[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 49 (Monday, May 1, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3770-S3771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SINGING OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, across the country today, thousands of 
immigrants, legal and illegal, are marching in a nationwide rally. Many 
are saying that they, too, want to become Americans.
  But I am afraid the message is quite literally getting lost in 
translation. As part of these demonstrations, a new version of our 
national anthem, ``The Star-Spangled Banner,'' has been produced--in 
Spanish.
  According to an article in the Washington Post on last Friday, at 
least 389 different versions of our anthem have been produced over the 
years in many musical styles, including rock and roll and country, but 
the Post also noted that never before has it been rendered in another 
language. This may be a first, but it is a big first step in the wrong 
direction. It is a mistake precisely because our Nation is a nation of 
immigrants.
  Almost all of us are descended from immigrants from Britain or 
Germany or Italy or France or China or Mexico or some other country 
around the world. Our forefathers who came from these many different 
countries spoke

[[Page S3771]]

many different languages, but in coming here they agreed to speak one 
common language, one language to unify us as a nation, one language so 
we can all speak with one another. And that language is English. In 
fact, in order for a legal immigrant to become a citizen of the United 
States, one requirement is that he or she demonstrate at least an 
eighth grade level understanding of the English language.
  A century and a half ago, we created common schools--the public 
schools--so that mostly immigrant children could learn English, learn 
how to write and read in English as well as to do math, and learn what 
it meant to be an American with the hope they would go home and teach 
their parents. Only 2 weeks ago, this Senate encouraged the speaking of 
English by saying that it would knock a year off the waiting time to 
become a citizen if an applicant became proficient in English and 
authorizing $500 grants for people who are legally here who are seeking 
to become citizens. So for a long time, we have recognized that English 
is a part of who we are as Americans. It is a part of what unites us, 
just as we are united by our history and our shared values, such as 
liberty, equal opportunity, and the rule of law.
  I worry that translating our national anthem will actually have the 
effect of dividing us. It adds to the celebration of multiculturalism 
in our society which has eroded our understanding of our American 
culture. Ours is a diverse nation, proudly diverse, but diversity is 
not our greatest accomplishment. Jerusalem is diverse. The Balkans are 
diverse. Iraq is diverse. What makes America unique is that we have 
taken all that magnificent diversity and turned it into one nation. 
Translating our anthem into multiple languages also erodes our sense of 
having a common language that allows us to speak with one another as 
one nation. Our national anthem is a symbol of all of those things 
which unite us. It is a product of our history.
  ``The Star-Spangled Banner'' was written by Francis Scott Key in 
1814. Our Nation was then in the midst of the War of 1812. On 
September, 13, 1814, just a few weeks after the invasion of Washington, 
British forces began a 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry in 
Baltimore. Through the day and all through the night, the rockets and 
bombs flew. And the next day, on September 14, standing aboard an 
American ship 8 miles out from Baltimore, Francis Scott Key looked and 
saw the stars and stripes were still waving over the fort, and the 
British were forced to withdraw. Our flag was still there.
  I went to see that very same flag a few months ago at the 
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The museum is in the 
process of carefully preserving it so that our grandchildren's 
grandchildren will be able to see the original flag that inspired our 
national anthem. That flag and song are part of our history and our 
national identity.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has 30 seconds remaining.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. It declares some of our national ideals, in being 
``the land of the free and the home of the brave.''
  That is why we should always sing it in our common language: English. 
And that is why today I will introduce, along with Senator Frist, 
Senator McConnell, and Senators Stevens and Isakson and Roberts, and I 
hope others, a resolution that affirms that statements of national 
unity, especially the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, 
ought to be recited in English. We wouldn't recite the pledge in French 
or German or Russian or Hindi or even Chinese, which, after Spanish, is 
the second most spoken foreign language in the United States, and we 
shouldn't sing the national anthem in Spanish or any other foreign 
language.
  So in conclusion, in this land of immigrants, let's sing it together 
as one American Nation in our common language: English.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski.) The Senator from New Mexico is 
recognized.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will state his inquiry.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Is my understanding correct that we are now on the 
supplemental appropriations bill?

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