A group working to make English the country’s official language plans to return to Iowa to spread its message. Governor Tom Vilsack’s remarks last month in Boston at the Democratic National Convention — that he wants more democrats in the Iowa Legislature in order to repeal Iowa’s “English Only” law — are spurring the “U-S English” group to action. U-S English spokeswoman Rob Toonkel says her group will make sure the Governor knows more than 80 percent of Iowans supported the bill that made English the official language in Iowa. Toonkle says “U-S English” group will contact its members in Iowa and “remind” legislators who backed the bill when it passed of their promise. Toonkle says citizens the U-S aren’t related by color or religion or nationality, but by a common language. The “U-S English” group may run television and radio advertising in Iowa before the November election to spread that message, and pressure candidates to support “official English.” Governor Vilsack says he signed what he calls the “English Only” bill under pressure in order to ensure money for programs that helped immigrants learn English. During an interview in Boston, Vilsack told Radio Iowa another reason he signed the bill was to get the “hate groups” who’d “parked” in Iowa to support the bill out of the state.
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