[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E947-E948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IGNORANCE OF ARABIC IS NOT BLISS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2003

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker. Among the sillier policies 
that are pursued because some people do not like gay men and lesbians 
is the one which refuses to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve 
their country in the armed forces. This is in great contrast to, to 
take a particularly striking example, Israel, which has openly gay and 
lesbian people in the Israeli Defense Force. Those who argue that the 
presence of openly gay and lesbian soldiers erodes morale have a very 
hard time explaining the example of the IDF.
  In our own country, this self-inflicted mood reached new depths 
recently when the military began expelling from its ranks people who 
were becoming expert in Arabic and other languages, which are relevant 
to our fight against terrorism. From ``don't ask, don't tell'' we have 
proceeded to ``don't ask, don't tell, don't translate,'' and our 
national interest is a loser. We already have too few people skilled in 
translating many of the languages that are used by terrorists, and we 
detract from our own security by turning away those who would help us 
overcome this deficiency.
  Recently, the Linguistic Society of America founded in 1924 ``for the 
advancement of the

[[Page E948]]

scientific study of language'' spoke out against this policy. That 
meeting adopted the following resolution and because of the importance 
of this issue to our national security, I ask that it be printed here.

       Whereas linguists, translators, and interpreters serving at 
     the Defense Language Institute have made important 
     contributions to the nation's defense since the Institute's 
     inception;
       Whereas language specialists fluent in Arabic and other 
     critical languages are especially vital to U.S. national 
     security at this time;
       Whereas the General Accounting Office reports that there is 
     currently a serious shortage of such linguists in the 
     military;
       Whereas the military's recent dismissal of highly trained 
     and highly skilled language specialists who are gay or 
     lesbian presents a significant risk to national security;
       Whereas sexual orientation is irrelevant to one's job 
     performance, and discrimination on the basis of sexual 
     orientation is unjust;
       Therefore be it resolved that the Linguistic Society of 
     America make known its opposition to the U.S. military's 
     policy of dismissing linguists, translators, interpreters, or 
     other members of the armed forces on the basis of their 
     sexual orientation.

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