ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS COMMON BOND

The nation has managed for more than two centuries without having an officially designated language. For most of that time, English has been the lingua franca of a country whose people came from varied backgrounds.

The millions of immigrants who made their way to our shores sought, for the most part, to become Americans in every way. For them, speaking English and making sure their children spoke English was a high priority. It was the language of the land of opportunity even without an act of Congress.

In spite of the acceptance of English as the language of choice in America, cultural distinctions never disappeared. Rich, old-world traditions still flourish. An example was the Greek festival in St. Louis this past weekend. Other ethnic groups have continued to hold fast to their cultural identity while participating fully in this country's prosperity in an English-speaking environment that was seldom, if ever, questioned.

America's melting pot, though, seems to be cooling. The new wave of immigrants places a much lower priority on speaking English as a way of participating in the American way of life. These newcomers have been aided and abetted by a liberal government that has spent billions of tax dollars to provide public education in the language of the students instead of expecting students to become fluent in English. Ballots in some parts of the country are required to be printed in a variety of languages. Government workers who dispense welfare and medical assistance are required to speak something other than English to do their jobs.

And politically minded bureaucrats know the voting potential of a tightly knit cultural bloc whose native language -- so the contention goes -- turns otherwise rational and intelligent people into a like-minded electoral engine. It has been, up to now, in the best interests of liberal political aims to keep reins on that voting potential by emphasizing diversity rather than such common bonds as national purpose and the speaking of English.

All of this has given rise to an effort in Congress to make English the official language. The purpose is to maintain the two-century-old tradition of American opportunity that can be best expressed in a language that is common to everyone, regardless of background or place of origin.

There is nothing in this legislative effort to make English the official language that need detract from the cultural richness of the American people. Expecting students in public school to speak English or voters at the polling place to comprehend a ballot in English are simple matters. But the underlying idea -- that a diverse people collected under the democratic principles of the U.S. government should foster separateness and differences so basic as the spoken and written language of the nation -- should be foreign enough to warrant speedy action in Congress to do in an official act what has been assumed for so long.

Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, is the lead sponsor of the Language of Government Act that so far has 180 co-sponsors in the U.S. House. A subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on the legislation in October. This is a bill that deserves the support of a nation whose most common bond is the ability to communicate in language understood by all.