Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 17:22:27 MST
From: Tom Uharriet UTOM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ADMN.712.NEBO.EDU
Subject: Re: FOR English Only
Thank you Donald Larmouth LARMOUTD[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]GBMS01.UWGB.EDU for the most
useful English Only info. yet!
This legislation goes further than saying that government business
CAN be conducted in English Only. It says it HAS TO. While the
former removes restrictions, the latter adds it. One of the many
points that won me over to English Only was its lessoning of Big
Brother control.
Communications by
officers and employees of the Government of the United States shall be in
English.
This line troubles me. It is one thing to say that the government
does not have to provide materials in every one of the hundreds of
languages in this country. (I hope by now you all know that I find
that requirement absurd, wasteful, and counter-productive.) But it
is quite another thing to suppose that the CIA, FBI, IRS, TFA, etc.
would NOT BE ALLOWED to speak other languages. We should be removing
restrictions, not adding them. Taken to an extreem--which would be
possible with the poor wording of this bill--a bi-lingual applicant
could not be favored over an English only speaker to do field work in
non-English communities! The way this bill is worded, the government
agancy could be sued for hiring the more qualified candidate.
I hope my remarks on this bill, which I would have to vote against,
do not turn any of you off to better English Only legislation. So
often in legislation, the drafters go too far. Most of what is in
this bill is very reasonable. I hope it is improved be worthwhile.
I know that other bills are also before the Congress, but I am less
familiar with their details.
Let's hope they are better than this one.
Thanks again,
Tom Uharriet
utom[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]admn.712.nebo.edu