Nearly 700 (698) people became United States citizens last night. At a naturalization hearing held at Bethel College in Arden Hills, people from 76 countries were sworn in. The country with the most people represented was Laos with 278 people. And about two dozen countries were represented by just 1 person. Coming just two weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the evening held an extra sense of importance for those conducting the ceremony as well as those sitting in the audience holding American flags, and singing the National Anthem with their hands on their hearts.