House Bill to Require English Proficiency Before Citizenship

According to CNSNews.com:

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week would designate English as the country's official language and require immigrants to learn English before becoming naturalized citizens.

This is good news! We are a nation, and to exist as a united and functional society we must all be able to communicate with each other. If someone screams "Help!", "Fire!" or "Rape!", everyone in earshot should be able to understand and respond accordingly. If a police officer yells "Freeze!" or "Drop your weapon!" or "Put your hands up!", the person hearing this command should know how to react in order to avoid being shot. If a citizen is selected for jury duty, they should be capable of doing their civic duty, hearing out the case, understanding it fully and then rendering a verdict.

I would take the bill one step further and require people to demonstrate considerable English proficiency before granting them permanent residency/green cards. Permanent residents are by definition people who have the right to spend the rest of their lives here. They will be subject to numerous laws written in English, and will most likely have to work in an English dominant society. Workers should be able to understand customer complaints, requests from colleagues, tax laws, employment laws, etc. Drivers should be able to read traffic signs, parking restrictions, maps and more. How can they do any of this if they don't speak the common language of the land?

My belief that Americans should be able to speak and understand English is not racist. I don't care if the person applying for a green card or citizenship is a blond blue-eyed European, an Asian, Hispanic, Black or whatever. They shouldn't be granted the privilege of permanent residency or citizenship until they can speak our common language well enough to understand and be understood by others.