Santorum tells Puerto Ricans to speak English if they want to be a state.
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  Santorum tells Puerto Ricans to speak English if they want to be a state.
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Author Topic: Santorum tells Puerto Ricans to speak English if they want to be a state.  (Read 8090 times)
retromike22
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« on: March 14, 2012, 04:40:14 PM »

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-usa-campaign-puertorico-idUSBRE82D16Z20120314

"Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told Puerto Ricans on Wednesday they would have to make English their primary language if they want to pursue U.S. statehood, a statement at odds with the U.S. Constitution.

Santorum traveled to the U.S. territory to campaign ahead of the island's Republican primary election scheduled for Sunday, where he, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are vying for 20 delegates.

Puerto Ricans, who recognize both English and Spanish as their official languages, are scheduled to vote in November on a referendum to decide whether they want to pursue statehood or remain a self-governing U.S. commonwealth.

In an interview with El Vocero newspaper, Santorum said he supported Puerto Ricans' right to self-determination regarding the island's political status.

"We need to work together and determine what type of relationship we want to develop," he told the newspaper.

But Santorum said he did not support a state in which English was not the primary language.

"Like any other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law," Santorum said. "And that is that English has to be the principal language. There are other states with more than one language such as Hawaii but to be a state of the United States, English has to be the principal language."

However, the U.S. Constitution does not designate an official language, nor is there a requirement that a territory adopt English as its primary language in order to become a state.

Congress would have to give approval if Puerto Rico is to become the 51st state. Although Congress has considered numerous proposals to make English the official U.S. language, none has ever passed.

However, some states have passed their own laws declaring English the official language, including heavily Hispanic Florida.

Puerto Rico has about 4 million people and its population can vote in partisan primaries but not presidential elections. Puerto Ricans on the mainland have the same voting rights as other U.S. citizens.

Santorum's statement may fall flat with Puerto Rican Republicans, who have always argued that issues of language and culture should be controlled by state governments and not the federal government.

It also could alienate the 4.2 million Puerto Ricans who live on the U.S. mainland, including nearly 1 million in presidential swing-state Florida.

Romney and Gingrich have both said Puerto Ricans must decide their future for themselves. Romney has said that if they choose to pursue statehood, he would help them achieve it.

Romney, who is scheduled to travel to Puerto Rico on Friday and stay through the weekend, won the endorsement of Governor Luis Fortuno, who is also the head of Puerto Rico's pro-statehood New Progressive Party.

Santorum was to meet with Fortuno on Wednesday before a town hall meeting with residents.

He said he and Fortuno are friends because they went to the same church in Washington when Fortuno served as Puerto Rico's non-voting representative in the U.S. Congress from 2004-2008.

Santorum also said that he does not support "at this time" allowing residents in territories like Puerto Rico to vote for president, although he said he was open to analyzing alternatives, such as allowing their votes to count in the popular vote but not in the Electoral College.

Gingrich will send his daughter, Kathy Gingrich Lubbers, to campaign on his behalf in Puerto Rico on Thursday and Friday. She is fluent in Spanish and was expected to hold a town-hall style meeting."
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Atlas Has Shrugged
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« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2012, 04:43:04 PM »

For once I agree with him. I think we should let Puerto Rico go independent, whether they like it or not.
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Just Passion Through
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« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2012, 04:43:19 PM »

What does this remind me of? Roll Eyes
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ajb
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« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2012, 04:46:33 PM »

I guess that rules out the possibility of an upset in PR. And surely a party that believes so strongly in keeping the federal government from micromanaging what the states do shouldn't care what languages get used in any particular state, right?
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J. J.
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« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2012, 04:50:04 PM »

Maybe Santorum well come out against statehood for Louisiana as well.  Smiley
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2012, 04:50:45 PM »

I'm actually in disagreement with him here.

There is nothing in the constitution requiring the official language of the United States being English. If he wants this to be de-jure, it needs to be brought forth in the United States.

That being said:

English is the de-facto language of the United States - anyone who wants to change this needs to go somewhere else. Everyone who wants to be an American citizen needs to show english proficiency.
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Likely Voter
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« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2012, 04:53:33 PM »

It could have been worse....he could have said that they all need to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
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« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2012, 05:03:07 PM »

You really want to support him ironically, you really try hard to like him; but this guy is such a reactionary moron. Jesus.
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ajb
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« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2012, 05:05:46 PM »

It's another sign of Santorum's troubling tendency to say what he actually thinks. Would it have killed him not to express an opinion on what the official language of Puerto Rico should be?
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Brittain33
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« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2012, 05:13:42 PM »

English is the de-facto language of the United States - anyone who wants to change this needs to go somewhere else. Everyone who wants to be an American citizen needs to show english proficiency.

Does this include Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens?

Where should they move to?
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Likely Voter
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« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2012, 05:22:39 PM »

actually I just realized that this is a brilliant jedi kind of strategy. Let's face it, Rick never stood a chance to win PR. And their rules make it hard for him to even get delegates. So he is going to PR to insult Puerto Ricans and hopes that boosts his vote back home with the base.

We should expect Rick to go to more safe Romney contests and insult the locals on his "In your face 2012" tour. Next up, Washington DC. where he will tell them they can become a state when they stop smoking so much crack. He will then head over to California to tell us to "stop putting so much gay stuff on TV"...Then it is off to New York where he will point out how much the Yankees suck.
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redcommander
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« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2012, 05:23:46 PM »

Isn't English already the official language there along with Spanish?
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #12 on: March 14, 2012, 05:53:21 PM »

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Yes, that includes the people of Puerto Rico. Same for any and all American citizens.

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If they want to speak spanish and not English? There are plenty of spanish speaking countries where Spanish is an official language.
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2012, 05:55:31 PM »

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I believe the Puerto Rican government uses both unofficially. Officially they are a US territory, which means de-facto requirement to use English.
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Brittain33
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« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2012, 05:55:51 PM »

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Yes, that includes the people of Puerto Rico. Same for any and all American citizens.

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If they want to speak spanish and not English? There are plenty of spanish speaking countries where Spanish is an official language.

Are you a troll? Puerto Rico is a country of several million people that the U.S. conquered from Spain and virtually all of its residents are native Spanish speakers.
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2012, 05:57:48 PM »

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Says the Canadian. Did you look that up in wikipedia?

You do know that Puerto Rico is overwhelmingly English speaking, right?
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useful idiot
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« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2012, 06:00:21 PM »

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Says the Canadian. Did you look that up in wikipedia?

You do know that Puerto Rico is overwhelmingly English speaking, right?

No it's not, dude...
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Kalwejt
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« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2012, 06:04:45 PM »


Here's my wild guess
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Хahar 🤔
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« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2012, 06:05:30 PM »

You do know that Puerto Rico is overwhelmingly English speaking, right?

Nah; I've heard Jonathan Sanchez try to speak English.
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2012, 06:08:21 PM »

I'm seeing about 48 percent that speak English fluently as of 2005, and more that are familiar with English on top of that.

Yes, most speak Spanish as a first language, but English as a second is also very common in Puerto Rico. 
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ajb
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« Reply #20 on: March 14, 2012, 06:14:53 PM »

I'm seeing about 48 percent that speak English fluently as of 2005, and more that are familiar with English on top of that.

Yes, most speak Spanish as a first language, but English as a second is also very common in Puerto Rico. 

You might want to run that one by the Census Bureau. They report (American Community Survey 2010) that 4.1% of Puerto Rico speaks English as their first language, and that 80.8% speak it "less than very well."


http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP02PR&prodType=table
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #21 on: March 14, 2012, 06:16:30 PM »

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And how is that different from my statement that Puerto Rico is overwhelmingly English speaking?
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Likely Voter
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« Reply #22 on: March 14, 2012, 06:17:15 PM »

how about the fact that 96% speak Spanish at home?
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Ben Kenobi
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« Reply #23 on: March 14, 2012, 06:18:31 PM »

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Did I say that it was overwhelmingly native English speaking?

No, I simply said that it was overwhelmingly English speaking, which the survey shows to be the case.
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ajb
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« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2012, 06:18:53 PM »

how about the fact that 96% speak Spanish at home?
And that 80.8% of the population speak English either not at all, or not very well?
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