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