GeorgiaL Bad business, in any language

[Harold Schiffman]

Bad business, in any language

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/07/08

As the Georgia House of Representatives was meeting last week,
foreclosures reached another record, Georgia ranked second nationwide
in personal bankruptcies and Home Depot laid off 500 workers in its
Atlanta headquarters. Yet, a House committee spent its time discussing
whether it should mandate that Georgia and all its cities and counties
limit official forms and conversations to English, apparently under
the premise that allowing refugees to take the driver's test in their
native language poses a dire threat.
Many of these legal refugees are women, and their ability to drive to
a job can mean the difference between homelessness and a roof over
their families' heads. Denying them a license means only that they
will be more likely to end up unemployed.

Besides, Georgia has had a law on the books for 12 years declaring
English the state's official language. But state Rep. Tim Bearden
(R-Villa Rica) says the law is not enough. His House Resolution 413
calls for a constitutional amendment mandating that "No law,
ordinance, decree, program, or policy of this state or any of its
political subdivisions shall require the use of any language other
than English for any documents, regulations, orders, transactions,
proceedings, meetings, programs, or publications." Pressed to explain
the rationale for this amendment, Bearden said drivers with clumsy
English pose a problem for traffic cops. But surely poor English
skills aren't anywhere near the danger to police and the public that
drunken driving is, and yet there's no legislative demand for tougher
DUI laws.

Language fluency is not critical to safe driving. Thousands of
Georgians vacation abroad each year and drive through France, Spain,
Greece and Germany. They can do so without knowing the languages
because most countries agreed to standardize the road signs and
markings in 1968. Two-thirds of both the House and the Senate must
approve the resolution before it can go to voters. Let's hope that
this hurdle is high enough to sink HR 413, which sends a clear signal
— "outsiders not welcome" — at a time that the state is desperate to
woo foreign investors.

China, for example, invested $554 million in the United States in
2006. With hopes of luring more of that cash here, the state's
Department of Economic Development opened an office in Beijing. This
spring Gov. Sonny Perdue will travel to Beijing to encourage Chinese
executives to bring factories, jobs and money to Georgia. Those CEOs
may be less likely to locate their facilities to Georgia if their
managers can't even apply for a Georgia driver's license once they
move here.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/02/06/englished_0207.html

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