[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 82 (Thursday, June 22, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S6411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the 
attached letter printed in the Record in support of my amendment No. 
4064, to S. 261l.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                            American Federation of


                             Government Employees, Local 1812,

                                     Washington, DC, May 24, 2006.
     Hon. James M. Inhofe,
     Russell Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Inhofe: As President of AFGE Local 1812, which 
     represents employees at the Voice of America, I want to thank 
     you for your support of making the English language the 
     official language of the United States. Along with 86 percent 
     of the general public, I agree with you on this issue. In 
     this regard, I would also like to bring to your attention 
     another issue that deals with the English language: as a 
     result of the President's 2007 budget request process, the 
     Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) plans to eliminate the 
     Voice of America's global English radio broadcasts, VOA News 
     Now.
       Since you realize the importance of the English language to 
     this country, I believe you will agree that it is critically 
     important that we communicate with the rest of the world in 
     our de facto national language, in particular because English 
     is the language of business, higher education, youth, 
     international diplomacy, aviation, the Internet, science, 
     popular music, entertainment, and international travel. Other 
     countries realize the importance of broadcasting in English. 
     In fact, China, Russia, and France had all recently increased 
     their international broadcasts in English.
       I have attached an article by Georgie Anne Geyer regarding 
     the proposed elimination of the VOA's global English 
     broadcasts. I am hoping you can help stop this decision, 
     which will negatively impact U.S. public diplomacy and 
     America's position in the world.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Tim Shamble,
     President.

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