Washington

U.S. anthem en español draws disdain from Bush

WASHINGTON — President Bush is prone to slip in a little Spanish and has a younger brother — Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — who is fluent. But when it comes to the national anthem, the president said Friday, he is a purist. “I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English,” Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. “And I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.” Bush’s comments came in response to a question about whether he believed the national anthem would “hold the same value” if sung in Spanish. “No, I don’t,” replied Bush, who is the first president to have given a Saturday radio address in Spanish. The question arose as “Nuestro Himno” (Our Anthem), a Spanish-language version of The Star-Spangled Banner, made its debut Friday on Spanish-language radio stations. The song has been described as a “We Are the World” for Hispanics because of its variety of musicians and recording locations. Recorded in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, Mexico City and Madrid, it features the voices of Olga Tanon, Aventura, Andy Andy, Ivy Queen, Reik, Wyclef Jean (who sings in Spanish) and many others. In the first verse of the Spanish anthem, it says, translated in English, “Oh say!/The voice of your starry beauty/is still unfolding/Over the land of the free/The sacred flag?” In The Star-Spangled Banner, it says, “Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave/O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Adam Kidron, head of Urban Box Office, a reggaeton and urban Latino label in New York, who created the song after watching TV reports about the inflamed immigration debate in Congress, said his version was not intended to discourage immigrants from learning English or embracing American culture, according to the Associated Press. “We instead view `Nuestro Himno’ as a song that affords those immigrants that have not yet learned the English language the opportunity to fully understand the character of The Star-Spangled Banner, the American flag and the ideals of freedom that they represent,” he said in a written statement. And so does the administration’s State Department, which posts on its website foreign-language versions of The Star-Spangled Banner, the Bill of Rights and the president’s State of the Union address. A spokesman said the website is aimed at an overseas audience. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told the Associated Press he would introduce a Senate resolution Monday “giving senators an opportunity to remind the country why we sing our national anthem in English. ... We are proud of the countries we have come from, but we are prouder to be Americans.” The song flap comes as Bush — whose brother Jeb is married to a woman born in Mexico — tries to convince Congress to embrace a guest worker program that could lead to citizenship for some of the country’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. The president’s remarks resemble those of Cuban-born U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, a Miami Republican. Martinez, who gave what is believed was the first Senate speech in Spanish, has urged marchers at immigration rallies to carry U.S. flags as a sign of respect for the United States. The talk of immigration reform has sparked widespread fear in some American cities, including in South Florida, as rumors of mass roundups of illegal immigrants circulate. Immigration groups are expected to hold demonstrations Monday, largely in opposition to a House bill that GOP leaders have since retreated from, that calls for criminalizing illegal immigration. But Bush urged immigration advocates to avoid boycotting work and school, as some groups have suggested. “I’m not a supporter of boycotts,” Bush said. “I am a supporter of comprehensive immigration.” He outlined his proposal that calls for border enforcement, along with a temporary worker program — and called for restraint — among protesters and politicians. “I think it’s very important for people, when they do express themselves, they continue to do so in a peaceful way, in a respectful way — respectful of how highly charged this debate can become,” Bush said. “One of the things that’s very important is when we debate this issue that we not lose our national soul.” In an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times several weeks ago, Jeb Bush expressed concern about the tone of the immigration debate, saying, “My wife came here legally, but it hurts her just as it hurts me when people give the perception that all immigrants are bad.”