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Floor Statements

Floor Statement on the En Bloc Amendment to H.R. 1815, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006

Mr. Chairman, the en bloc amendment calls among other things for special immigrant status for Iraqi or Afghani nationals who have served as translators with the United States Armed Forces. This amendment is a direct response to the critical need for translators and linguists in our military. This interpreter shortage is well documented. The 9/11 Commission report stated that the government ``lacked sufficient translators proficient in Arabic and other key languages, resulting in a significant backlog of untranslated intercepts.'' The 2002 GAO study and the September 2004 Justice Department IG report made the same findings. The shortage of Arabic translators in Iraq and Afghanistan has made it harder for U.S. soldiers to protect themselves and has jeopardized interrogations of suspected al Qaeda terrorists in U.S. custody. I commend the author of this legislation for his willingness to open the immigration doors to Arabic and Farsi linguists serving as translators with the United States Armed Forces. Yet, the answer to this dire need is not to give U.S. citizenship to Iraqis and Afghanis, but rather to stop discriminating against American citizens who are ready to loyally serve their country as Arabic translators.
It is no coincidence that this bill would create 50 spots for Iraqi and Afghani nationals, almost the exact number of translators who have been discharged under the military's ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' law in effect since 1994. Fifty-four Arabic and nine Persian/Iranian, including Farsi, translators have been discharged under this policy.
Because of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'' the military continues to devote its resources to rooting out patriotic gay Americans whose service is central to the war on terrorism. This is another example of how ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' is not in the best interest of our national security. Mr. Chairman, this Congress says, ``Don't ask, Don't tell, Don't translate.'' I urge my colleagues to recognize the fundamental rights of American citizens and the fundamental absurdity of denying the right to serve to citizens who have vitally needed skills that we all know we need. I urge this Congress to repeal the obnoxious and incredibly self-defeating policy of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.''
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