Tuesday night in his State of the Union Address, President Clinton emphasized the need to bring immigrants into a more united America, saying,

We have a responsibility to make them welcome here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American life. That means learning English and learning about our democratic system of government. There are now long waiting lines of immigrants that are trying to do just that. Therefore, our budget significantly expands our efforts to help them meet their responsibility. I hope you will support it. Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower, on slave ships; whether they came to Ellis Island or LAX in Los Angeles, whether they came yesterday or walked this land 1000 years ago, our great challenge for the 21^st century is to find a way to be one America. We can meet all the other challenges if we can go forward as one America.

Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board/CEO of U.S.ENGLISH, responded to the President's statement. "The President made the same point that U.S.ENGLISH has been making for the past fifteen years—immigrants need to learn English, and the government should make it easier for them to do so, not harder. When he was governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton signed a bill to make English his state's official language, but he has not done much to promote our nation's common language since then. U.S.ENGLISH is glad that he chose to devote a portion of the State of the Union Address to focus on this key issue."

Mr. Mujica is currently in Salt Lake City as the Utah legislature prepares to vote on whether to make English the official language of Utah government. He explained that much of the opposition to the Official English Initiative in Utah was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the motives behind the official English movement.

"We are trying to help immigrants move into the mainstream of society, not exclude them," Mujica said. "Only one Utah legislator has introduced a bill to increase funding for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for immigrants, in order to reduce the waiting lines President Clinton spoke of. It's not any of the so-called 'immigrant advocates' who loudly oppose official English. It's Rep. Tammy Rowan, sponsor of the Official English Initiative, who has proposed an additional $500,000 to help immigrants learn English."

Mujica continued, "In any language, actions speak louder than words. It is the official English movement that is taking action to actually help immigrants in Utah to learn English and join the mainstream of Utah society. We call on the legislature to act for the benefit of Utah's immigrants and the state as a whole by passing the Official English Initiative and an increase in funding for ESL classes."

More than 56,000 registered voters in Utah signed a petition asking the legislature to pass the Official English Initiative. If the legislature complies, Utah will join twenty-five other states that have English as their official language. Rep. Rowan's bill to increase funding for ESL programs is H.B. 213.

U.S.ENGLISH is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting English as the common language of the United States. The group was founded in 1983 by the late Senator S.I. Hayakawa of California, and now has over 1.3 million members nationwide.