[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 120 (Friday, September 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ENGLISH LANGUAGE FLUENCY ACT

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                               speech of

                             HON. BOB STUMP

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 10, 1998

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3829) to 
     amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to 
     establish a program to help children and youth learn English, 
     and for other purposes:

  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3892, 
the English Language Fluency Act. I believe that it is time this 
Congress said the era of mandatory bilingual education is over.
  There are too many ways for the anti-English lobby to defy the will 
of the people on this matter. Let me cite just two examples. When the 
voters of California said no to bilingual education, our own Department 
of Education was threatening an investigation. According to the 
Washington Post of August 3, 1998, San Francisco schools claim to be 
under a court order from the 1970's which mandates bilingual education.
  If the English Language Fluency Act is passed, the Department of 
Education will no longer have the power to bully schools and school 
districts into adopting the failed approach of bilingual education. If 
the English Language Fluency Act is passed, school districts will be 
freed from voluntary Compliance Agreements which mandate bilingual 
education.
  We have tried the bilingual approach for 30 years now, Mr. Chairman. 
The record of this program is an unbroken string of failure. All the 
legislation before us today does is give schools, school districts and 
parents a choice. Some may continue bilingual education programs if 
they feel it is in their best interests. If the taxpayers of a 
community support that approach, it is not Congress' business. Nor 
should it be the federal government's business to force communities to 
continue to pay for these gold-plated, failed bilingual educational 
programs.
  H.R. 3892 is a parent empowerment bill and a community empowerment 
bill. H.R. 3892 frees schools to do what they think best to educate the 
children in their care. This is the same approach taken by my 
Declaration of Official Language Act (H.R. 622). I urge my colleagues 
to pass the English Language Fluency Act and return education to local 
authorities.

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