[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1087 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1087

    To amend section 337 of 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 19, 2005

 Mr. Alexander (for himself and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend section 337 of 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'' and all that follows through ``personal moral code.'' 
        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 prescribed in this subsection 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)--
            ``(A) with the term `oath' included, the term `affirmation' 
        shall be substituted for the term `oath'; and
            ``(B) with the phrase `so help me God' included, the phrase 
        `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)--
            ``(A) because such person is opposed to the bearing of arms 
        in the Armed Forces of the United States, the words `bear arms, 
        or' shall be omitted; and
            ``(B) because such person is opposed to any type of service 
        in the Armed Forces of the United States, the words `bear arms, 
        or' and `noncombatant military or' shall be omitted.
    ``(4) As used in this subsection, the term `religious training and 
belief'--
            ``(A) means a belief of an individual in relation to a 
        Supreme Bring involving duties superior to those arising from 
        any human relation; and
            ``(B) 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 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 6 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
                                 <all>