New Poll Finds Strong Support for Official English Legislation in Nevada

[Harold F. Schiffman]

New Poll Finds Strong Support for Official English Legislation in Nevada

    70 percent of Silver State voters favor recently introduced measure

    WASHINGTON, March 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 70 percent of
registered voters in Nevada favor making English the official language of
the state, according to a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling &
Research, Inc. The survey, which coincides with a new official English
bill recently introduced in Nevada, found strong support among every
subset of the population, including 80 percent support among Republicans
and 60 percent among Democrats. The poll of 625 registered voters was
conducted Feb. 6-8, 2007 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four
percent.

    "In recent years, Nevada has experienced tremendous population growth,
including significant numbers of new Americans," said Mauro E. Mujica,
Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. "However, the state will not
realize the benefits of a growing population if a large portion of those
people are unable to interact in the community and with other Nevadans."
This week, Nevada State Senator Bob Beers introduced S.B. 325, legislation
to make English the official language of Nevada. The measure would call
upon the Nevada government to conduct business in English and limit
governmental multilingualism to common-sense exceptions such as health
care, public safety, judicial proceedings and tourism. To date, 28 states
have English as their official language. In November 2006, Arizona became
the newest addition to the list when nearly 75 percent of the voters
affirmed Proposition 103.

    "According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the limited
English proficient population in Nevada has quadrupled since 1990," noted
Mujica. "Without a common language policy to assimilate non-English
speakers into the mainstream, there will continue to be a growing
'second-class' of residents whose potential will be limited because of
their lack of English fluency. I look forward to working with Sen. Beers
and the Nevada legislature to develop a policy that will keep Nevadans
moving forward together."  U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and
largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the
unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in
1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. can
be found on the web at:  http://www.usenglish.org.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-22-2007/0004551260&EDATE=

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