Crossposted at SmokeyMonkey.org
The Senate has passed the Inhofe Amendment S.Amdt.4064 that adds a provision to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (S.2611) stating that English is the "national language" of the United States. Roll Call Vote 131
The Senate today also passed the Salazar Amendment S.Amdt.4073 to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (S.2611) that uses different language. Roll Call Vote 132
Note: The texts of the amendments are not currently available.
It is not clear to me what it means to have "competing amendments" (according to this Bloomberg article) passed together. The Inhofe Amendment, according to what I heard in the debate today, has other provisions. The article spells some of these out as well. I will attempt to update below.
The provision for a "national language" is clearly scaled back from a pronouncement of an "official language", but is there a difference when the rest of the legislation basically suggests no one is obligated to use anything other than English in official government work?
It is sad to me that the sentiment expressed in a diary on DailyKos.com by pinche tejano regarding Nuestro Himno was just pissed on today by our Senate. I can't imagine how such a provision could be passed.
