[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5677]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I love America, and I cherish 
the values and principles that America represents. Those values are 
increasingly threatened today by an erosion of one of the primary bonds 
that keeps us together, a common language.
  Large scale legal and illegal immigration threatens our societal 
cohesion and America's shared values when arrivals are unwilling to 
learn English. The current policies of our Federal Government actually 
enable this erosion when it provides official documents in multiple 
languages. This eliminates any incentive to learn English. America's 
genius as a melting-pot Nation has always been promoted by assimilation 
to a common language, and that language is English.
  Today, I am introducing legislation that declares English to be the 
official language of the United States Government. Under the English As 
the Official Language Act of 2008, no person has an entitlement to 
receive Federal documents and services in languages other than English 
unless required by law. If the U.S. government is generous enough to 
make an exception, the exception does not create a legal entitlement or 
precedent to additional services in any other language other than 
English. This essential legislation will significantly reduce costs to 
our Federal Government and will encourage new legal immigrants to 
quickly adopt America's native tongue.
  Learning English has always been and will continue to be a key step 
in achieving the American Dream. I applaud my fellow colleague in the 
other House, Senator Jim Inhofe, for introducing identical legislation 
in the Senate, and for his continued leadership on this critically 
important issue.
  Making English the official language of our great land is not just 
about preserving our culture and heritage. Learning English is an 
essential step for our Nation's newest potential citizens that they 
must take if they want to achieve the American Dream. I plead with my 
colleagues to strengthen America by supporting English As the Official 
Language Act of 2008.

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