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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2000 		Contact: Tim Schultz
800/787-8216
202/833-0100

U.S.ENGLISH Chairman Puzzled By Leavitt Opposition To Statewide Official English Initiative

Washington, DC-U.S.ENGLISH Chairman/CEO Mauro E. Mujica today reacted to Thursday’s statements by Utah Governor Mike Leavitt that he would oppose a statewide ballot measure to make English the official language of Utah. "In stating his opposition to the bill, the governor basically said ‘English is already official, therefore we don’t need to make it official.’ I believe this is incredibly short-sighted. Utah has a growing immigrant population, which creates a critical decision for Utah. Will Utah slow down the assimilation of immigrants by creating a government that operates in foreign languages, or will it do everything possible to teach immigrants English and help them become part of their new country?"

Leavitt made his comments at his monthly KUED-TV news conference. Leavitt said the so-called Initiative A could create obstacles to immigrants learning in public schools. “You can’t teach somebody English without understanding Spanish and speaking to them in their own language,” the governor offered.

"I’m surprised that the governor seems to have not read the initiative. The measure spells out in great detail that state education authorities continue to have all control over how immigrant students are taught. This law will not dictate teaching methods in the classroom. So the notion that this will make Utah classrooms ‘English Only’ is pure nonsense. In fact, in the great Utah tradition, this law actually encourages more teaching of foreign languages, and greater efforts to help those students who do not yet speak English."

U.S.ENGLISH is the nations’ oldest, largest 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 now has more than 1.4 million members nationwide, including more than 10,000 in Utah.



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