulting in one of the least productive sessions in modern history, a 
session long on promise and short on results.'' Similarly Kevin 
Phillips, who is a partisan, a Republican analyst, has noted, ``The 
104th Congress may be the worst in 50 years.''
  First we can examine the number of bills that have been enacted, and 
as of June 11 this Dole-Gingrich Congress has enacted a total of 150 
public laws, the lowest total at this point in the Congress going back 
to World War II. Second, not only have they failed to pass a number of 
laws, but what they have succeeded in doing is doing harm to men, 
women, and children in this country.
  If we do not want to take a look at the numbers and numbers of laws 
that have been passed, that is fair. But what we do need to do is take 
a look at policy, and what kind of policy have they implemented and 
what kind of policy have they tried to derail. Let us take a look at 
that. By pursuing an extremist agenda, the Dole-Gingrich Congress has 
failed to deliver any kind of results to the American people.
  Specifically, no health insurance reform, no minimum wage increase, 
no balanced budget, no expansion of access to educational opportunity, 
as a matter of fact, cutting off avenues of educational opportunity to 
young men and women in this country and cutting a school loan program. 
I could not have gone to college without student loans. Why do others 
who have them and had them in coming here want to let them go for 
others in this country? No welfare reform. No tax cuts. No improvements 
in pension security, and no improvements in environmental protection.
  Let me tell my colleagues one specific area in which they will do and 
are contemplating doing great harm to the American public, and that is 
in the area of Medicare and Medicaid, hurting seniors in this country. 
All they are asking, after a lifetime of work and playing by the rules, 
is a decent and a dignified and a secure retirement.
  Today on this floor we will discuss a budget resolution that has come 
back after being debated by the House and the Senate, and the stakes 
are high in this debate today because Medicare and Medicaid are going 
to be cut in a sweeping way if the Republican majority has its way, if 
Mr. Gingrich has his way. Today 37 million seniors depend on Medicare, 
and we in the Congress have a solemn obligation to make sure that they 
can count on it. Medicare must be protected.
  Medicare and Medicaid once again are on the chopping block, with a 
$168 billion cut in the Medicare Program, $72 billion in the Medicaid 
Program. Let me just say that today 99 percent of our seniors are 
covered through the Medicare Program. They have health insurance 
because of Medicare.

                              {time}  0945

  There are people here who would tell you they are not going to cut 
this program, and in fact that is precisely what they are going to do. 
They are going to remove the restrictions that are now placed on 
doctors and hospitals, where they cannot overcharge seniors. Those will 
be gone.
  I implore the American public, listen to the debate today, and do not 
allow this Gingrich Congress to do harm to seniors in this country.

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