Rick Santorum Calls on Puerto Rico to Adopt English as Requirement for Statehood
GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum today demanded that Puerto Ricans consent to English as their primary language, should citizens elect to pursue statehood in an upcoming November plebiscite.
March 14, 2012
Washington, DC—GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum today demanded that Puerto Ricans consent to English as their primary language, should citizens elect to pursue statehood in an upcoming November plebiscite.
The statement comes two days after U.S.English Chairman Mauro E. Mujica sent the former Pennsylvania Senator a letter urging his support for English as the sole official language of Puerto Rico, in order for statehood to be considered.
“I am pleased to hear Senator Santorum say that he will not support a state in which English is not the primary language,” Chairman Mujica said. “To be clear, in order for Puerto Rico to be considered for statehood, English should be deemed its sole official language. Contrary to claims that such a requirement runs against the United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 3 states that Congress has the power to make rules and regulations regarding territory belonging to the United States. Congress has previously set similar language expectations for other territories with a significant non-English speaking population that went on to become states, and Puerto Rico should be no different.”
When Louisiana became a state, President James Madison signed the Louisiana Enabling Act, imposing language restrictions on the heavily French speaking population. Oklahoma and New Mexico were both required to have state constitutions that stated public schooling would be conducted in English, and Arizona had to guarantee that its executive and legislative officials could read, write, speak and understand English.
“While 19 states in the U.S. have yet to declare English their official language, none operate predominantly in Spanish,” Mujica continued. “Citizens in Puerto Rico have a right to know what the expectations are should they opt for statehood, and English as a sole official language should be a primary requirement.”
###
NOTE: For more on Santorum's remarks, see the Fox News video below.
U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 2 million members.
