Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) delivered his opening statement in Spanish at a hearing on Thursday about an English-only bill proposed by House Republicans.
Republicans at the panel said Conyers’ speech actually supported their point.
“I would ask the gentleman in the interest of fairness here… would you repeat that in Yiddish and Vietnamese and French, please,” Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said after Conyers’ speech. “Nothing would make the point better than if we conducted all of our debates in different languages and I suppose that makes the case for this bill better than anything else.”
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) also said Conyer’s Spanish speech showed the needs for his bill.
“I was gonna start out with a Tower of Babel discussion, but I think I’ll pass on that. Mr. Conyers has perhaps made my point for me,” King said.
Late update: Jordan Fabian of Univision has a helpful translation of part of Conyer’s remarks:
Today, immigrants from Asia or Latin America are the targets of demonization and discrimination. One day, our nation will again look back on this period with shame and regret.
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