[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 127 (Tuesday, October 4, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10974-S10975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  By Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself and Mr. Cornyn):
  S. 1815. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
prescribe the binding oath or affirmation of renunciation and 
allegiance required to be naturalized as a citizen of the United 
States, to encourage and support the efforts of prospective citizens of 
the United States to become citizens, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, Senator Cornyn and I are introducing 
legislation to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. The 
legislation would be called the Strengthening American Citizenship Act.
  Over the next several weeks, this body will be engaged in a debate 
about immigration reform. It is an essential debate which we must have 
in order to honor our commitment to the rule of law. I believe that 
real immigration reform must encompass three important steps.
  First, we must secure our borders. Senators Cornyn, Kyl, McCain, and 
Kennedy have introduced differing legislation with that goal in mind.
  Second, we need to create a legal status for foreign workers and 
foreign students who come here. Cornyn-Kyl and McCain-Kennedy also 
address the question of workers. Later this month, I intend to 
introduce legislation to ensure that our immigration system creates an 
appropriate legal status for and welcomes the more than 550,000 foreign 
students who study at our universities and who, incidentally, 
contribute to our high standard of living by doing so.
  But there is a third step to any real immigration reform. After we 
secure our borders, after we create a legal status for foreigners who 
work here and study here, the third indispensable step is to help 
prospective citizens become Americans. That is why today I am 
introducing the Strengthening American Citizenship Act. I am pleased to 
be joined by Senator Cornyn in this effort.
  The Strengthening American Citizenship Act helps legal immigrants who 
are prospective American citizens to learn our common language, our 
history, and our way of Government in the following ways: First, 
providing $500 grants for English courses; next, allowing prospective 
citizens who become fluent in English, not just basic in English, but 
fluent in English, to apply for citizenship 1 year early; next, 
providing for grants to organizations to provide courses in American 
history and civics; authorizing the creation of a new foundation to 
assist in those efforts; codifying the oath of allegiance to which new 
citizens swear when they are naturalized; asking the Department of 
Homeland Security to carry out a strategy to highlight the moving 
ceremonies in which immigrants become American citizens; and finally, 
establishing an award to recognize the contributions of new citizens to 
our great Nation.
  This bill is about fulfilling the promise of our national motto that 
is written right above you, Mr. President, on the Senate wall: ``E 
Pluribus Unum,'' one from many. It is in the most visible place in the 
Senate Chamber. As a nation of immigrants, that motto--from many, one--
is very important to us. While our unique history makes us a diverse 
nation, we are still one American Nation. How do we do that? How do we 
as Americans take all of the magnificent diversity that is the United 
States and mold it into a single nation? We can be one nation because 
we are united by principles expressed in our founding documents, such 
as liberty, democracy, and the rule of law, and not by our multiple 
ancestries. We are united by our common language, English, and by our 
history of constantly struggling to reach the high ideals that we have 
set for ourselves as a nation.
  Part of that American history is welcoming new immigrants to join our 
Nation. We are unique in the world in our attitude toward welcoming 
others. America is different because under our Constitution becoming an 
American can have nothing to do with ancestry. That is because America 
is an idea, not a race. An American can technically become a citizen of 
Japan, in rare cases, but would never be considered Japanese. But if a 
Japanese person wants to become a citizen of the United States, he or 
she must become an American.

  Recently, I was privileged to witness as 99 immigrants from 46 
different countries became Americans. It was on a Constitution Day 
ceremony. I have attended naturalization ceremonies in Nashville and 
across my State many times in the past. It is a moving experience that 
I recommend to all of my colleagues.
  This naturalization ceremony a few weeks ago was a special one held 
at the Jefferson Memorial. The same ceremonies are held in courthouses 
across the country. I watched those 99 new

[[Page S10975]]

Americans swear an oath of allegiance to this country. It is a powerful 
oath where they renounce allegiance to their former country and swear 
allegiance to ours and to the Constitution. It is the oath we will 
finally enshrine in law in this bill.
  That oath is a part of our history. It dates back to the founding of 
our Nation almost 230 years ago. Those 99 new Americans who took that 
oath at the Jefferson Memorial a few weeks ago were basically taking 
the same oath George Washington gave to his soldiers in revolutionary 
times.
  On May 12, 1778, as brave Americans were fighting for our freedom, 
George Washington himself, and his general officers, signed a very 
similar oath as they were camped at Valley Forge. Let me read a part of 
Washington's oath. This is a copy of the oath Washington took. The 
Archivist of the United States brought it to me. There is Washington's 
own signature. We can imagine the circumstances and imagine the times. 
It was in the early stages of the Revolutionary War. Things were not 
going very well. These soldiers were camped at Valley Forge and this 
was the oath Washington himself took and that he gave to his officers 
and required them to sign.

       I, George Washington, Commander in chief of the Armies of 
     the United States of America, do acknowledge the United 
     States of America, to be Free, Independent and Sovereign 
     States, and declare that the people thereof owe no allegiance 
     or obedience to George the Third, King of Great Britain; and 
     I renounce, refuse and abjure any allegiance or obedience to 
     him; and I do swear that I will to the utmost of my power, 
     support, maintain and defend the United States...

  That is how George Washington and his officers swore allegiance to 
our country, and it has set the standard for American citizens from 
that time forward. Every American should learn about that standard.
  Since I was elected to this body in 2002, I have been working to 
ensure that American children learn American history and civics. With 
the help of Democratic leader Senator Reid and many other Senators on 
both sides of the aisle, we passed legislation in December of 2003 to 
establish residential academies for teachers and congressional 
academies for students of American history and civics. Some are 
residential academies to help teachers and outstanding students learn 
more about these important subjects so they can pass it on to their 
students and classmates.
  This year, I hope to pass a bill with Senator Kennedy to provide for 
improved testing of American history so we can determine where history 
is being taught well and where it is being taught poorly so 
improvements can be made. We also know that when testing is focused on 
a specific subject, States and school districts are more likely to step 
up to the challenge and improve performance. So we are beginning to 
make progress in reaching out to our children so that they understand 
what this country is all about.
  There is another group of Americans we must also reach: New 
Americans. Last week, there was a report in Florida of a 27-year-old 
Guatemalan man who posed as an 18-year-old so he could attend public 
high school and learn English there. So we know immigrants are eager to 
learn our common language. That is why I, with Senator Cornyn, am 
introducing this bill to help legal immigrants who are prospective 
American citizens to learn our common language, our history, and our 
way of governing.
  The Strengthening American Citizenship Act will, No. 1, provide 
education grants up to $500 for English courses to immigrants who 
declare intent to become American citizens. They might use these grants 
to take a class from a local nonprofit organization or a community 
college. It would also allow citizenship applicants who speak fluent 
English to meet the residency requirement after 4 years of living in 
the United States, rather than 5.
  Secondly, our legislation would help prospective citizens learn more 
about the American way of life. It would do it in these two ways: One, 
establishing a foundation to support the activities of the Office of 
Citizenship, which is within the Department of Homeland Security, so 
that organizations that want to support and cooperate in efforts to 
reach out to prospective citizens can do so.
  Second, it would provide for grants to organizations to provide 
classes in American history and civics. While new citizens are required 
to demonstrate a knowledge of American history and government in a 
test, helping them access a history or civics class will allow many to 
gain a richer understanding of our country and, by doing so, to feel 
more at home in the United States.
  The third major area this legislation covers would be to codify this 
oath of allegiance which began with George Washington's oath at Valley 
Forge. The oath today is written only in Federal regulations, not in 
the law. This would give the oath the same standing as the Pledge of 
Allegiance and the national anthem.
  Finally, we should celebrate our new citizens. Our legislation would 
instruct the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and implement a 
strategy to raise public awareness of naturalization ceremonies. These 
ceremonies, which happen virtually every day in the United States, 
embody what it means to become an American. Every U.S. citizen, not 
just those from foreign countries, ought to see one. It is my hope that 
more of these ceremonies will be held in prominent locations and 
televised on C-SPAN.
  We also would establish an award for citizens who have been 
naturalized within the last ten years and have made an outstanding 
contribution to the American nation. Our new citizens are often our 
best citizens, and this bill would give the President this 
responsibility so that we can recognize how new Americans play a 
critical role in the progress of our country.
  We are a nation of immigrants. Almost all of us can trace our 
ancestry to some part of the globe quite far from here. Over the coming 
weeks this body will debate how to reform our immigration system. I 
believe comprehensive reform must include three things: No. 1, securing 
our borders; No. 2, creating a legal status for foreign workers and 
foreign students whom we welcome here; and, No. 3, helping prospective 
citizens become Americans.
  The Strengthening American Citizenship Act fulfills that third 
objective. Comprehensive immigration reform must include efforts to 
help new Americans become a part of our national family.
                                 ______