Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) proposed a Senate Resolution yesterday to the effect that the Star Spangled Banner should only be sung in English.  In his press release, Alexander stated:

That flag and that song are a part of our history and our national identity. It declares some of our national ideals, in being the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” That’s why in 1931 Congress declared the Star-Spangled Banner our national anthem.

That’s why we should always sing it in our common language, English.

Um, Senator?  On its website, the U.S. State Department has four versions of the Star-Spangled Banner in espanol. 

And in 1919, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned a Spanish version of the anthem.

But don’t let facts get in the way of your xenophobia, Senator.

[H/T: Think Progress]

RELATED:  Bush also stated: "I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English. And they ought to learn to sing the anthem in English."

Sadly, this Bush family biography states:

When visiting cities like Chicago, Milwaukee or Philadelphia, in pivotal states, he would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parites, sometimes joining in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish, sometimes partying with a "Viva Bush" mariachi band flown in from Texas.

LATE UPDATE:  I would say this pretty much ends the debate — The National Anthem was sung in Spanish …at Bush’s First Inaugural.