Replies

You claim a foreign born president meets the NBC requirement.

In 2000, Why did the House propose H.J. Res 88 to Amend the Constitution?
Obviously everyone in our government has always known exactly what a natural born citizen means and they have not amended the Constitution.

2000
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW FOREIGN-BORN CITIZENS TO BE PRESIDENT

HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON H.J.Res. 88

JULY 24, 2000 Serial No. 108 Page 2 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., Wisconsin
BILL McCOLLUM, Florida
GEORGE W. GEKAS, Pennsylvania
HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
CHARLES T. CANADY, Florida
BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
BOB BARR, Georgia
WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee
ASA HUTCHINSON, Arkansas
EDWARD A. PEASE, Indiana
CHRIS CANNON, Utah
JAMES E. ROGAN, California
LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina
MARY BONO, California
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SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama
JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida
DAVID VITTER, Louisiana

JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan
BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
RICK BOUCHER, Virginia
JERROLD NADLER, New York
ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia
MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina
ZOE LOFGREN, California
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas
MAXINE WATERS, California
MARTIN T. MEEHAN, Massachusetts
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., General Counsel-Chief of Staff
JULIAN EPSTEIN, Minority Chief Counsel and Staff Director

Subcommittee on the Constitution
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CHARLES T. CANADY, Florida, Chairman
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois
ASA HUTCHINSON, Arkansas
SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama
BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
BOB BARR, Georgia
WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee
LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina

MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina
MAXINE WATERS, California
BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts
JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan
JERROLD NADLER, New York

CATHLEEN CLEAVER, Chief Counsel
BRADLEY S. CLANTON, Counsel
JONATHAN A. VOGEL, Counsel
PAUL B. TAYLOR, Counsel

C O N T E N T S

HEARING DATE
July 24, 2000

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TEXT OF BILL

H.J.Res. 88

OPENING STATEMENT

Canady, Hon. Charles T., a Representative in Congress From the State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution

WITNESSES

Delgado, Raimundo, teacher, Ashland Middle School, Ashland, MA

McDonald, Forrest, historian and professor of history, University of Alabama

Vazsonyi, Balint, director, Center for the American Founding

Yinger, John M., professor of economics and public administration, Center for Policy Research, Syracuse University

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

Delgado, Raimundo, teacher, Ashland Middle School, Ashland, MA: Prepared statement
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McDonald, Forrest, historian and professor of history, University of Alabama: Prepared statement

Vazsonyi, Balint, director, Center for the American Founding: Prepared statement

Yinger, John M., professor of economics and public administration, Center for Policy Research, Syracuse University: Prepared statement

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW FOREIGN-BORN CITIZENS TO BE PRESIDENT

MONDAY, JULY 24, 2000

House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Constitution,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 4:45 p.m., in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Charles T. Canady [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.

Present: Representatives Charles T. Canady, Spencer Bachus, Bob Barr, Melvin L. Watt and Barney Frank.

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Staff present: Cathleen Cleaver, chief counsel; Jonathan A. Vogel, counsel; Paul B. Taylor, counsel; Susana Gutierrez, clerk; and Anthony Foxx, minority counsel.

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN CANADY

Mr. CANADY. The subcommittee will be in order. The subcommittee meets now to conduct a hearing on H.J.Res. 88, which proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the office of the President a person who has been the United States citizen for 20 years. This amendment, which was introduced by the gentleman from Massachusetts Mr. Frank would change the portion of the Presidential qualifications clause in article II, section 1, clause 5 of the United States Constitution that limits eligibility for the Presidency of the United States to natural-born citizens.

[H.J.Res. 88 follows:]

106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. J. RES. 88
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who has been a United States citizen for twenty years.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 29, 2000
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who has been a United States citizen for twenty years.
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 for twenty years a citizen of the United States, and who is otherwise eligible to the Office of President, is not ineligible to that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.’’

Mr. CANADY. As we will hear in today’s testimony, the drafters of the Constitution left little written record of the purpose of the natural-born citizen requirement. Historians trace the origin of the phrase to a letter written by John Jay to George Washington during the Convention’s deliberations in 1787. Jay, who would become an author the Federalist Papers and would later be appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, recommended that the drafters provide, and I quote, a strong check, closed quote, against the admission of foreigners into the Government and expressly require that the Commander in Chief be a natural-born citizen.

Some sources suggest that Jay was responding to a rumor that the Convention was secretly designing a monarchy to be ruled by a foreign monarch, but Jay’s warning can also be seen simply as a reflection of the widely held fear of foreign influence in this new country’s elections and of a general distrust of executive power at that time.
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Many view these considerations as equally relevant today. The natural-born citizen qualification continues to provide to the political system of the United States a certain level of protection against the influence of foreign nations. In addition to this safeguard, the requirement also secures the ability of the President to make decisions involving domestic and foreign policy that are in the best interests of the United States without an inherent emotional or familial attachment to another nation.

Supporters of the measure, however, argue that the limitation is no longer warranted. They assert that distinguishing natural-born from naturalized citizens has no relevance in determining who might be subject to actual foreign influence. Unlike natural-born citizens, naturalized citizens have made an express commitment to embrace this Nation’s principles. The many naturalized citizens have indeed served this country with great honor and distinction.

Moreover, supporters of the amendment regard eligibility for the Presidency as a civil right with strong symbolic importance and assert that the principle of equality is not served unless every citizen has the opportunity to reach the Nation’s highest office.

I want to thank the witnesses for being with us here to discuss this matter. I look forward to their testimony.

Now I will recognize the author of this proposed Constitutional amendment Mr. Frank.

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju67306.000/hju67306_0.htm