Washington, DC – The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., today blasted passage of an “English-only” amendment offered by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) which would deny a wide array of information and services to millions of U.S. citizens who are not fully English proficient.

“We were deeply disappointed that the Senate approved this mean-spirited, completely unnecessary amendment,” stated Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO. “Supporters of the Inhofe Amendment claim that it will help people learn English and will unite our nation. The fact is, more than 90% of Americans already speak English. This amendment is so poorly conceived that it would cause serious harm to millions of Americans while not helping a single person to learn English.”

The Inhofe Amendment could weaken the government’s ability to provide information and services to immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. The amendment could make it more difficult for agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to respond to a pandemic flu, another hurricane disaster like Katrina, or a terrorist attack. The amendment could make it more difficult for schools to provide language services to children under the No Child Left Behind Act. The amendment could also place patients and health care workers at risk due to unnecessary miscommunication.

“The Senate should be focusing on enacting legislation that solves our broken immigration system,” continued Murguía. “Instead, the Senate has approved an amendment that has nothing to do with immigration or with helping immigrants learn English.”

Murguía concluded, “The Inhofe Amendment jeopardizes the broad support this legislation has earned, especially in the Latino community. We call on the Senate to reconsider this ill-advised proposal and keep the immigration debate focused on responsible, effective immigration reform rather than on ill-advised policies that harm Americans.”

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