Washington – The Senate voted Thursday to make English the national language of the United States. Sort of.
Moments after the 63-34 vote, it decided to call the mother tongue a “common and unifying language.”
“You can’t have it both ways,” warned Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., a fan of “national” but not “common and unifying.”
Two dozen senators disagreed and voted for both proposals as the Senate lumbered toward an expected vote next week on a controversial immigration bill.
Inhofe led the attempt to declare English the national language. The Oklahoma Republican quoted President Theodore Roosevelt as having said that those living in the United States “must also learn one language and that language is English.”
“If you’ve got any rights now, you’ve still got them under this amendment,” added Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
Democrats said the proposal would curtail rights established by an executive order President Clinton issued to extend language assistance to individuals not proficient in English.
Minority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., went further. “I really believe this amendment is racist. I think it’s directed basically to people who speak Spanish.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Inhofe replied. “I don’t think people will buy into it.”
The Senate didn’t, including 11 Democrats who joined 53 Republicans to support the proposal.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., advanced the alternative that declared English to be a “common and unifying language.” It passed, 58-39, leaving the outcome of the symbolic debate uncertain.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Salazar told of how his ancestors founded the city of Santa Fe in 1598, that his family spoke Spanish then, as it still does now on his family ranch in Colorado.
When he was a student, he said, he watched as those who spoke Spanish had their mouths washed out with soap. “Those kind of incidents run counter to what America is all about,” he said.
“If I am a public official … it might give me the signal that perhaps providing services to citizens of the United States in a language other than English is wrong, it’s against the law,” Salazar said.
Denver Post staff writer Anne C. Mulkern contibuted to this report.
