I thank Senator Hayakawa for his leadership in this area, and Senator Huddleston, and the other cosponsors of this bill, and I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator HATCH. Well, thank you, Senator DeConcini, we will insert your statement in the record.

[Material submitted for the record follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR DENNIS DECONCINI

MR. CHAIRMAN, AS LAWMAKERS WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO IDENTIFY AND DISCERN AS BEST AS WE CAN ALL THE POSSIBLE RAMIFICATIONS OF A PROPOSED PIECE OF LEGISLATION BEFORE ENACTING IT. THIS RESPONSIBILITY IS EVEN GREATER WHEN WE, AS NOW; ARE CONSIDERING A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION SINCE A SINGLE ALTERATION OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN AFFECT LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF LAWS. THUS, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OF OUR KNOWLEDGABLE WITNESSES WHO HAVE COME TO AID US IN UNDERSTANDING THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION AND ITS POSSIBLE IMPACT.

I THANK YOU TOO, MR. CHAIRMAN, FOR HOLDING THIS HEARING.

I AM VERY INTERESTED AND CONCERNED WITH THE TOPIC TO BE

DISCUSSED TODAY.

OURS IS A HERITAGE WHICH, WHILE WELCOMING IMMIGRANTS, HAS GENERALLY EMPLOYED ENGLISH AS A TOOL IN

SOCIAL AS WELL

AS ECONMIC CONTEXTS. ENGLISH IS DEEPLY ENTRENCHED IN OUR CULTURE. BY THE SAME TOKEN, I HAVE LONG BEEN AN AVID SUPPORTER OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION AS A MEANS OF AIDING CHILDREN IN LEARNING ENGLISH WHILE MAINTAINING A LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY IN MATHEMATICS, HISTORY, AND SCIENCE IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE.

I HAVE ALSO SUPPORTED THE BILINGUAL PROVISIONS OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND THE FEDERAL COURTS INTERPRETORS ACT WHICH PROVIDES NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING DEFENDANTS WITH TRANSLATORS. THESE LAS SEEK TO PROTECT THE BASIC CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF MANY PEOPLE. THUS, IT IS WITH GREAT INTEREST THAT I WILL FOLLOW THIS DISCUSSION.

Senator DECONCINI. I thank the chairman.

Senator HATCH. Senator Huddleston, I want to thank you for coming to the committee and for the excellent statement that you have made, and we will certainly look at this very carefully.

Thank you for being here.

Senator HUDDLESTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the committee.

Senator HATCH. Our next witness will be Senator Quentin Burdick, who is a cosponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 167.

We are very pleased to welcome you, Senator Burdick, before this committee, and we look forward to taking your testimony.

STATEMENT OF HON. QUENTIN N. RURDICK, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

Senator BURDICK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify on the English language amendment.

In the interest of time, I will keep my comments short.

In recent weeks, bilingual education has received considerable attention both inside and outside of Congress. The debate reveals strong feelings about the necessity of knowing English in this country and the best method of learning it. But I want to emphasize that bilingual education should not be at the center of this debate. I truly hope, Mr. Chairman, that the detractors of this amendment will not be allowed to focus the debate on issues not affected, or on results not effected, by the English language amendment. Rather, we should be concentrating on the desirability and necessity of having a common, national, official language.

I would like to stress three points in support of the ELA. First, it is in the best interest of the non-English speaker. While the benefits may not be intuitive, they are imminently logical. Without speaking English, one cannot become fully involved in the political process. Without speaking English, one cannot realize the significant economic achievements available in this country. In short, without speaking English, one cannot fully participate in American society.

Federal provisions requiring programs like bilingual ballots and bilingual education are supposed to benefit the non-English-speaking minorities. In fact, they do not. The goal for all non-Englishspeaking Americans should be to learn English. To the extent that bilingual education achieves this goal, it is good. But to the extent that bilingual education stalls this process, and to the extent that it allows a person to get along comfortably without knowing English, it is bad.

Similarly, the extent to which a bilingual ballot allows a person to become involved in the political process is only minimal—it allows him to vote. But unless he learns English, he cannot effectively influence political debate, alter public policy, or run for public office.

Do not misunderstand me. The right to vote cannot be infringed, and it may be the highest level at which one desires to participate. However, we currently require an alien to speak, read, and write

English before he can be naturalized as a U.S. citizen. We should expect the same of all citizens.

The worst service we can perform for Americans who do not know English is to allow them to "get along." Such a service is precisely equivalent to holding them back.

The second point I want to make is that the English language amendment does not stand in opposition to bilingualism. Bilingualism, and indeed multilingualism, is absolutely necessary, if not the primary ingredient, in bringing together the peoples of the various nations and cultures of this world. We must continue to encourage such interaction. What must be discouraged are practices which allow or even encourage residents of this country not to learn English.

Furthermore, the ELA does not mean to discourage people from using their native tongue or a foreign language when it is appropriate, be it at the dinner table, at neighborhood gatherings, or even at public events. We will continue to haye elegant French restaurants with menus printed in French. Opera stars will continue to sing in Italian, German, or French Seminarians will continue their Latin studies. But neither Federal, State, and local governments, nor their subordinates, such as cities, government agencies, and public schools, should have to acquiesce to the non-English speaker. Nor does the ELA oppose the use of foreign languages by U.S. residents who already know English. Our students should continue to learn foreign languages in school. Our Peace Corps volunteers should continue to learn the language of the country to which they will become ambassadors of good will. And our tourist industry should continue to do its utmost to accommodate foreigners visiting our Nation. ·

Third and finally, though we have room for foreign languages in our schools, in diplomacy, in public, and in private, we cannot go to the extra step of forgiving the non-English speaker who wants to be a full participant in the affairs of this country. Such forgiveness leads to disunity. The United States has long been considered the melting pot where peoples of all nations come together as one. Many of us do not have to trace our heritage back more than a few generations to arrive at a foreign immigrant ancestor, many of whom knew only a foreign language when they arrived in this country. But they knew they had to learn English. My State of North Dakota is populated by immigrants particularly from Europe. The English came, the Norweigians came, the Germans came. And they had to learn English. They had to get together as a community. And I think that is part of the welding of our country, what happened in those early days. They had no bilingual education. There was no separate language taught in schools. They had to know, and did know, and learned to know English. They did so, and they made sure that their children did so, too. The country has become, and remained, unified as a result.

In our differences lie our strength and personal pride. But in our differences also lurks the potential for unmanageable and irreconcilable division. We need only look to our neighbor to the North to see what two official languages can do to a country. Manitoba, which is across from my State of North Dakota, entered Canada as a bilingual province. A speeding ticket issued there in English only,

1

rather than English and French, brought about a Supreme Court ruling that laws passed only in English are not valid. Ĉanada's language problems pose a continuing crisis which promote heated debate, internal disunity, and threats of secession. Establishing English as the official language of this country now would avert insurmountable problems in the future.

The definition for United States should include knowledge of-if not mastery of-English. ELA helps write and enforce the definition. Without it, our problems concerning national unity and ethnic diversity have not yet begun. With it, such problems can be prevented.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator HATCH. Thank you so much, Senator Burdick. We appreciate having your testimony today. Thank you for being with us. Our next witness will be Senator Steven Symms from Idaho. He is another cosponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 167. Steve, we welcome you before the subcommittee, and we look forward to hearing from you.

STATEMENT OF HON. STEVEN DASYMMS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO

Senator SYMMS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I want to compliment you for holding these hearings. I thank you not only for your interest in this particular subject, but your interest in constitutional law in general. I do not believe that the Senate could be better served by a more able chairman of this subcommittee on this very important issue. You consider many issues pertaining to the Constitution, and I think it is most important that someone of your background and knowledge holds this chairmanship.

་

Senator HATCH. Thank you so much.

Senator SYMMS. I have long had an interest in this particular subject. Mr. Chairman, I might go back and say it was a great concern to me when I discovered how many different languages the election ballots were being printed in, especially since anyone who immigrates to this country and is naturalized is required to know certain English skills in order to achieve naturalization. Others, who are American citizens by their birthright, have the opportunity to participate in the public school system; so there really is no reason for immigrants to be discouraged to learn English.

Former Senator Sam Hayakawa has made some monumental efforts on this constitutional amendment. When I first heard of it, I was very enthusiastic, an instant supporter of this proposal.

I would also like to compliment our distinguished colleague, Walter Huddleston, for the effort he has made to bring this amendment forward to the Senate, and I am most happy to be a cosponsor of it.

Mr. Chairman, in Idaho, our secretary of state, Pete Cenarrusa, was born of Basque parents, and when he started at Bellevue Grade School, a small community just south of Sun Valley, he could not speak a word of English. But his parents insisted that he speak English and be immersed in English. By the time he had graduated from the University of Idaho and World War II broke