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WHO
WE ARE
ProEnglish is a member-supported, national, non-profit organization working
to educate the public about the need to protect English as our common language
and to make it the official language of the United States.
Founded in 1994 under the name English Language Advocates, ProEnglish's
first project was defending an official English initiative passed by the
voters of Arizona, after the State of Arizona refused to appeal a decision
overturning the initiative in federal court.
Since its creation, ProEnglish has gained expertise and considerable experience
in the rapidly evolving field of language law. As a result, in addition
to doing research and conducting a wide variety of public education activities
to advance the goals listed below, ProEnglish has specialized in providing
pro-bono legal assistance to public and private agencies facing litigation
or regulatory actions over language.
| THE PROENGLISH BOARD OF
DIRECTORS includes:
|
| Bob
Park, chair |
former
immigration official; founder, Arizonans for Official English |
| Gerda Bikales |
(emeritus) naturalized US citizen; author; founding director |
| Clifford
Colwell, MD |
orthopedic
surgeon; philanthropist; community activist |
| Phil Kent |
former
newspaper editor; author; PR consultant |
|
K.C. McAlpin |
Former Executive Director, ProEnglish |
| Rosalie
Porter, EdD |
naturalized
US citizen; author; education consultant |
| Leo
Sorenson |
naturalized
US citizen; businessman; co-founder, E Pluribus Unum |
| John
Tanton, MD |
eye
surgeon; conservationist; publisher; co-founder, US English |
THE PROENGLISH STAFF includes:
THE PROENGLISH BOARD OF ADVISORS includes:
|
| Phil
Kent, chair |
former
newspaper editor; author; PR consultant |
| Gwat
Battacharjie |
naturalized
US citizen; Republican Women's leader |
Gerda
Bikales
|
naturalized US citizen; author; founding director |
| Daniel
Benvenuti |
former
president of People's Advocate; builder; citizen activist |
| Glynn Custred, PhD |
anthropology professor; co-author of Calif.
Civil Rights Initiative |
| Dinesh
Desai |
naturalized
US citizen; businessman; philanthropist |
| Eddie V. Garcia |
naturalized US citizen, singer / entertainer, PR consultant |
| Robert
Hannay |
real
estate developer; philanthropist |
| Lawrence E. Harrison |
author, academic, international development expert |
| Lupe
Moreno |
Republican
Women's leader; community activist |
| Dan C. Pak |
naturalized US citizen, author, retired businessman |
| Col. Albert F. Rodriguez, USA
(ret.) |
decorated WWII & Vietnam
army combat veteran; community leader and volunteer |
| Nicolas Sanchez, PhD |
naturalized US citizen; professor
of economics; writer |
| Claudia Spencer |
naturalized US citizen; business
founder; community activist |
| Alan J. Teague, PhD |
WWII & Korean War USAF veteran, college professor |
| John
Templeton, Jr, MD |
physician;
foundation president; philanthropist |
| Jess
Valdez |
veteran
official English citizen activist |
| Hon.
Robert Vasquez |
former county commissioner (ID), Vietnam War veteran |
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AGENDA FOR ACTION:
- Adopting laws
or constitutional amendments declaring English the official language
of the United States, and of individual states.
- Defending the
right of individual states to make English the official language of
government operations
- Ending bilingual
education (e.g. foreign language immersion) programs in public schools
- Repealing federal
mandates for the translation of government documents and voting ballots
into languages other than English.
- Opposing the
admission of territories as states unless they have adopted English
as their official language.
OUR GUIDING
PRINCIPLES
- In a pluralistic
nation such as ours, the function of government should be to foster
and support the similarities that unite us, rather than institutionalize
the differences that divide us.
- Our nation's
public schools have the clear responsibility to help students who
don't know English to learn that language as quickly as possible.
To do otherwise is to sentence the child to a lifetime of political
and economic isolation. Quality teaching of English and America's
civic culture should be a part of every student's curriculum. The
study of foreign languages, as an academic discipline, should be strongly
encouraged.
- All candidates
for U.S. citizenship should be required to demonstrate knowledge of
English and an understanding of our system of government, at a level
sufficient to vote in the language of our country English.
- Naturalization
ceremonies, including the Oath of Citizenship, must be conducted in
English.
- The right to
use other languages must be respected.
HOW TO CONTACT
US
By Mail: 1601 North Kent Street, Suite 1100
Arlington,
VA 22209
By Fax: (571) 527-2813
By Phone: (703) 816-8821
ProEnglish (a project of US Inc.) holds the highest four star rating
for fiscal management from Charity Navigator, America's largest
independent evaluator of non-profit organizations.
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