English as official language amendment passes first hurdle under the Gold Dome

Or: What I did with my Tuesday
( Note from D.A. – the AJC seems happy to spread the message of the ACLU, but less so to report what I actually said…more on that later)

Panel OKs amendment making English official language

By BRIAN FEAGANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/07/07

A proposed constitutional amendment that would reaffirm English as the state’s official language took its first step toward the ballot box Tuesday, gaining unanimous approval of a House subcommittee.

English is already the official language of Georgia by statute. But Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica), sponsor of HR 413, said he wants to give voters a chance to cement it into the state constitution in 2008. Protecting English is critical now, he said, in light of the federal government’s inability to control the flow of illegal immigrants who aren’t assimilating into American society.

“We’re all brought together by one thing,” Bearden told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee. “It’s the bond of the English language.”

Some 28 states have an English law, according to U.S. English Inc., which advocates for English as an official language. All eight times the question has gone to voters in other states, they’ve voted “yes,” Bearden said Tuesday.

But high hurdles may await in the General Assembly, where two-thirds of both the House and the Senate must approve the resolution before it can go to voters.

Bearden had been pushing a different bill — HB 21 — that would have required Georgia agencies and communities to print documents in English only. But he dropped that effort after critics, including legal experts, said the bill could bring unintended consequences such as jeopardizing plea deals with defendants who don’t speak English well.

The new resolution lays out eight instances in which using languages other than English is allowed. They include protecting public health and safety, guarding criminal defendants’ rights, and promoting trade and tourism. An executive order signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 2000 also requires government entities that receive federal funds to provide reasonable access to speakers of other languages.

Even so, Bearden said his resolution would relieve Georgia driver’s license officials from having to provide exams in languages other than English. They currently offer the exams in at least 12 languages.

Maggie Garrett, legislative director for the ACLU of Georgia, said the resolution is unnecessary. Studies show immigrants are learning English just as fast today as in the early 20th century, she said.

But anti-illegal immigration advocate D.A. King, president of the Marietta-based Dustin Inman Society, spoke in a language all the legislators could understand. Polls, King said, consistently show widespread support for English as an official language.

PLEASE read the complete article here.

Please send a note of support and thanks to Representative Bearden here.

Read about the ACLU and English as America’s common language here.