[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 132 (Monday, September 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ADOPTING ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Roth] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROTH. Madam Speaker, I want to say that I am happy that the House 
passed a very important bill on August 1, but I am somewhat concerned 
that this bill is languishing in the other body, and I hope that the 
other body will take up the legislation quickly.
  Teddy White, one of the greatest sociologists, certainly one of the 
greatest sociologists of our time, wrote such memorable books as 
``Making of the President, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972.'' He wrote 
before his death that as America comes to the centennial now, the 
greatest concern he has for our country is that America is no longer 
one Nation, that we are losing our oneness, that we are now becoming a 
nation of groups.
  In his book, ``America in Search of Itself,'' he goes into some 
detail on that problem. He said that America at one time was a melting 
pot, that we Americans represent every individual group, every 
religion, every linguistic group from every corner of the globe here in 
America, but we are one nation, one people. Why? Because we have had a 
wonderful commonality, a common glue called the English language. And 
as Teddy White said, we are losing that, and we are losing it very 
quickly today. This Nation, if we become divided on language, can never 
be put back together again. So if we want to keep this country, the 
United States of America, one nation, then we have to keep this 
commonality.
  That is why I am so delighted that the House on August 1 passed by 
such a huge majority, 259-169, a bill to make English our official 
language. I know that the election is near, that it is just days away, 
but we have to think of our country first, before any election. That is 
why I think it is so important for us now to ask our friends in the 
other body to do everything they can to bring up the bill to make 
English our official language.
  The ``Disuniting of America'' is another book that Arthur Schlesinger 
wrote. In his book, he mentioned that we face a real crisis if we allow 
our country to break up into different groups, that we have to keep 
this concept that we have had from the beginning, of America being a 
United States of America, and for that we need the commonality, we need 
the common glue of the English language.
  Madam Speaker, I hope that we in this House will continue that fight, 
because the American people have strongly supported our initiative to 
make English our official language. In every poll that has been taken 
the American people have voted overwhelmingly to approve, to make 
English our official language. The people know how important it is to 
keep the oneness, because again we represent every group, every 
culture, every language in the world. If we are to keep this United 
States of America one nation, one people, then we have to have this 
commonality, this common glue.
  So, Madam Speaker, I ask the people in this House and the other body 
to unite together and to go forward with the certitude that the 
American people have strongly endorsed this legislation. The American 
people very much want this legislation, so we can always remain the 
United States of America, one nation, one people, one language.

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