Mr. Speaker, I have just introduced the House counterpart to Senator Hatch's constitutional amendment (S.J. Res. 15) allowing those who have been citizens of the United States for at least 20 years…
Mr. Speaker, I have just introduced the House counterpart to Senator Hatch's constitutional amendment (S.J. Res. 15) allowing those who have been citizens of the United States for at least 20 years to serve as President and Vice President.
We all agree that constitutional amendments should not be taken lightly and should only be considered when the betterment of this country is in question. It is my strong belief that ``betterment'' is what would be achieved if such an amendment is adopted.
The reasons the founding fathers added this clause to the constitution are archaic at best. The main rationale was to protect the U.S. from undue foreign influence from the election of a foreign leader in the executive office. This mindset prevailed not long after the founders freed the country from the control of a foreign body. Interestingly, however, in what is called ``the Hamilton loophole,'' they exempted their own generation from the burdens of the ``natural born'' requirement. Seven of the 39 signers of the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787 were foreign born, as well as 8 of America's original 81 Senators and Representatives, 3 of our first 10 Supreme Court justices, 4 of our first 6 secretaries of the treasury, and one of our first 3 secretaries of war. Most, if not all, of these immigrants were eligible to serve as president, since the constitution exempted all those who were citizens at the time the constitution was adopted from the ``natural born'' requirement.
Today, the offices of President and Vice President are the only offices where a person who is not U.S. born is disqualified from serving. Is this still appropriate when we have
seen great leaders, after a lifetime of service to this country, be unable to represent the citizens of this country?
Today we have many significant political leaders who cannot be president simply because they were not born here. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the most famous example, but what about Michigan's Governor, Jennifer Granholm, who came to the United States from Canada at the age of four? Or Congressman Pete Hoekstra, who came to this country when he was a mere three years old and has been given the responsibility of being Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence? Congressman Hoekstra oversees the intelligence community in a post-9/11 United States and yet regardless of his lifetime of service, he cannot be President.
I hope my colleagues will agree with me that it is long past time for the ``natural born'' requirement to change. Respect for the many legal immigrants who have made our country great should lead us to conclude that once they have been U.S. citizens for 20 years they should no longer be constitutionally disqualified from serving in our nation's highest offices.
H.J. Res. 104
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of
each House concurring therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as
part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States within seven years after
the date of its submission for ratification:
``Article--
``A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has
been a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years,
and who is otherwise eligible to hold the Office of the
President, is not ineligible to hold that Office by reason of
not being a native born citizen of the United States.''.
