The Georgia House will bring HB 72 to the floor TODAY for an up-or-down vote, and we need all the calls of support possible!  The opposition forces are trying to derail this important bill,  so YOUR phone calls will be critical leading up to the vote today!

HB 72 will:

• Require that driver's license examinations are given in no languages other than English.
• Require that all permanent residents take their written driver's license tests in English.
• Apply only to those here on temporary visas for a combined period of 10 years in Georgia.
• Honor driver's licenses of international business executives, tourists, and foreign students.

Even though English has been the official language of Georgia since 1996, the Georgia DMV still allows driver's license written exams to be taken in 13 languages other than English—including Arabic, Bosnian, Cambodian, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese—despite the fact that all road signs are written exclusively in English.

TAKE ACTION!

Limiting driver's license tests to the English language is simply in keeping not only with the longstanding official English law of Georgia, but also with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, which requires drivers engaged in interstate commerce to "read or speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries and to make entries on reports and records."

What is required of truck drivers to protect public safety in interstate commerce should be required to protect the safety of all Georgia drivers.

HB 72 is common-sense legislation that will simply close the loophole between the longstanding official English law of Georgia, as well as protect the safety of everyone using Georgia's roads. The people of Georgia need HB 72 because it would end confusing and dangerous un-official multilingualism and reaffirm the melting pot tradition that has served this state and this nation so well.

TAKE ACTION!

Please CALL your state representative NOW!

Tell your Rep. that you support HB 72 and that you want them to vote YES TODAY!

More resources:

ProEnglish Backgrounder: Why Drivers Must Know English

Dr. Manny Alvarez: English-only bills are not unfair to immigrants

ProEnglish is a self-governing project of U.S., Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and the nation's leading advocate of official English. We work through the courts and in the court of public opinion to defend English's historic role as America's common, unifying language, and to persuade lawmakers to adopt English as the official language at all levels of government. You can make a tax-deductible donation here.

Donate to ProEnglish!