Senate Votes English U.S. National Language

The Senate voted Thursday to make English the national language of the United States. Sort of.

Moments after the 63-34 vote, it decided to call the mother tongue a "common and unifying language."

"You can't have it both ways," warned Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., a fan of "national" but not "common and unifying." Two dozen senators disagreed and voted for both as the Senate lumbered toward an expected vote next week on a controversial immigration bill.

The debate occurred as President Bush traveled to Yuma, Ariz., to dramatize his commitment to curbing illegal immigration. At the same time, the White House sent Congress a formal request for $1.9 billion to cover the costs of steps he announced earlier in the week, including the deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border.

Bush generally favors the outlines of the Senate measure, a bill that calls for great enforcement, a new guest worker program and an eventual opportunity at citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country illegally.

Inhofe led the attempt to declare English the national language, a campaign he said began more than a century ago. The Oklahoma Republican quoted President Theodore Roosevelt as having said that among other things, those living in the United States "must also learn one language and that language is English."

"If you've got any rights now you've still got them under this amendment" added Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Democrats disputed that, and said the proposal would curtail rights established by an executive order President Clinton issued to extend language assistance to individuals not proficient in English.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada went further. "I really believe this amendment is racist. I think it's directed basically to people who speak Spanish."

"It's ridiculous," Inhofe replied. "I don't think people will buy into it."

The Senate didn't, including 11 Democrats who joined 53 Republicans to support the proposal.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., advanced the alternative that declared English to be a "common and unifying language."

It passed, 58-39, leaving the outcome of the symbolic debate uncertain.

For the third straight day, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers supporting the immigration measure demonstrated overall command of the Senate floor.

Conservatives failed in their attempt to ban guest workers, who all have temporary visas, from gaining permanent resident status. The vote was 58-35.

After a stumble on Wednesday night — when the Senate voted to deny temporary workers the ability to petition for citizenship on their own — the bill's supporters won a reversal that said they could, as long as the federal government certifies American workers are unavailable to fill their jobs. The provision applies to workers with temporary visas in the country for four years. The vote was 56-43.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the original provision was designed to protect American workers and the replacement would "put American workers in the back seat and foreign workers ... in the front seat."

But Sen. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "I think there is a higher value in not having the immigrant subject to the control of the employer where there may be coercion and pressure."

The Senate also voted 64-32 to levy a $750 fee on illegal immigrants who apply for citizenship and $100 for each dependent. Cornyn, who sponsored the proposal, said the proceeds would be used to reimburse state and local governments, hospitals and other institutions that provide health, education and other services to illegal immigrants.