Senate Votes to Set English as National Language

SENATE VOTES TO SET ENGLISH AS NATIONAL LANGUAGE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Carl Hulse]
The Senate voted on Thursday to designate English as the national language. In a charged debate, Republican backers of the proposal, which was added to the Senate's immigration measure on a 63-to-34 vote, said that it was equivalent to establishing a formal national anthem or motto and that it would simply affirm the pre-eminence of English without overturning laws or rules on bilingualism. Under the proposal, the federal government is directed to "preserve and enhance the role of English as the national language of the United States of America." It does not go as far as proposals to designate English the nation's official language, which would require all government publications and business to be in English. Instead, it says government services and publications now offered in other languages would be unaffected. But the proposal declares that no one has "a right, entitlement or claim to have the government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services or provide materials in any language other than English." The Senate also passed a weaker, less-binding alternative declaring English the "common and unifying" language of the nation, on a 58-to-39 vote. The question of which version survives would be decided in negotiations with the House. The House version of the bill relies on the traditional method of speaking louder and s l o w e r.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/washington/19immig.html
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* Senate Votes English as 'National Language'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR200605...