[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       OPPOSING BILINGUAL BALLOTS

  (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today in 
support of reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, I am 
greatly concerned about a provision that is in the bill for bilingual 
ballots. That language still remains in the bill.
  Let me be clear. I support legal immigration and certainly 
celebrating one's heritage. However, the bilingual ballot provision has 
long kept new citizens from increasing their knowledge of our language 
and from fully integrating into our society.
  Not only is it expensive to print ballots in a variety of different 
dialects and tongues, but it reinforces a fractious society.
  I had planned to offer an amendment with my good friend and 
colleague, Congressman Steve King of Iowa, to strip this arcane and 
divisive language.
  I ask my colleagues for support of this measure. You heard it here.

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