OFFICIAL ENGLISH AGAIN CONSIDERED BY THE LEGISLATURE

Legislation to make English the official language of Missouri government is again making the rounds in the General Assembly.

Bills introduced in both houses of the Legislature would mandate the use of English-only in all state documents.

"I think we need to specify that this legislation is about state government," said Rep. Bonnie Sue Cooper, the bill's sponsor in the House of Representatives. "It is not about business. It is not about religion. It is not about what language someone chooses to speak at home."

The bill's Senate sponsor, Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said that while America is a multi-ethnic society it is unified by a shared American culture and a shared language. Granting English official status would reinforce that, he said.

"It is a way to combat the poison of multi-culturalism pushing so many institutions of higher learning," said Kinder.

Both legislators pushed official English legislation in 1995 but with little success. Cooper's version, filed her version late in the session, never made it out of committee. Kinder's bill survived committee but died on the Senate calendar.

Cooper said her bill is primarily about sound fiscal policy. Some state documents are currently printed in as many as 11 different languages. Cutting that down to one would eliminate wasteful spending for printing costs, she said.

"It is just good common sense. It is expensive for the taxpayers of Missouri. To publish driver's license exams and ballots in all the different languages can be astronomical," she said.

The U.S. Census Bureau currently recognizes 327 languages. If challenged, Cooper said the state could be forced to print documents in more than the current 11 it recognizes.

"We could be held responsible for printing all documents in 327 languages," Cooper said. "So far we have not had to do that."

Although Cooper could not cite how much the state spends on printing in foreign languages, she pointed out that the figure would drop to nothing under her bill.

Missouri ranks eighth in the nation in the number of different languages in which it prints documents.

Both legislators agree that knowing English is an important part of achieving success in this country.

"We must encourage citizens to learn the language of the country and we are not doing that," Cooper said. "If we ask them to be productive citizens they must be encouraged to be able to communicate."

Nationally, over 85 percent of Americans polled voiced support of official English, Kinder said. In Congress, Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, has been a leading proponent of such a measure.

In another language-related bill, Kinder has proposed an English fluency requirement for faculty, particularly graduate assistants, at institutions of higher education.

"I made a run at this last year and I've got to say it astonished me, the support of the student lobby from Associated Students of the University of Missouri," Kinder said.

The students, he said, complained that many graduate assistants from foreign countries who teach lower level classes cannot be easily understood.

"That led to the conclusion that it is a serious problem. It may not be a problem at every university, but the rank and file tell me it is a big problem at the University of Missouri," Kinder said.

The bill would allow individual schools to decide evaluation procedures for instructors.

"When students pay thousands of dollars to go to school, they should be guaranteed their teachers can speak intelligible English," said Kinder.