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Salvation Army in English Language Law Suit, Conservative Republicans Silent

By Daniel Gilbert

After top Republican Presidential Candidates spent weeks attempting to convince voters that they are the most conservative of the group, all have remained mum on a winning issue for Conservatives: the right of businesses and faith-based organizations to require employees to speak English while on the job.

My position is clear. English should be made the official language of the United States. English language should be a requirement for citizenship and a requirement in any job where two spoken languages would be a safety or customer service problem. The American people and the conservative leadership have become so worn down by the politically correct police that we cannot even stand in the gap for a Christian organization that does nothing but help others across the globe. What does that say about us and our leaders?

If the Bush administration's failure to protect our borders wasn't enough, now we have a loving and effective humanitarian organization who has to defend itself in a lawsuit that stems from these very same failed policies.

Not a single Top Republican Candidate has publicly weighed in on this issue or expressed support for the Salvation Army, which is currently being sued by the EEOC for requiring its employees to speak English. Yet, 77 percent of Americans agree that businesses have the right to demand their employees speak English while on the clock. Moreover, a summer 2006 Rasmussen poll stated that 85 percent of Americans (92 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats) believe English should be the official language of the United States.

The case revolves around two Salvation Army employees in Framingham, MA, who had the opportunity to learn English for five years, and were required to learn the language by the sixth year. The employees were fired and subsequently petitioned the EEOC to file suit against the Salvation Army for wrongful termination.

Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats, under pressure from the Hispanic Caucus, attempted to defeat (unsuccessfully) an amendment attached to an appropriations bill to protect prosecuting such an organization by voting against the motion 218 to 186. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-ND) led the charge in defense of the Salvation Army.

Immigration will undoubtedly be a deciding factor in 2008. According to a recent Rasmussen poll in NH, immigration ranked higher than national security, our economy and Iraq among voters, particularly among Republicans. If immigration is a major factor, why is all quiet on the Republican front regarding the Salvation Army?

GOP front-runners may lack the political courage to support a Christian organization which is historically one of the largest social care programs in the world; Democrat front runners are safely dancing around the immigration issue because their party is so fractured on this subject.

If any of the top candidates wanted to separate themselves from the moderate bunch and emerge as the true conservative, they would have demanded other candidates reveal their position on this issue, in the likes of the feeding frenzy with Senator Clinton and driver's licenses for illegals in New York.

All top GOP candidates have publicly provided to voters, thus far, was to not raise their hand when Wolf Blitzer asked if any of them disagreed with English as the official language in the U.S. Their tough talk on this issue was under-whelming.

Unfortunately, the top candidates have a weak history regarding immigration policies. Rudy Giuliani kept sanctuary cities in NYC, John McCain co-sponsored the Amnesty Bill and Mitt Romney is a notorious flip-flopper on abortion, amnesty and gay marriage so we really don't know where he stands, even if he takes a stand.

Perhaps the most telling example of the top candidates' true position on this issue will be the video clips from the all-Spanish debate at the University of Miami, December 9, where Republican candidates don headphones and use translators to explain why they should be elected as the next President of the United States of America.

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