Posted on 09/15/2004 2:29:34 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - A California Republican congressman introduced a constitutional amendment Wednesday that would allow Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president. But he insisted the candidate he really wants to see is a 76-year-old House Democrat from Hungary.
"There are those here today who will interpret this constitutional proposal permitting naturalized citizens to serve as president as a political ploy," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, an early supporter of Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial bid, said in remarks prepared for the House floor.
"This is no ploy. I honestly believe that Tom Lantos should be able to seek the highest office in the land, just like any other elected official."
Lantos, D-Calif., who's served in the House for more than two decades, said he was flattered but saw no need to amend the Constitution.
"However, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is re-established in the United States, I will invite Arnold Schwarzenegger to be my lieutenant," he said.
Joking aside, Rohrabacher said in an interview that Schwarzenegger is doing a great job as governor and voters might want to elect him president one day. But the Orange County lawmaker said that was just a short-term benefit to his proposal to allow anyone who's been a citizen for 20 years or more to be eligible to run for president.
"We've got some talented people who might be able to help our country and provide some much-needed leadership, and there's no reason if they've been a citizen for over 20 years to exclude them," Rohrabacher said.
His proposed amendment has companion legislation in the Senate authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Schwarzenegger, who became a citizen in 1983, has said he supports amending the Constitution so he and other foreign-born citizens could be president. But he's sidestepped questions about whether he might want to run, saying he's focused on governing California.
It takes two-thirds majority votes in both the House and the Senate for Congress to propose a constitutional amendment, and then three-fourths of states must pass it, too.
Right up there with McCain-Feingold... :-}
Its not going to go anywhere. This is just my local Congressman scratching Arnold's back.
---precisely---
Tom Lantos ???
A raving lunatic communist for president?
And porobably will be running as a republican by then - this country has gone to S**T!
What? That's UNAmerican!
That will have to be a consitutional amendment, so it ain't going to happen.
No
Dana, I love you, but please don't do this.
I like Dana and will vote for him, but sometimes I think he's been bonked on the coconut with his surfboard once too often.
nyah
Early in the last century we had a bunch of amendments and we wound up prohibition, the income tax and Senators who were no longer accountable to their States.
We should also let the dead run for president, afterall they do vote quite often.
So9
If one were to consider one of the main reasons that only American born citizens can become President, the idea of an amendment allowing foreign born citizens wouldn't seem like such a big deal. One of the reasons only American born citizens can hold the office is to prevent a potential conflict of interest, and to keep foreign nationals from moving here, naturalizing and taking office only to turn against us in favor of their country.
And then we have John Kerry. He's doing what we fear most, and he IS an American born citizen. So if someone like Kerry is allowed to hold the office, despite being a traitor who would hand us over in a heartbeat, then the idea of a foreign national isn't so bad.
In no way am I supporting a move to allow anyone born on foreign soil into the White House. It's just a point to ponder.
Good point, Isabelle...
Will our future President be required to speak English?
Nutcase Hatch as advocated this, along with
==allowing illegals to vote in our elections
==blowing up computers that download music illegally.
[If such a bill ever passes and foreigners are allowed to run for the Presidency and/or vote in our elections, we are finished as a sovereign nation.]
OH NO
I like Arnoldddd but I dont' think we should amend that part of the consitution
NOOOO WAYYYY
and these nuts vote themselves a raise . WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!!!!!!!
But before someone does this to me 
, let me note a couple of conditions I'd impose:
First, I'd make it effective a few decades from now (say the elections of 2032). It's basic (at least to me) that you can't change the rules in the middle of the game. Sorry, Arnold, but your sudden ascendancy to prominence (which I applaud) shouldn't cause an immediate Constitutional change.
And second, I'd impose a minimum citizenship duration on foreign-born aspirants -- 20 years strikes me as about right. Maybe 30.
Not only is the process (intentionally) difficult, but this particular amendment has another - insurmountable, IMHO - problem: What Congressman or Senator with an eye on the White House is going to vote to allow more competition into the ring? Does anyone see Hillary voting for this, so that she'll have the joy of being called a girlie-man by Ahhhnold? Not only will she vote against it, she'll do everything possible to kill it, and she's not the only one. This won't even see a vote on the floor of either house.
We need mandatory drug testing for Congressmen
NO NO NO NO.
not no, but hell no. leave it alone.
'this is not going to go anywhere..'
Orrin Hatch proposed this in the DREAM ACT quite some time ago. And, I was quite surprised to find that many Republicans supported this ACT. If the American people do not RAISE their voices against this ACT, I believe it will come to pass. I called Hatch's office a long time ago and emailed the President. I'll now call Rohrabacher. Perhaps, I've gone over the edge but if this passes, I can foresee, with the help of someone like George Soros, a Presidential candidate who subscribes to the Mohammed Atta philosophy...good bye America.
An answer to a problem that doesn't exist. I don't think it's too much to ask that the leader of our country be born here.
If you think the answer to this is "no", please explain. I have zero problem with amending the Constitution along these lines myself.
Nope! Schwarzenegger just showed why he shouldn't EVEER be considered for the presidency - he just denied some 2nd Ammendment rights for California citizens.
It would also allow Osama Bin Laden to run for President. Or Kofi Annan. Or Yassir Arafat.
Oh, and Orrin Hatch is a moron.
BAD idea!
Ahh-nold, Rudy and all the liberal RINOs are the last thing America needs.
sounds like outsourcing talk to me.
schwinggg
With the 2nd Amendment as a litmus test, the entire government must go.
Regarding the Ahnold amendment, this is just partisan politics trying to gain a popular candidate to run. They know that the generally stupid electorate will vote for their movie heroes. They see Ahnold as a sure bet to hang onto power for the party.
With the 2nd Amendment as a litmus test, the entire government must go.
Regarding the Ahnold amendment, this is just partisan politics trying to gain a popular candidate to run. They know that the generally stupid electorate will vote for their movie heroes. They see Ahnold as a sure bet to hang onto power for the party.
I'm against the change as a matter of principle. But I heard someone suggest that if it is done, the citizenship requirement should be 35 years (since a natural born citizen must be 35 before he or she can run). Also, a requirement should be included to bar dual citizenship for such candidates.
Yeah. It is.
Sounds like a case of "You scratch his Schwartzenneger..and he's gotta vica versa things"....
Absolutely. I agree.
But I heard someone suggest that if it is done, the citizenship requirement should be 35 years (since a natural born citizen must be 35 before he or she can run). Also, a requirement should be included to bar dual citizenship for such candidates.
Those are excellent points that the article didn't mention. After all, the 20-year requirement mentioned seemed stupid, since a natural born citizen must have been a citizen 35 years before he can run, so a naturalized citizen shouldn't have an easier requirement. Are there 25-year and 30-year requirements for naturalized citizen candidates for the House of Representatives or for Senate?
Can dual citizens born in the US run for federal elected office without renouncing their non-US citizenship? I sure hope not.
No. Never. Nothing against Arnold, but look at Euroweenies, where they're coming from. Or our resident Mexican/Latino illegal immigrant population. They'd send someone over, have him take out citizenship papers, and then have him run. A sleeper. We'd be hogtied to the UN or Mexico in no time. This is a really, really bad idea.
Dana, if you've got nothing to do back there, get to work on illegal immigration. Otherwise go back to sleep, and leave the constitutional ammendments to the grownups.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....
Damn fool. Its time he find a new occupation.
In today's environment, it's a bad idea. Alexander Hamilton is the only president I know of born absolutely outside the US. He's from St.Croix. There are two or three other presidents born in US terrorities I think. Elected officials should be US citizens, and the presidential office should be restricted to folks born in the US. If it's isn't broke don't fix it.
Hamilton was born in Nevis.
I wrote an editorial in the college paper opposing this idea. It isn't because of Arnold himself, but because the founders wisely assumed that we need to keep nations from becoming entangled. It is only natural to think that a person coming from a country to the US would likely be sympathetic to that country and be biased toward giving aid to that country etc. If Commies can infiltrate our govt. below the executive level, why not the executive? Why not a sleeper cell terrorist?
We need to let only American-born people run for prez.
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