[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19762]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ``PRESS ONE FOR ENGLISH''

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, why must I press ``1'' on my phone for English? 
Why are voting ballots in numerous languages? Why are street signs in 
foreign language like Vietnamese? Why do we educate illegals in their 
native tongue? Why can't some clerks in stores or fast food restaurants 
speak English?
  Mr. Speaker, one of the qualities that make a nation a nation is a 
common language. Our ancestors decided that the American national 
language would be English. German was the second choice. But, in our 
day, we don't want to hurt people's feelings that are not from around 
here, and we make the unwise choice to communicate with them in their 
language, not the American language.
  If people come to America, they need, like the people before them, to 
learn to speak English. Failure to do so makes us not a nation but many 
nations within a nation.
  The national language is English. Several national languages are 
divisive and detrimental and destructive of our culture and our 
civilization. Mr. Speaker, I am tired of pressing ``1'' for English.
  And that's just the way it is.

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