Puerto Rico Status Bill Passes in House
Official English Now More Urgent Than Ever

by Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board/CEO of U.S.ENGLISH

On March 4th, 80% of Republican Members of Congress voted against the Puerto Rico status bill that the Republican leadership in the House had rushed to the floor as a high priority. Meanwhile, a bill to make English the official language of the United States, which passed the House in 1996 with the support of 95% of the Republicans, has yet to receive even a hearing in committee.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich devoted a full chapter of his book, To Renew America, to the importance of English as our common language. He spoke eloquently on the floor of the House in favor of English as our official language before the bill passed in 1996. So why has the Republican leadership been pushing to allow Puerto Rico to become a state without adequate safeguards for our common language, while it seems the official language bill is not even on the back burner-it's completely off the stove?

Perhaps the Republican leaders thought that the Puerto Rico Status bill was a chance to rehabilitate the Republican Party in the eyes of Hispanic voters. Even if Hispanics were the unified voting bloc Republican leaders seem to think they are, that strategy was a failure, because the bill only garnered 20% of the Republican vote.

But Hispanics are not a unified voting bloc, and to treat them as such is naïve and condescending. Would a bill benefiting Italian-Americans bring the support of Irish-Americans and German-Americans, just because they are all European-Americans? Of course not. So why would Republican leaders think that Mexican-Americans and Cuban-Americans would unite behind the Puerto Rico status bill, when two out of three Puerto Rican Members of Congress strongly opposed the bill?

Republican leaders seem to have forgotten the old saying, "You cannot make friends of your enemies by making enemies of your friends." The underwhelming Republican support for the Puerto Rico status bill will not impress Hispanic voters, but the leadership's rush to bring the bill to the floor has antagonized the supporters of English as the official language.

With the passage of the Puerto Rico status bill, it is now more important than ever for the House to pass H.R. 123 to make English the official language of the federal government. The Puerto Rico bill was amended to say that federal official language requirements would apply to a Puerto Rican state to the same degree that they apply in the rest of the states. The provision is meaningless-unless Congress actually passes official English.

If Congress does not pass official English legislation, Puerto Rican voters will assume that the federal government will function bilingually to accommodate a Spanish-speaking State of Puerto Rico. Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) has already asked the House to translate its proceedings on the status bill into Spanish, for the benefit of the three quarters of Puerto Rico's population that does not speak English.

Once the federal government begins operating in Spanish in a Puerto Rican state, how long will it be before every other language minority is demanding equal treatment for their language? With over 329 different languages spoken in this country, we cannot possibly accommodate them all.

What is in store for the United States if we continue down the path of official multilingualism? President Theodore Roosevelt warned that our country cannot afford "to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities." We must focus on that which unites us, rather than that which divides.

A common language is essential to the future of our national unity. We need look no further than Canada to see the terrible problems that can arise from the lack of a common language. In a 1995 plebiscite, the French-speaking province of Quebec almost voted to secede from Canada.

Both Puerto Rico and Quebec had their own languages and cultures long before becoming part of English-speaking majority nations. Both have populations in which the overwhelming majority speak a language different from that of the rest of the nation. Both have political movements that focus on independence as the key to maintaining a separate cultural and linguistic identity. Both have populations that give more importance to their regional identity than their national identity.

Congress must let Puerto Rico know that they will not be allowed to become our Quebec. We must avoid the problems that a linguistically divided society will bring. English is the great unifier, the one thing that all Americans have in common. Without it, how long will the United States remain united?

The experience with the Puerto Rico status bill has proven that the Republican leadership in the House can rush a bill to the floor for a vote. Now let them use that power for something their rank and file (and over 80% of the American people) actually support. Pass official English now!

Copyright © 1998 by U.S.ENGLISH, Inc.
WARNING: Any citation to the material contained in this website must credit U.S.ENGLISH. No portion of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any way without the express written permission of U.S.ENGLISH. Copyright violations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

This page was last updated 04/26/99.

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Copyright © 1999 by U.S.ENGLISH, Inc.
WARNING: Any citation of  the material contained in this website must credit U.S.ENGLISH. No portion of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any way without the express permission of U.S.ENGLISH. Copyright violations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

This page was last updated 04/26/99.

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