The U.S. Senate has approved two alternative amendments to the Immigration Reform Act (S. 2611): Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma)'s legislation, approved in a 63-34 vote, negates any automatic right to receive services in another languages besides English, except where otherwise required by federal law. It also confirmed English language proficiency as a requirement for earning citizenship.

The naturalization requirement makes total sense. Most--if not all--countries have similar citizenship laws when it comes to native language. ..... But in other areas, the only-English issue irks me. To insist on just one available language in a country the size of the U.S., seems a bit hoity-toity and exclusionist. If Switzerland, which is about the size of New York, can have three official languages (German, French, Italian), one semi-official language (Romansh), and one common-use/business language, English, why can't be expand out horizons and open our minds a bit? ~ Jennifer (I'm not the Swiss one in the family, so I can point these things out!)

The Senate cast four votes on immigration Tuesday, leaving 36 to go. So far, it looks like they are generally in favor of guest workers, and against waiting for a secure border before awarding any new immigration benefits. The Isakson Amendment, S.Amdt. 3961 to S. 2611, was rejected. But there are still many, many details to hash over.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that if the Senate passes the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611), execution and enforcement would increase government spending by $67 billion over from 2007 through 2016, and increase revenues by $66 billion during that same period. U.S.