Rick Santorum, interviewed by Maricarmen Rivera Sánchez (?) of El Vocero, 3/14/2012.
Transcribed by Mark Liberman 3/16/2012.
| Interviewer: | ... conducted in Spanish. Now what would that mean in- in terms of- of being a state? |
| Santorum: | Well as I've- have said repeatedly that
uh is a condition for admission uh that people would- would and could speak both languages but they'd have to speak English uh that would be a requirement it's a requirement that we put on other states uh as a condition for entering the union and if you're going to participate in uh as a state in uh in the United States then you need to participate in the language of the people ((speak)) in uh in the states uh and and that's not- if you don't respect as we do people who have different cultures as uh as I've mentioned many times you know ((we)) came uh my father came to this country he was bilingual uh my grandmother actually never spoke English ((and)) never became an American citizen um but you know if- if- if the people from Puerto Rico want to commit to becoming a member of- uh a state in the United States then they have to fully commit to- to being a state, which is uh to be ((a)) fully integrated to society the- the motto on uh uh the saying on the uh on the seal says "e pluribus unum" |
| Interviewer: | Mm. |
| Santorum: | which is "out of many one" and- and you can't be one if we can't communicate with each other directly. |
| Interviewer: | I mean that like on a daily basis we would have to speak English? |
| Santorum: | Well you have to have the- you have to be you have to be a state- you have to be a people that is fluent as- in English whether- whether business is conducted in English or- or family life is in Spanish or English is obviously a decision that the people can individually make uh I think there's a great advantage of having as we see in uh in South Florida, there's a great advantage, Miami has become a huge capital of commerce because of the ability for people to speak uh both English and Spanish, but they do speak both English and Spanish uh and that's- it's vitally important that uh the people of the island are given the gift of English it is the language of success in- in the United States uh it is the language of commerce in the largest economy in the world and we are not doing anybody in this island a favor by not following the law which is that this is a uh society that speak- that will speak English in addition to speaking Spanish and uh so I- I understand people see this as a barrier, I see this as an opportunity uh to improve the economic life of the people on the island and to improve their uh their educational capabilities and their ability to be able to uh provide for themselves ((and their families)) |
| Interviewer: | Do you believe a fully bilingual state can be part of the union? |
| Santorum: | Uh well I mean in a sense Hawaii is that I mean uh you know Hawaii came in and my uh my daughter's out there right now and she is communicating to me in Hawaiian now she's learning of the language uh you know the language of- native language of Hawaii. |
| Interviewer: | Right. |
| Santorum: | uh and obviously Hawaii is a very small unique culture uh which uh we fully accept it as uh as part of this country and- and- |
| Interviewer: | What would be the difference in terms of- where do you draw the line in terms of language? in terms of how- how much English do you need to speak in terms of being part of the union? |
| Santorum: | I- as I said before I mean I think what we would- what we would say is that there needs to be uh proficiency in English, not just a knowledge of English but proficiency, that's- that's ((how people)) again we want it's- it's very important that- that we have common ties you see what- you see- you see what's happen- what happened in Quebec in Canada |
| Interviewer: | Mm hm. |
| Santorum: | and I think what you probably find- I suspect that the vast majority of parents want their children to learn English and be proficient in English because it's an opportunity for them to be much- you know have much more economic opportunities as well as you know to uh uh as- as any parent as- as you know me we always encourage our children to uh to pick up and know a second language it- or a third or a fourth I think this is- you know it's a- we're- we're a very mobile world and- and the more languages you speak, the better opportunities you have for economic success So I don't see this as a threat to the culture of- of- uh of the island, I see this as a as- as a necessary and important uh important step to affirm your commitment to fully integrate in to American uh American society as a state and a tremendous opportunity for people here on the island, who in my opinion have been denied uh a lot of economic opportunities because the government has uh has not emphasized the importance of English that is [in] my understanding required under the law in the first place. |