Bush adamant anthem should be in English

WASHINGTON – President Bush said Friday that “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be sung in English, not Spanish, and condemned plans by some immigrant groups to stage a work protest on Monday to sway the debate over the nation’s immigration laws.

With passions running high over the release of “Nuestro Himmo,” a Spanish-language version of the national anthem, Bush told reporters that people who want to be U.S. citizens should learn English and “ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.”

He called on immigrants and activist groups to rethink plans to walk out of work on Monday to protest congressional efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

“You know, 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,” he said, in a Rose Garden news conference he called to tout new figures showing robust economic growth in the first quarter of this year.

In answers that ranged widely over problems confronting him at home and overseas, Bush urged Sudan to let in more multinational peacekeeping forces into the country to help halt what he called genocide in the Darfur region.

The Sudanese government opposes a plan to send 20,000 United Nations peacekeepers into the country. Bush, who has been criticized for not intervening more effectively, has proposed sending a UN force into Darfur to assist the estimated 7,000 African Union soldiers battling tribal and ethnic violence.

Bush also rejected calls by lawmakers, including some Republicans, to tax oil company profits to help lower gas prices, but he said that the companies should consider investing some of their record profits to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. “These oil prices are a wake-up call,” Bush said. “We’re dependent on oil. We need to get off oil.”

With the hurricane season about a month away, Bush reacted coolly to a bipartisan congressional plan to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency and replace it with a more powerful organization. Bush said it is important to focus on the storm season ahead. “We’re much more ready this time than last time. And we’re taking very seriously the lessons learned from Katrina,” Bush said. “I’ve looked at all suggestions, but my attitude is, let’s make it work.”