Ernest Istook Quotes

Should people working in our country speak English? Yes, they should.

English should be our official language. Reading and speaking English are requirements to become a citizen.

One of the biggest problems is - you know, I've got some Hispanic friends - is that a lot of those folks that don't know English, is primarily because they don't even know Spanish. They don't even know their own language.

If you are going to vote in this country, you should be a citizen. To be a citizen in this country, you should know English.

You can't be an American if you don't speak English. Our public schools should be mandated to teach all children in English.

Our common language is English. And our common task is to ensure that our non-English-speaking children learn this common language.

Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.

Although an increasing proportion of the Hispanic population is foreign-born - about half of adults in this group - English proficiency is and should remain a requirement for citizenship.

Language has historically stood as a barrier for some voters seeking to participate in the electoral process.

I want to live in a Britain whose residents are determined to speak English.

For 180 years, we voted in English. That is the true American tradition, and this amendment is true to our heritage, not what has existed unnaturally for the last 20 years.

I don't think the elite class is only speaking the good English.

I am not anti-English, and I never was.

Speaking Spanish isn't a benefit in Hollywood.

When I was a girl, there wasn't anything in Spanish in the movies until you saw it on DVD.

Move beyond the educated elite, and the great majority in most countries outside Europe don't speak English.

There are so many people in the world who cannot read English or French or whatever.

In grade school I was taught that the United States is a melting pot. People from all over the world come here for freedom and to pursue a better life. They arrive with next to nothing, work incredibly hard, learn a new language and new customs, and in a generation they become an integral part of our amazing nation.

I have 5 children of my own. They are bilingual, like most second and third generations. But they speak primarily in English and they couldn't find anything on television that represented who they are in this country.

Insist on one language. English for all Americans.

If a child cannot speak English the first day at school, that child is not ready to learn.

I didn't move to Miami to live in a Spanish-speaking province.

Bilingualism is not an imposition on the citizens - it is an imposition on the state.

IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture…. We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society. Learn the language! …. If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.

Miami is America’s most diverse city… We have 140 languages we speak..