This bill will only add gas to the fire when it comes to racial and ethnic discrimination. As a retired service member, when I was deployed or stationed overseas in a different country, I had to learn their language because they were not required to speak American. With respect to immigrants, this is America and people entering the U.S. should be required to speak American. Why change things that is not considered a serious problem at this time. It’s the economy, jobs, and energy-gas prices that should take priority.

Opposing English-only measures is a bad idea. Allow people the freedom to reject languages other than the only one they speak or prefer.

As an educator, I know that the benefits of children learning a second (or more) language are almost incalculable: they learn better, more quickly, and retain information longer than children whose minds are not challenged in the same way that learning another language provides. I believe this should be the focus of the bill.

I, personally, oppose English-only measures as well. America has always been a conglomeration of nationalities, and it’s high time we honor that by accepting the fact that people are always going to speak different languages. Besides, it doesn’t hurt anyone when the instructions for your new TV come in a couple of different languages. Many countries have multiple “official” languages—why can’t we move forward as well?

I think that America needs to stay true to it’s roots as an English speaking country. We are accepting of other cultures, but we need to maintain the base from which we were established. Maintaining English as our national language helps us do our business, teach our children, and communicate. Every country has a national language. Does anyone go to France and demand that they don’t claim french as the language of France or Italian in Italy, or German in Germany? It’s the language our country was founded on and it should never change. It’s who we are and we need spend more time immersing people in it rather than enabling them to get by without it.