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Alexander's Floor Remarks on the National Anthem Resolution May 5th, 2006 - Mr. President, I turn my attention to another subject, one I have discussed several times. As a courtesy, I want to let my friends on the other side know that I intend to ask unanimous consent, at the end of my remarks, that my resolution be discharged from the Judiciary Committee. I hope that will be approved, but if it is not approved, I want my friends on the other side to know they need to have a way to register their objection before I make that request. Today is May 5. In Mexico and in Mexican restaurants across this country, today is known as "Cinco de Mayo." That is because today is the day General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III. In the United States, we often think of this holiday as a good reason to go to a Mexican restaurant and enjoy a margarita, but for our southern neighbors it is a very important holiday. France invaded Mexico in 1862, 41 years after Mexico had won its independence from Spain. It took the Mexicans 5 years, but once they succeeded in driving out the French occupiers, their country was finally free, and it has remained free since that time. As they celebrate this important day in their nation's history, I have no doubt that many Mexicans will be singing their national anthem, and I suspect they will all sing it in Spanish, their nation's common language. I make this point because at the beginning of this week, on Monday, I introduced a resolution in the Senate to affirm that here in the United States of America, statements of national unity, especially the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, ought to be said or sung in our common language -- English. I am not talking about what we are free to do as Americans, I am talking about what we ought to do as Americans. Last Monday, I offered this resolution which now has 12 cosponsors, including the distinguished Presiding Officer, because I thought it was important for this body to remember what unites us as Americans. Ours is a nation not based upon race, not based upon ethnicity, not based upon national origin, but based upon our shared values, enshrined in our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, upon our history as a nation and, yes, upon our shared common language -- English. Every Senate office received a request for this resolution of mine to be passed by unanimous consent. That request was agreed to by every Senator on the Republican side. But the other side, the Democratic side, objected. I can only assume that at least some on the Democratic side objected because at least some of them believe that Americans should, at least some of the time, sing our national anthem in Spanish or some other foreign language. Perhaps they also believe we should recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Chinese - which is the second most spoken foreign language in the United States. Yesterday, I tried again. I tried to pass this very simple and straightforward resolution. Again I was blocked by objections from the Democratic side. I am surprised by this reaction because leading Hispanic Democrats have said they agree with me. On Monday, Wolf Blitzer of CNN asked Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa about singing the national anthem in Spanish. Here is what the Mayor of Los Angeles, a Hispanic and a Democrat, had to say in his conversation with Wolf Blitzer: “Wolf, let me just say to you, let me just make it absolutely clear, I was offended, I was offended because, for me, the national anthem is something that I believe deserves respect. And I think that...without question, that the vast majority of people in the United States of America were offended as well.” Continuing the quote from the Mayor of Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa: “...our anthem should be sung in English. The Spanish and Mexican anthems should be sung in Spanish, and the French anthem in French. So I was offended by it” Said the Mayor of Los Angeles -- and I think most people were. And remember very few people bought into that. It really was a non-issue, but I think it was important to dismiss it as quickly as possible. Apparently a few of the very few people in America who buy into that are on the other side of the aisle. They are objecting to this resolution that says, when we start the day with the Pledge of Allegiance, when we sing the national anthem, when we take the oath of allegiance, we ought to do it in our common language, English. It doesn't require it. It doesn't make it a law. It doesn't say we are not free to do whatever we want to. It just says we ought to. And as the mayor of Los Angeles said, he was offended by the suggestion that we should not do it, and he thought very few people bought into that, it is a non-issue; let’s dismiss it as quickly as possible. The way to dismiss it is to adopt this resolution sponsored by 12 Members of the Senate. I agree with Mayor Villaraigosa, we should dismiss this idea of singing the national anthem in foreign languages as quickly as possible, and that is what I tried to do by offering this resolution. Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, also a Democrat and a Hispanic, agrees. He appeared on the CBS "Early Show" with me on Monday morning. We were talking about the day without immigrants. After I explained my view on singing the national anthem in English and talked about this resolution, here is what Governor Richardson had to say: “Well, I agree. The national anthem should be in English. And I believe that, again, most immigrants want to become Americans. They want to learn English. They want to be part of the American mainstream. They wear NFL jerseys. They want to be American. “So I don't believe that view that immigrants want to learn the anthem in Spanish is accurate. I think that was a side show. But, definitely our anthem is English.” 

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