During testimony at a committee hearing this week in Austin, a state senator interrupted a Spanish speaker to say it was "insulting" that he was not addressing the panel of lawmakers in English.

Antolin Aguirre of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition testified against a bill that would help crack down on illegal immigrants in Texas, KTRH radio reports.

Aguirre, who came to the USA in 1988 and speaks some English, spoke through an interpreter.

Shortly after Aguirre began his prepared statement, state Sen. Chris Harris, a Republican from Arlington, interrupted to ask why he was not speaking English if he had been in the country for 23 years.

Aguirre replied through his interpreter that Spanish is his first language and that he preferred to use it since it was his first time giving testimony.

"It is insulting to us," Harris shot back. "It is very insulting. And if he knows English, he needs to be speaking in English."