Tomorrow, the TN Senate Transportation Committee will hear testimony regarding SB 10, a bill to require that driver's license written examinations are given in no languages other than English.

Following the testimony today, a committee vote will occur. If passed, the legislation will then be referred to the Senate Finance committee before reaching the Senate floor.

ProEnglish's own advisory board member, Eddie Garcia, will be testifying before the Senate committee in favor of SB 10 and urging all Senators to support it on the Senate floor.

WATCH Eddie testify before the committee LIVE at 1:00PM tomorrow!

TAKE ACTION!

Those opposed to SB 10 are working hard to defeat this bill with their decades-long misinformation campaign.

A common tactic used by the opposition to intimidate and threaten the voting legislators is to claim that limiting driver's license exams to only one language, English, violates existing federal law and therefore jeopardizes all federal funds received by the Tennessee Department of Safety. This claim, which is routinely made by multiculturalists and opponents of official English laws in every state or locality where such laws are proposed, is FALSE.

When Congress debated and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, language (or the impact of English fluency) was never discussed or included in the meaning of "national origin" discrimination, and rightfully so.  The law simply states: "Sec. 601. No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

It is self-evident that a person can choose to learn a new language, but they can never change their national origin, and as we all know, a person's inability to speak English does not always mean that person was not born in the United States. The courts have regularly upheld that national origin and language are not the same and cannot be treated as if they are. Except for narrow requirements in education and a single exception in the Supreme Court case Sandoval v. Hagan (1999), the courts have rejected repeated attempts to equate the failure to provide services in languages other than English with national origin discrimination.

TAKE ACTION!

Keep up the calls to your state senator so he knows to support

SB 10 and to vote YES when the bill goes to the Senate floor!

All TN legislators may be reached at 1-800-449-8366

Members of the Senate Transportation Committee:

Jim Tracy, Chair 615-741-1066

Steve Southerland, Vice-Chair 615-741-3851

Ken Yager, Secretary 615-741-1449

Tim Barnes 615-741-2374

Mae Beavers 615-741-2421

Andy Berke 615-741-6682

Dolores Gresham 615-741-2368

Douglas Henry 615-741-3291

Bill Ketron 615-741-6853

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

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