[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2513 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2513

 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prescribe the oath or 
 affirmation of renunciation and allegiance required to be naturalized 
                   as a citizen of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2005

    Mr. Ryun of Kansas (for himself and Mr. Feeney) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prescribe the oath or 
 affirmation of renunciation and allegiance required to be naturalized 
                   as a citizen of the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. OATH OR AFFIRMATION OF RENUNCIATION AND ALLEGIANCE.

    (a) Revision of Oath.--Section 337 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1448) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by striking ``under section 310(b) an 
        oath'' in the first sentence and all that follows through the 
        end of the third sentence and inserting ``under section 310(b) 
        the oath (or affirmation) of allegiance prescribed in 
        subsection (e).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the oath (or 
affirmation) of allegiance is as follows: `I take this oath solemnly, 
freely, and without any mental reservation. I entirely renounce all 
allegiance to any foreign state or power of which I have been a subject 
or citizen. My fidelity and allegiance from this day forward are to the 
United States of America. I will bear true faith and allegiance to the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, and will support and defend 
them against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will bear arms, or 
perform noncombatant military or civilian service, on behalf of the 
United States when required by law. This I do solemnly swear, so help 
me God.'.
    ``(2) If a person by reason of religious training and belief (or 
individual interpretation thereof), or for other reasons of good 
conscience, cannot take the oath prescribed in paragraph (1) with the 
term `oath' or `so help me God' included, the person shall take the 
oath in a modified form as follows:
            ``(A) In the case that the person cannot take the oath with 
        the term `oath' included, the term `affirmation' shall be 
        substituted for the term `oath'.
            ``(B) In the case that the person cannot take the oath with 
        `so help me God' included, then `so help me God' shall be 
        omitted.
    ``(3) If a person shows by clear and convincing evidence to the 
satisfaction of the Attorney General that such person, by reason of 
religious training and belief, cannot take the oath prescribed in 
paragraph (1) with the affirmation to bear arms or perform noncombatant 
military service, the person shall take the oath in a modified form as 
follows:
            ``(A) In the case that such person is opposed to the 
        bearing of arms in the Armed Forces of the United States, then 
        `bear arms, or' shall be omitted.
            ``(B) In the case that such person is opposed to any type 
        of service in the Armed Forces of the United States, then `bear 
        arms, or' and `noncombatant military or' shall be omitted.
    ``(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term `religious training 
and belief' means a belief of an individual in relation to a Supreme 
Bring involving duties superior to those arising from any human 
relation, but does not include essentially political, sociological, or 
philosophical views or a merely personal moral code.
    ``(5) Any reference in this title to `oath' or `oath of allegiance' 
under this section or subsection (a) shall be deemed to refer to the 
oath (or affirmation) of allegiance prescribed under this subsection. 
''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is six months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>