ELPAC Report January 2003

The ELPAC Report January 2003

107th Congress Ends With a Whimper

The 107th Congress of the United States ended in November, 2002, with a decidedly- mixed record of accomplishments on language-related issues. On the one hand, Congress finally took the first, faltering steps toward ending bilingual education; on the other hand, Congress refused to take the lead in blocking official government multilingualism.

Perhaps one of the most important Congressional accomplishments is what DIDN'T happen in this Congress. For almost the entire decade of the 1990's, it was conventional wisdom that Puerto Rico would become the 51st State, without recognizing English as the official language of the U.S. The admission of an officially-non-English-speaking State was virtually guaranteed by a multi-million-dollar lobbying campaign that reached far into the White House and into the highest echelons of both political parties.

Yet a determined grass-roots effort by English-language organizations, led by the late Cong. Gerald Solomon, blocked Puerto Rican statehood. It was close: a pivotal bill passed with only a one-vote margin, taking the wind out of the statehood movement's sails. And the biggest news of the 107th Congress is that Puerto Rican statehood did not return to life, even though Cong. Solomon's departure left the anti-statehood forces without their leader.

In another positive development, the 107th Congress freed most government education funding for use by English-language programs. Earlier restrictions had strangled most immersion programs as virtually all funds were reserved for "native language instruction," in which children learned no English. Now the restrictions are lifted, and the "No Child Left Behind" legislation now requires, for example, that teachers be fluent in English.

Unfortunately, the 107th Congress also defeated the Istook Amendment to block implementation of a Clinton-era rule which requires all government contractors (which include state and local governments) to provide free translators in any language on demand. The vote on the Istook Amendment was 156 to 262; many Republican voted against the amendment because the Bush Administration asked for more time to consider and revise the Clinton-era rules. And Congress failed to pass any of the legislation to protect English or to declare English the official language of the federal government.