Nevada senate passes Official English Bill

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Nevada Senate Passes Official English Bill

                      19-2 vote sends measure to House

    WASHINGTON, April 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Nevada Senate
passed legislation to make English the official language of the state by a
margin of 19-2 today, positioning Nevada to become the 30th with an
official English policy. Introduced by Sen. Bob Beers, S.B. 325 would
declare English the official language of the state and require that all
official proceedings be done in English. The bill now goes to the Nevada
House of Representatives for consideration.

    "The enthusiasm of the Nevada Senators to support official English
shows once again that common language legislation serves to unite the
people, not divide them," said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of
U.S. English, Inc. "People may hold differing views on the subject of
immigration, but they are overwhelmingly in favor of programs that
encourage all new Americans to learn English."  According to a Feb. 2007
poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc., 70 percent of registered
voters in Nevada favor making English the official language of the state,
including majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents. A
nationwide survey of Hispanics by Zogby International in December found
that nearly two-in-three Hispanics favored official English policies
nationwide.

    Nevada is one of 20 states which have seen official English measures
introduced in the legislature this year, including Idaho where the
legislation was signed into law in March. At the federal level, H.R. 997,
the English Language Unity Act of 2007, has almost 100 co-sponsors and
remains one of the most widely supported bills in the 110th Congress.
"Last year, U.S. Senator Harry Reid denounced official English legislation
on the floor of the Senate," continued Mujica, speaking of last year's
U.S. Senate debate on an amendment to an immigration bill. "Today, the
state Senators from Sen. Reid's home state gave a loud and clear message
to the contrary, demonstrating that they believe official English is a
helpful, unifying policy for Nevada. I want to thank the Senators for
their effort and hope that the House will follow in their footsteps."


http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-24-2007/0004573040&EDATE=

***********************************************************************************

N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal.

***********************************************************************************