The Salvation Army or the Hispanic Caucus?

[Harold Schiffman]

The Salvation Army or the Hispanic Caucus?
by Jim Boulet, Jr. Posted 11/21/2007 ET




The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's 2007 lawsuit against the
Salvation Army's requirement that its employees must speak English has
once again split Congress between those who believe immigrants should
adapt to American ways and those who don't. Just before Congress left
for its Thanksgiving break, a vote to rein in the EEOC triggered a
revolt by the House of Representatives' Hispanic Caucus. Senator Lamar
Alexander -- during committee consideration of the EEOC's
appropriation -- added a provision that would deny the EEOC any funds
to continue its lawsuit against the Salvation Army's English-only
policy.  Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) then offered a
non-binding motion on the House floor to instruct the House conferees
on the Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Appropriation (H.R. 3093) to
support the Alexander language and on November 8th, the House voted
218 to 186 in favor of the Frelinghuysen motion. (Full disclosure:
English First strongly supports the Alexander amendment.)

In 2004, the Salvation Army asked Dolores Escobor of the Dominican
Republic and Maria del Carmen Perdomo of El Salvador to learn English
and gave them a year to comply. They did not do so and were dismissed
in 2005. Salvation Army officials could have just let these women
continue merrily along in their little linguistic ghetto. Instead,
they tried to encourage these women to better themselves by learning
English.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit
against the Salvation Army's policy in March of 2007. The EEOC is
actually enforcing rules which have been consistently rejected in
federal courts.  Even the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, hardly a
wellspring of conservative thought, ruled against the EEOC's language
policy in 1993 (Garcia v. Spun Steak).

The EEOC's lawsuit also seemed like pure harassment, given that the
Salvation Army had defeated one lawsuit against its English-only
policy in Cosme v. The Salvation Army (284 F.Supp.2d 229 (D. Mass.
2003).

Yet the EEOC continues to seek ways to enforce its peculiar
interpretation of civil rights law upon the nation's employers.  Many
of these employers opt to do whatever the EEOC demands, rather than
fight out the matter in court.

The Democrats hold just 233 of the 435 seats in Congress.  This means
that the Republican can prevail on any vote if they remain united and
just 16 Democrats defect.  Potential defectors are not hard to find.

Of the 233 Democrats in the 110th Congress, reported Reid Wilson in
Real Clear Politics ("House of Cards," July 16th), 61 were elected in
2006 from districts carried by President Bush in 2004; 47 from
districts Bush carried twice.  These Democrats are unlikely to ask
Pelosi to show her face in their districts during their reelection
campaigns next year.

The Frelinghuysen motion provoked 36 Democrats to join with 182
Republicans on the side of the Salvation Army.  Most annoying to the
Hispanic Caucus were the 14 Democrats who switched their votes since
the House defeated a similar amendment on July 26th, 202-212.

Hispanic Caucus members called the success of the Frelinghuysen motion
"offensive" and "a breaking point."

The next day (November 9th), the Hispanic Caucus demonstrated the
power of their 21 Members to the Democratic leadership by voting "no"
as a group against the rule for considering a tax bill and then
switching their votes to "yes" at the last minute.

While that rules vote was still in doubt, Congressional Quarterly
reported an off-camera screaming match took place on the House floor.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confronted
an equally irate Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joe Baca (D-California).

Perhaps because of this show of force by the Hispanic Caucus, a
planned November 14th House-Senate conference on the CJS appropriation
did not take place.

Baca told Congressional Quarterly that Speaker Pelosi had assured him
the conference committee will not meet, nor will the House take up a
conference report, until an agreement is reached to modify or drop the
Alexander amendment: "There ain't going to be a bill," Baca boasted.

There are two things you can do to help the Salvation Army and Senator
Alexander win this fight.

First, contact your two Senators and your Congressman and ask them to
insist the final CJS appropriation includes the Alexander EEOC
amendment.

Second, when you see a red Salvation Army kettle during this Christmas
season, drop in a few extra dollars so that the Salvation Army is not
forced to choose between defending its good name in court and helping
the needy. Mr. Boulet is executive director of English First, a
national, non-profit grassroots lobbying organization devoted to
making English America's official language, giving every child the
chance to learn English, and eliminating costly and ineffective
multilingual policies.


http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23534

**************************************
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. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************