Last week, we alerted you that the Georgia Assembly (House) would vote on our driver’s license bill, HB 72, which would have required driver’s license written exams to be administered in the national language of all U.S. roads and road signage—English.  The success of this bill would have broken the dangerous current practice of giving the exams in 13 foreign languages, however, HB 72 never even came to a final vote last Wednesday!

State Rep. BJ Pak (R-Lilburn-102^nd), a multiculturalist Republican who opposed the legislation all along, offered a bill-killing amendment which so badly weakened the overall effect and intent of HB 72 that the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee Chairman, Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica-68^th), motioned to table (to kill) the bill for the time being because he did not want to accept this watered-down version.

The Pak Amendment would have allowed the state of Georgia to continue administering driver’s written exams in all 13 foreign languages.  It essentially gutted the entire bill, but added a requirement that the English-language road sign test should include 5 additional signs that contain more than three English language words, such as “Use Caution, Hazardous Conditions Ahead.”

Thanks to the unfortunate naiveté and support of so many Freshman Republican representatives, the destructive Pak Amendment passed by a close vote of 88 to 78 (view vote tally).

ProEnglish is not giving up on passing HB 72 this year, but the state reps. who voted to gut the overall meaning and effect of this important driver’s license bill NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU!

TAKE ACTION!

Please check this complete tally of the Pak Amendment vote.  If your state rep. voted YES, phone them TODAY and tell them that they voted against the will of their constituents!

Remember, official English is one of the most highly and popularly supported issues in America today.  Americans overwhelmingly, most recently by a margin of 83% nationally, want English to be the official language and they support passing legislation that helps to enforce longstanding official English laws, such as the 15-year-old official English law in Georgia.

Today, we ask you to do TWO things:

1. Call your Rep. NOW to express your displeasure at his “YES” vote on the bill-killing Pak Amendment!

2. Tell Rep. Pak what you think of his HB 72-killing amendment!

Call him:

Georgia Capitol Building        (404) 656-0254

Lilburn office                         (678) 218-4100

Email him:

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This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Write to him:

601 Coverdell Legislative Office Building

Atlanta, GA 30334

Fax him:

(678) 218-4104

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