Hatch Backs Schwarzenegger, Says Foreign-Born Americans Should Run For White House

GOPUSA ^ | October 6th, 2003 | Jimmy Moore

[Sabertooth]

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Battered California recall candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger has received some unexpected support from Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who said the Republican gubernatorial candidate should be forgiven for his past indiscretions and even suggested that he should have the opportunity to run for president someday.

Hatch said the sexual misconduct allegations that have been thrown at Schwarzenegger by his political enemies since late last week happened so long ago that they are simply not relevant to the kind of governor he will be for the people of California in 2003.

"We have to look at people who they are today, not what they may have done wrong in the past," Hatch said on Friday. "There isn't a person ... in the world who is perfect, who has lived perfectly."

Schwarzenegger has previously supported Hatch when he was running for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 1994. Hatch's Democrat opponent, Pat Shea, accused Schwarzenegger at the time of showing cruelty towards women because of his male-dominant movie roles.

Hatch defended Schwarzenegger by characterizing him as a loving husband to his wife, Maria Shriver, who is a part of the famous Kennedy family.

"My experience with [Schwarzenegger] is he's a very nice man, very talented," Hatch exclaimed. "He's a very bright guy who is devoted to his wife and I know a little bit about the family."

Speaking tongue-in-cheek, Hatch referred to his Democrat counterpart in the Senate from the state of Massachusetts.

"As you know, I get chewed up all the time for being a friend of Ted Kennedy," Hatch joked.

Hatch believes Schwarzenegger is the perfect replacement for Democrat Gov. Gray Davis because he brings immediate leadership and toughness that has been sorely lacking in California.

"If [Schwarzenegger] gets the chance, he's not going to be a namby-pamby out there," Hatch argued. "I think you're going to find there's going to be some new leadership that a lot of other people might emulate in this society."

Although he introduced a joint resolution in the U.S. Senate in July that would allow foreign-born residents who have lived in the United States for at least 20 years to run for president before Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, Hatch said he was not necessarily thinking of him when he was drafting the constitutional amendment.

Nevertheless, Hatch believes Schwarzenegger would make an excellent candidate for president of the United States someday if he is a successful governor.

"If Arnold Schwarzenegger turns out to be the greatest governor of California, which I hope he will, if he turns out to be a tremendous leader and he proves to everybody in this country that he's totally dedicated to this country as an American ... [then] we would be wrong not to give him that opportunity [to run for president]," Hatch said.

"The Equal Opportunity To Govern Amendment," or S.J. Res. 15, does not have any co-sponsors in the Senate and is currently under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A House version of the resolution, H.J. Res. 59, was submitted in June by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AK). His constitutional amendment would require a foreign-born presidential or vice presidential candidate to have been a citizen of the United States for at least 35 years. It currently has six co-sponsors in the House and has been referred to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution.

A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and ratification from three-fourths of the states in order to become law.

The last constitutional amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution was the 27th Amendment, which prevents Congress from instituting pay raises in the middle of their term in office. It was first introduced by James Madison in 1789 and became law in 1992 when Michigan was the 38th state to approve it.

[Sabertooth]

Although he introduced a joint resolution in the U.S. Senate in July that would allow foreign-born residents who have lived in the United States for at least 20 years to run for president before Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, Hatch said he was not necessarily thinking of him when he was drafting the constitutional amendment.

Well, well, well.

Here's the relevent clause of the Constitution that Senator Hatch would lke to amend...

Article II, Section 1
Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
U.S. Constitution

The Founders understood that the Presidency places control of the Executive Branch in the hands of a single individual, and the potential peril of someone having divided loyalties. This lone Constitutional provision distinguishing naturalized from native-born U.S. citizens is a safeguard against a potential mole or "Manchurian Candidate" holding the Presidency.

I'm not questioning Schwarzewnegger's patriotism personally, but must we cast all caution to the winds in the name of inclusion or multiculturalism?

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[PRND21]

Boo to Hatch.

[Bikers4Bush]

Hatch is an idiot.

[Sabertooth]

((((((growl)))))

[EggsAckley]

I gotta draw the line at this one, Mr. Hatch. Too risky.

[Pearls Before Swine]

What a terrible idea. With the media/political/PC machine, this would give our next Manchurian candidate a real chance of being from Manchuria!

[Coop]

Not happy with something Hatch said? Just wait a week or two, and he'll say the opposite.

[dead]

If you put Hatch in a room with Arlen Specter, you couldn't find two brain cells to rub together.

[Bikers4Bush]

I don't know, I could swear he's been beating this particular drum for a month or two now.

[You Dirty Rats]

Uh-oh, stand by for the RINO charges against Senator Hatch.

Seriesly, though, I would hold off anointing Ah-nold as a future Presidential Candidate, even if the Constitution was amended to allow foreign-born candidates to run. Let's see how he does with the Governorship of California first (which as of today he has not yet won).

[tiamat]

*I* don't want that.

We might end up with "President Granholm"!

Tia

[Protagoras]

Once again Hatch has shown himself to be a whacko.

[Coop]

I don't know, I could swear he's been beating this particular drum for a month or two now.

Maybe he has. I really don't know. :-) I'm just playing the odds given some of his past performances.

[pgyanke]

Note to (R)nold supporters... this is what may be at stake in the future. You're voting for him to block Cruz... who will block (R)nold when the time comes? Is (R)nold the best example in the last 200 years of why this article to the Constitution should change? Don't see this happening in the future? Get real... did you see what is happening now in your crystal ball two years ago?

Parties don't run America, Americans do. Stand up, be a man (or a woman) and vote for the BEST CANDIDATE... not just the candidate endorsed by the party.

[Bernard Marx]

Hatch has turned into a truly frightening politician. His playing footsie with Ted Kennedy is bad enough. His role on the Judiciary Committee is critical and he seems to botch every opportunity to get conservative judges appointed. All I hear is tough talk combined with no action. I hope the voters of Utah take a hard look at him the next time he's up.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"If you didn't like the original Schwarzenegger, try the new Hatch-backed version."

[TontoKowalski]

A House version of the resolution, H.J. Res. 59, was submitted in June by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AK).

Alaska has one Representative. His name is Don Young, and he is a Republican.

[Servant of the 9]

Senator Hatch is in the same box as Senator Byrd.
Their families need to put them in a controlled facility before someone else files involuntary commitment papers on them.

So9

[skeeter]

Sure, Hatch is an insipid unprincipled flake but he sure knows how to dress sharp.

[Prince Charles]

"The Equal Opportunity To Govern Amendment," or S.J. Res. 15, does not have any co-sponsors in the Senate and is currently under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

As I've said many times before, you can always count on Horrin Atch to say something stoopid.

[truthkeeper]

Although he introduced a joint resolution in the U.S. Senate in July that would allow foreign-born residents who have lived in the United States for at least 20 years to run for president before Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy,

Uh, excuse me. And the reason for this Constitutional amendment is...??

[Servant of the 9]

A House version of the resolution, H.J. Res. 59, was submitted in June by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AK).

Alaska has one Representative. His name is Don Young, and he is a Republican.

He means Arkansas.
Who in Gods name do the Arkansas Democrats want to run on a Green Card?

So9

[Wphile]

I have no idea why Hatch is proposing this. I notice he doesn't have any co-sponsors. It's a dumb idea.

[Sabertooth]

I don't know, I could swear he's been beating this particular drum for a month or two now.

Yep...

A Constitutional Anachronism: Immigrants should be eligible for the Presidency

Posted by Destro
On 09/06/2003 2:53 PM PDT with 78 comments

nytimes.com ^ | September 6, 2003 | nytimes.com
A Constitutional Anachronism America is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants have shaped our politics and diplomacy, run our government and defended us in wartime Ñ more than 700 recipients of the Medal of Honor have been immigrants. Yet no matter how great their contributions or sacrifices, immigrants remain ineligible for the nation's highest office because of a provision in the Constitution that bars naturalized American citizens from becoming president. The provision has long since outlived its usefulness, if it had any in the first place. Orrin Hatch, a Senate Republican, and Vic Snyder, a House Democrat, are pushing amendments to...

More...

Rep Snyder, Vic
Rep Conyers, John, Jr.
Rep Delahunt, William D.
Rep Frank, Barney
Issa, Darrell E.
Rep LaHood, Ray
Rep Shays, Christopher

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H.J.RES.59
Title: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to permit persons who are not natural-born citizens of the United States, but who have been citizens of the United States for at least 35 years, to be eligible to hold the offices of President and Vice President.
Sponsor: Rep Snyder, Vic [AR-2] (introduced 6/11/2003)      Cosponsors: 6
Latest Major Action: 6/25/2003 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

---

<!font size="-1">Jump to: Titles, Status, Committees, Related Bill Details, Amendments, Cosponsors, Summary<!/font>

---

TITLE(S):  (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)

• OFFICIAL TITLE AS INTRODUCED:
  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to permit persons who are not natural-born citizens of the United States, but who have been citizens of the United States for at least 35 years, to be eligible to hold the offices of President and Vice President.

---

STATUS: (color indicates Senate actions)

6/11/2003:

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

6/25/2003:

Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

---

COMMITTEE(S):

Committee/Subcommittee:		Activity:
House Judiciary		Referral
	Subcommittee on Constitution	Referral

---

RELATED BILL DETAILS:

***NONE***

---

AMENDMENT(S):

***NONE***

---

COSPONSORS(6), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 9/4/2003 [MI-14]	Rep Delahunt, William D. - 6/18/2003 [MA-10]
Rep Frank, Barney - 6/11/2003 [MA-4]	Rep Issa, Darrell E. - 6/11/2003 [CA-49]
Rep LaHood, Ray - 6/26/2003 [IL-18]	Rep Shays, Christopher - 6/18/2003 [CT-4]

---

SUMMARY AS OF:
6/11/2003--Introduced.

Constitutional Amendment - Makes a person who has been a citizen of the United States for at least 35 years and who has been a resident within the United States for at least 14 years eligible to hold the office of President or Vice President.

LINK

[rintense]

As usual, Hatch is off his rocker.

[SunStar]

Why would we want someone like Schwarzenegger, who has dual citizenship, to run the USA? Obviously, he would not be fair when dealing with Austria.

[Thorondir]

Foreigners? Great! I can't wait for president Mohammed Al Freak I'llBombYe.

Just what in hell is wrong with Hatch?

[RushLake]

What is the matter with this dips#it Hatch? I thought he swore to uphold our sacred Constitution. The thought of allowing an incompetent canadian Jennifer Mulhern (Granholm) to run for the presidency is frightening let alone Arnold. Jenny from the block is the Michigan Governor and great friend to reparations, teacher's unions, and the liberal elite. She is being touted by some in the "crap" party as presidential material. (She is better looking than Hitlery).

[alloysteel]

Interesting concept, that anyone who aspires to the Presidency have all the idealism and principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights might only be born in the United States.

In fact, a surprisingly large portion of the population, native born and supposedly educated under the standards of the respective states in which they spent their formative years, are probably LESS competent to serve as President than a small but learned number of naturalized citizens. There is no citizenship knowledge test required of ANY native-born resident of the US, in order that they may be eligible to serve in any elected capacity. It used to be that naturalized citizens were held to an extremely high standard before they were granted citizenship, in literacy, history, and political systems as they are exercised in the United States.

Apparently the bar has been lowered considerably for new citizens under the naturalization procedures. So any move to make naturalized citizens eligible to serve as President has serious long-term negative implications.

[hardhead]

RINO Hatch is full of doo-doo!

[mrustow]

See also:

'We Have to Destroy California to Save It': Arnold Opposes AND Supports Illegal Immigration

[DoughtyOne]

I don't believe we should cast this article of the Constitution to the wind. Hatch has never been a strong defender of our nation IMO. His suggestion and effort to see our entire patent data-base gifted to China should be enough of an eye-opener to make one suspect his true loyalies.

[Hoverbug]

Right!

Arnold didn't renounce his prior citizenship when he became an American citizen?!?

I can't wait to hear the Arnie-bots argue that having dual citizenship shows patriotism for America.

Hb

[Saundra Duffy]

Pro life traitor alert.

[SunStar]

Arnold didn't renounce his prior citizenship when he became an American citizen?!?

Yep --> http://www.rense.com/general40/arnas.htm

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

This lone Constitutional provision distinguishing naturalized from native-born U.S. citizens is a safeguard against a potential mole or "Manchurian Candidate" holding the Presidency.

Exactly. What if...somewhere down the road after this Ammendment is tossed aside...we get a candidate who is not especially Middle Eastern in appearance but nevertheless was born in Saudi Arabia and has been a US citizen for more than 20 years? And what if this candidate spent time in with and has loyalties to Al Qaeda?

What then? Not possible you say? It will be if this Ammendment is taken for naught and beanheads like Orrin Hatch are allowed to push through this type of legislation.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I'm not questioning Schwarzewnegger's patriotism personally, but must we cast all caution to the winds in the name of inclusion or multiculturalism?

Oh, come on. Everyone knows that the Constitution was written by a bunch of angry white guys, and thus must be changed. It can't possibly be relevant today. </sarcasm>

[hunter112]

I remember talk about dropping this provision of the Constitution by amendment when Henry Kissinger was Secretary of State. It resurfaces probably once every generation, and will likely continue to do so. The only thing that will change it is if a truly great person who happens to be foreign born, yet 100% American (dependent of a military family, perhaps?) ever gets to the point that he/she enjoys very wide support.

With the attack politics demonstrated during the current recall election, I severely doubt that such support can be garnered. Anybody can be demonized with today's media options.

[Leroy S. Mort]

This lone Constitutional provision distinguishing naturalized from native-born U.S. citizens is a safeguard against a potential mole or "Manchurian Candidate" holding the Presidency.

How come that didn't protect us against Clinton? (and the "Manchurian Candidate" was not foreign born).I'm a naturalized citizen...been in the US since I was 6. USAF Veteran with a rather high security clearance. I can't see that this provision gives anything but a false sense of security. Just my opinion.

[Napoleon Solo]

With the way the towelheads are reproducing, we may get President Arafart according to this new world order rule that Hatch suggests. And this clown calls himself a Republican?

[nickcarraway]

Hatch should not comment on anything ever until he gets Bush's judicial nominees approved, especially since he worked so hard to get Clinton's nominees approved.

[jennyp]

How come that didn't protect us against Clinton?

Exactly! All those who are arguing about the horrors of a foreign-born president forget one thing: Being born in the USA does not give anyone magical powers, nor does it imprint a sense of patriotism that a naturalized citizen cannot also have. Just like a Catholic president does not necessarily have a genetic predisposition to being a deep-cover agent of the Papacy.

Besides, the guy (or gal) would have to be voted in first.

Tell you what (you opponents of this amendment): Let's add a provision that the winner of any federal race must get 50%+1 of the vote, and if they don't there's a runoff election a month later, like they do it in Georgia. That way a popular spoiler can't mess things up and let the inferior candidate win with merely a dedicated minority behind him/her.

[ellery]

Terrible idea. Our founders knew what they were doing.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the post and ping. I can see we're on the same page on this. Forget it, Orrin ! ...

[heleny]

Bad idea. I'm sure many naturalized citizens have no other loyalty, but naturalization nowadays is easy enough that many still retain loyalties to their birth countries. We have scores of millions of eligible natural-born citizens.... A dearth of good candidates isn't for lack of eligible people, but for the difficulties of campaigning/politics.

There are plenty of better amendments to consider, such as one that limits/defines the "privacy rights" that somehow derive from the 14th Amendment. Or, perhaps one that reiterates the limits enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Life. Marriage. Redefining Treason. The meaning of advice and consent of judicial appointments. etc.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Being born in the USA does not give anyone magical powers, nor does it imprint a sense of patriotism that a naturalized citizen cannot also have.

Case in point: Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, CONN.

Ran across an interesting column from George Will when researching this where he says

as for the worry that an immigrant might not be sufficiently marinated in American traditions and values, those who are here by conscious choice often have a better understanding of the traditions and values than do people who are here by accident of birth. Besides, the Constitution could be amended to require that a president have been a citizen for, say, 25 years, and to delete the native-born requirement.

But then adds

However, the general rule that should govern proposals to amend the Constitution is: Don't. Even when, as in this instance, the part of the Constitution that would be altered is not central to the government's structure or principles of conduct. And even when the alteration would remove an anachronism no longer germane to real possibilities. Any change weakens reverence for the Framers' work and dilutes the wholesome disinclination to try to improve upon that work.

That last paragraph I totally agree with. Tampering with even this outdated provision temps some to tamper with the whole, so leave it be.

Besides "If nominated, I will not run and if elected I will not serve" .

To think it offers some kind of security though is to ignore the history of treason and malfeasance in this country.

[jennyp]

Hey, I just had a thought: Does a cardinal have to have been born into a Catholic family to be eligible to be pope? I assume not. I wonder how long you have to have been a Catholic in order to be eligible to become pope.

[Quix]

It just occurred to me that

changing this in the Constitution would make it

all the more 'reasonable' in the eyes of some

to support a foreign born world leader as also leader of the USA.