Letters to the Editor: English as U.S.'s official language would save $$

How is it that some of us forget so quickly? The House voted to pass a law in 1996 that would have made English the official language of our great country! Had the Senate voted to pass the law, it would have saved billions of dollars, and it would have eliminated numerous problems. This would have been especially true with immigration.

Sixty-two senators voted yes, but it needed a 2/3 majority to pass. Both Washington Senators were against passing it. Patty Murray and Hillary Clinton were against passage. Neither party has mentioned this in the debate.

Having English as our official language would have eliminated printing ballots in multiple languages and cut down on voter fraud. Fluent English could have been used as a requirement to stay in the United States. Our schools would have been able to concentrate on students who speak and write using English.

We could have taken Teddy Roosevelt's advice and said that to be an American you had to be fluent in English.

Thirty-five countries have English as their official language, and 32 states have English as their official language. Washington is not one of them.