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REMARKS OF SENATOR CHARLES A RODRIGUEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE PUERTO RICO SENATE, BEFORE THE HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA FEBRUARY 14, 1997
GOOD EVENING AND THANK YOU CHAIRMAN CHAPIN FOR YOUR GENEROUS REMARKS. UNDER YOUR ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP GREAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN BETTERING THE UNDERSTANDING AMONG OUR PEOPLES SEPARATED BY GEOGRAPHY BUT UNITED BY OUR CONSTITUTION.
I ALSO WANT TO THANK PAST PRESIDENT MERCEDES MCCALL FOR HER ROLE IN INITIATING MISSIONS BETWEEN THE ISLAND AND ORLANDO. THESE VISITS LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE MANY SUCCESSES THAT FOLLOWED UNDER VICTOR DIAZ'S WATCH THIS PAST YEAR. THANKS VICTOR. AND TO THE NEW PRESIDENT, TERESA, YOUR PUERTO RICAN HERITAGE AND SOUTHERN ACCENT WILL STAND YOU IN GOOD STEAD AS THE CHAMBER CONTINUES TO MOVE FORWARD.
INTERDEPENDENCE, DIVERSITY, COOPERATION, DEDICATION, PARTICIPATION, EDUCATION AND SHARED VALUES UNITE THE EFFORTS OF CHAIRMAN CHAPIN, MERCY, VICTOR AND TERESA AS THEY WORK TO MAKE CENTRAL FLORIDA AN EVEN BETTER PLACE IN WHICH TO LIVE FOR ALL. THIS IS THE MESSAGE OF INCLUSIVENESS, THE MESSAGE IMPLICIT IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS.
IT'S A CREDO THAT UNITES ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS AND STANDS FOR WHAT AMERICA MEANS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.
BUT TO SAY THAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AT HOME WHAT WE PROMISE ABROAD IS TO DECEIVE OURSELVES, THE JOB IS NOT YET DONE HERE. IGNORANCE AND INTOLERANCE STILL DIVIDE OUR PEOPLES AND HOLD BACK THE FULL REALIZATION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM FROM MILLIONS.
WE SEE SOME ELECTED OFFICIALS, WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER, SEEK TO SUBVERT BASIC AMERICAN PRINCIPLES BY HOMOGENIZING THE MELTING POT THAT MADE US THE WORLD LEADER.
RATHER, THOSE THAT BENEFITED FROM THIS STEW OF PEOPLES MERGING THEIR DIVERSITIES INTO A UNIQUELY AMERICAN QUILT WISH TO IMPOSE THEIR OWN IDEAS OF UNIFORMITY. WHERE THEIR FOREBEARS SAW STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY, THEY SEE WEAKNESS IN NON-CONFORMITY.
TODAY HISPANICS, 10 PERCENT OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION, ALONG WITH OTHER HYPHENATED AMERICANS, ARE THE SUBJECTS OF AN "ENGLISH-ONLY" CAMPAIGN TO DENY THOSE WHO SPEAK A SECOND LANGUAGE USE OF THAT LANGUAGE IN OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESS. THUS, TODAY THERE ARE INITIATIVES IN CONGRESS TO MAKE ENGLISH THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE THE 10TH AMENDMENT NOW RESERVES THE ISSUE OF LANGUAGE TO THE STATES. CONSISTENT WITH THE CONSTITUTION 23 STATES, INCLUDING FLORIDA, HAVE ALREADY PASSED LAWS MANDATING AN ENGLISH-ONLY POLICY.
AND YET FEW STATES HAVE IMPLEMENTED THESE LAWS. WHY? IT MAY BE RELATIVELY EASY TO PASS SUCH ENABLING LEGISLATION BUT HOW DOES ONE FORCE SOMEONE WHO IS NOT FLUENT IN A LANGUAGE TO SPEAK IT! WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY? AND WHERE IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE DOES IT SAY THAT THE PURSUIT OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND HAPPINESS IS RESERVED ONLY TO ENGLISH SPEAKERS?
AS A POLITICIAN I KNOW ITS MUCH EASIER TO DEMAGOGUE AN ISSUE THAN TO PUT FORTH A PROGRAM TO SOLVE IT. AND THIS IS JUST WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE ENGLISH-ONLY CRUSADE.
NO ONE SERIOUSLY DOUBTS THE VALUE OF ENGLISH FLUENCY TO SUCCEED IN THE WORLD, MUCH LESS THE UNITED STATES. JUST CHECK OUT OUR FOREIGN NEIGHBORS WHERE ENGLISH IS A MANDATORY SUBJECT FROM THE GRADE SCHOOLS OF TOKYO TO MOSCOW TO NAIROBI TO PARIS. AND, AT HOME, EVEN IN THE US TERRITORY OF PUERTO RICO. BUT, IN EACH CASE, THESE PROGRAMS ARE SUPPORTED WITH SUBSTANTIAL BUDGETARY ALLOCATIONS.
NOT SO IN THE MAINLAND USA. THERE ARE MORE WOULD BE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH THAN THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES AND FACILITIES TO TEACH THEM. SO WHAT'S THE ANSWER TO THIS CHALLENGE? DECREE ENGLISH AS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE LANGUAGE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS!
TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, SPEAKING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IS DERIDED AS UN-AMERICAN NEVER MIND THAT SPANISH IS SPOKEN BY NEARLY 500 MILLION PEOPLE IN OUR OWN HEMISPHERE AND THAT THE UNITED STATES IS THE FOURTH NATION IN THE WORLD WHERE SPANISH IS MOST SPOKEN AFTER SPAIN, MEXICO AND ARGENTINA.
EVEN JESSE JACKSON SUGGESTED THAT THE OAKLAND SCHOOL BOARD TEACH SPANISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IF IT REALLY WANTED TO HELP AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS GET AHEAD.
FURTHER, OVER 200,000 PUERTO RICANS HAVE BEEN VETERANS FROM WORLD WAR I UNTIL MOST RECENTLY IN SOMALIA. IN FACT, THE FIRST SOLDIER TO FALL IN SOMALIA WAS PUERTO RICAN. AND WHILE FOUR PUERTO RICANS HAVE BEEN RECIPIENTS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR OVER 2,000 HAVE MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE FOR THEIR NATION, THIS NATION, THE USA. AND NONE OF THEM, WHEN RECRUITED, WERE ASKED IF THEY WERE PROFICIENT OR FLUENT IN ENGLISH!
THE ANSWER LIES NOT IN DECREES BUT IN EDUCATION. WE NEED TO HAVE ALL AMERICANS FLUENT IN ENGLISH NOT BECAUSE IT IS AMERICAN OR WILL MAKE THEM BETTER AMERICANS BUT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE JOBS ARE, THAT'S WHERE ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES ARE!
WE ALSO NEED TO BUILD ON THE BILINGUALISM OF HISPANICS AND ALL OTHERS WHO HAVE COME TO THIS COUNTRY SEEKING FREER AND BETTER LIVES.
FINALLY, WE NEED TO HAVE ALL AMERICANS LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE BESIDES ENGLISH SUCH AS SPANISH, CHINESE OR JAPANESE. WHY? AGAIN, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE JOBS ARE, THAT'S WHERE ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES ARE.!
WHY EVEN IN PUERTO RICO, WHERE ENGLISH AND SPANISH ARE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES, THE BEST JOBS IN THE CLASSIFIEDS ARE RESERVED FOR OUR BILINGUAL RESIDENTS.
THAT'S WHY, AGAIN, THE SOLUTION IS IN INCREASED PROGRAMS TO TEACH ENGLISH, NOT MANDATE IT. THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO THE MOST CASUAL OBSERVER.
MOREOVER, IT SHOULD BE SELF-EVIDENT THAT ENGLISH-ONLY AND SIMILAR IDEAS ALSO ALIENATE TARGETED GROUPS.
AND, IN THIS CASE, HISPANICS SOME 30 MILLION NOW AND ESTIMATED TO GROW TO 20 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION WITHIN THIRTY YEARS HOLD THE BALANCE OF POWER IN STATES KEY TO ELECTORAL VICTORY AT THE PRESIDENTIAL LEVEL AND FOR FUTURE CONTROL OF CONGRESS.
WITH SOME POLITICIANS PUSHING ENGLISH-ONLY AND SOME SEEKING ELIMINATION OF SPANISH AS ONE OF PUERTO RICO'S OFFICIAL LANGUAGES AS THE PRICE OF STATEHOOD THEY JEOPARDIZE THEIR CHANCES IN STATES FROM FLORIDA TO TEXAS TO ARIZONA TO CALIFORNIA, THE KEY STATES TO WINNING THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2000 OR THE SUNSHINE STATE'S GUBERNATORIAL MANSION IN 1998.
AND THESE ARE JUST THE STATES WHERE HISPANICS HOLD THE BALANCE OF POWER: WITH ONLY 5 PERCENT OF THE NATION'S VOTING POWER HISPANICS REPRESENT 10 PERCENT IN ARIZONA, 12 PERCENT IN TEXAS, 14 PERCENT IN FLORIDA AND NEARLY 15 PERCENT IN CALIFORNIA.
THESE OBSERVATIONS HIGHLIGHT ANOTHER ASPECT OF HISPANIC PARTICIPATION IN AMERICAN SOCIETY, THE VOTE. THROUGH THE BALLOT BOX HISPANICS ARE, LIKE OTHERS BEFORE THEM, INCREASINGLY USING THEIR GROWING PRESENCE TO VOTE ON ISSUES AND ELECT CANDIDATES THAT FAVOR INCLUSIVENESS, TOLERANCE AND DIVERSITY.
THE STUNNING VICTORY OF MEXICAN AMERICAN LORETTA SANCHEZ OVER NINE TERM INCUMBENT BOB DORNAN IN CALIFORNIA'S ORANGE COUNTY LAST FALL ATTESTS TO THE POWER OF THE BALLOT BOX.
HOWEVER, UNLIKE PUERTO RICO WHERE OVER 80 PERCENT OF ELIGIBLE VOTES CAST THEIR BALLOT LAST NOVEMBER, HISPANICS ARE NOT NOTORIOUS FOR THEIR ELECTION DAY TURNOUTS. BUT 1996 WAS A WATERSHED YEAR AS ISSUES AFFECTING HISPANICS LED TO AN INCREASE IN THEIR PARTICIPATION BY ALMOST 60 PERCENT IN TEXAS, 40 PERCENT IN CALIFORNIA AND 10 PERCENT HERE.
IN FACT, A 13 PERCENT GAIN IN THE HISPANIC VOTE IN FLORIDA OVER HIS 1992 SHOWING WAS CRITICAL TO THE PRESIDENT'S VICTORY IN FLORIDA.
THE LESSONS OF 1996 ARE CLEAR: TO POLITICIANS THE HISPANIC VOTE CAN MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VICTORY AND DEFEAT. AND TO HISPANICS, A HEAVY TURNOUT ON ELECTION DAY IS THE SUREST WAY TO EXERT THEIR INFLUENCE OVER ISSUES THAT AFFECT THEIR LIVES.
AND, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO ANY FURTHER THAN ROBERT GUEVARA'S VICTORY IN OSCEOLA COUNTY TO WITNESS THAT POLITICAL POWER.
THAT'S WHY I ENCOURAGE HISPANICS TO USE THEIR POLITICAL CLOUT AND TO GO BEYOND ELECTION DAY AND PARTICIPATE IN THE AFFAIRS OF YOUR COMMUNITIES FROM THE CHURCH TO THE LITTLE LEAGUES TO CITY HALL.
FINALLY, IT SHOULD SEEM ODD TO MOST AMERICANS THAT THE UNITED STATES REMAINS THE LAST COLONIAL POWER IN THE WORLD AFTER HAVING VANQUISHED THE EVIL EMPIRE OF THE SOVIET UNION.
ALONE AMONG NATIONS, THE UNITED STATES WHILE PREACHING DEMOCRACY ABROAD STILL HARBORS WITHIN ITS SOVEREIGNTY MILLIONS OF CITIZENS DENIED REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS AND THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF WHO HAS SENT THEM INTO BATTLE SINCE THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
THAT'S WHY MAINLAND HISPANICS SHOULD SUPPORT THE EFFORTS OF THE 3.7 MILLION US CITIZENS OF PUERTO RICO WHO, AFTER NEARLY 100 YEARS OF AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION AND 400 YEARS OF SPANISH RULE, WILL FINALLY GET THE CHANCE TO FREELY DETERMINE THEIR OWN POLITICAL FUTURE IN A PLEBISCITE TO BE HELD IN 1998 UNDER THE US-PUERTO RICO POLITICAL STATUS ACT, THE YOUNG BILL, SOON TO BE INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS BY A BROAD COALITION OF BIPARTISAN SPONSORS INCLUDING CONGRESSMAN MCCOLLUM.
LIKE THE 2.5 MILLION PUERTO RICANS WHO HAVE VOTED FOR STATEHOOD BY MOVING TO THE MAINLAND, THE 3.7 MILLION CHOOSING TO REMAIN IN PUERTO RICO WILL HAVE THE SAME CHANCE TO REALIZE THEIR FULL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WITHOUT LEAVING HOME.
THAT IS UNLESS THOSE SAME ENGLISH-ONLY PROPONENTS SKEW THE PLEBISCITE'S OUTCOME BY DEMANDING THAT THE STATEHOOD BALLOT UNCONSTITUTIONALLY REQUIRE PUERTO RICO TO ABANDON SPANISH AS ONE OF ITS OFFICIAL LANGUAGES IN FAVOR OF ENGLISH-ONLY. IN EFFECT DEMANDING FROM PUERTO RICANS THAT WHICH CAN'T BE EXTRACTED FROM OTHER AMERICANS, THAT THEY GIVE UP THEIR LANGUAGE TO BECOME FULL-FLEDGED AMERICANS!
HOWEVER, I BELIEVE LAWMAKERS WILL REALIZE THAT THEY WILL ALIENATE ALL HISPANICS THEREBY JEOPARDIZING THEIR ELECTORAL CHANCES IF THEY USE THIS TACTIC TO DENY PUERTO RICANS THE OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN THE UNION AS THE FIFTY-FIRST STATE.
GIVEN THE CHANCE TO CHOOSE STATEHOOD WITHOUT LOSING THEIR LANGUAGE PUERTO RICANS WILL, I BELIEVE, VOTE TO JOIN THE UNION. AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SET IN MOTION THE PROCESS LEADING TO STATEHOOD.
IT WILL BE A TIME OF CELEBRATION FOR ALL HISPANICS AND A TIME OF RE-DEDICATION TO THE IDEALS UPON WHICH THIS COUNTRY, OUR COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED.
AMERICA'S PROMISE TO THE WORLD WILL AT LAST HAVE BEEN FULLY REALIZED AS PUERTO RICANS FINALLY ATTAIN THEIR DESTINY WITHIN THE AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC ORBIT. THE UNITED STATES WILL STAND UNBLEMISHED AS THE PARAGON OF FREEDOM FOR ALL REGARDLESS OF RACE, CREED, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN OR LANGUAGE.
THANK YOU.
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