Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2007--Continued

Floor Speech

COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2007--Continued -- (Senate - June 06, 2007)

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Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I conclude by urging my colleagues to vote no on the Inhofe amendment. At the end of the day, what the Inhofe amendment is proposing to do is to undo executive orders that have been signed by both the Clinton administration and the Bush administration. Those executive orders were created in order to be able to have people understand what is happening with respect to the courts, with respect to domestic violence, and with respect to other issues that our government provides services for where they need to be able to understand what is happening with respect to the communication they are receiving.

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Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise to speak on behalf of my amendment No. 1384 and to urge my colleagues to join me in support of this commonsense legislation that supports English as the common language for the United States of America.

Our amendment is a very simple amendment. It says that the Government of the United States--and here I am quoting:

The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the language of the United States.

Again, it is:

The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the language of the United States.

This is a simple and straightforward amendment that recognizes the reality of the United States of America, that we are a people who yearn to speak English, want to speak English, and have the vast majority of our people knowing how to speak English.

This language I have read is also part of a carefully crafted compromise. It is included in the underlying legislation that was worked upon by both Republican and Democratic Senators over a long period of time. It was agreed that this was the language that made the most sense in terms of including a provision relating to the English language in the underlying legislation.

As I said earlier in opposition to Senator Inhofe's amendment, this is in fact a States' rights issue. The States of America ought to decide whether they are going to call English the official language of their State, as they did in Colorado; or they should decide, as they did in New Mexico in their constitution in 1912, to recognize English and Spanish as part of the language within their State. That was their right as New Mexicans. It is their right in Hawaii to be able to recognize a language other than English. It is a matter that ought to be left to the States. It would be a Washingtonian kind of thing to require these mandates upon the States, and it is something that we as the Senate should reject. Our language in amendment No. 1384 preserves that ability of the States to be able to enact their own legislation with respect to the English language.

Finally, I only say that in my own personal history the native language in my home was Spanish. My family had lived along the banks of the Rio Grande River in southern Colorado for a period of 407 years. During all that time, they preserved their Spanish language, but they also honored and preserved the English language. My father and mother, who were veterans of World War II, had eight children who became college graduates. They understood the importance of English as something that would help them live the American dream, as all eight of their children have.

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Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to vote no on 1151 for three reasons. First, it is in violation of the very delicate compromise, the bipartisan compromise that has been put together by both Republicans and Democrats. Second of all, it is an absolute transparent attempt to undo the Executive Orders of President Bush and President Clinton and the implementation memorandums from both of those Presidents. Third, this is a States' rights issue.

Fourth, for me, I remember having my mouth washed out with soap as a young man for speaking the Spanish language, which is my native language. I love English and we should encourage people to speak English.

This amendment is nothing but a divisive amendment among the people of the United States. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment.

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