Decoration Committee: 1. Chairman: Chosen by the members. 2. Duties: Arrange for flags to be displayed from municipal buildings, Promote special window displays in stores for the final day. Provide special decorations for homes of new voters. Arrange for decorations along line of march of the parade. Provide for decorations at place where induction ceremony is held, other than those arranged by Program Committee. Cooperate with Parade Committee in decorating floats. Parade Committee: 1. Chairman: Chosen by the members. 2. Duties: Obtain permit for parade from civic authorities. Plan and supervise the parade. Select theme to be presented by floats. Approve number and type of floats. Arrange parade routes. Approve marching units: color bearers, new voters units, bands, military units. Provide or approve banners for marching units. Keep parade free of clowning and frivolity. Make parade both beautiful and instructive. Supervise preparation of units in the parade to make sure of good spacing and marching form. Traffic, Safety, and Emergency Committee: 1. Members: Representatives of police and fire departments, county sheriff, highway police, Boy Scouts, and veterans. 2. Chairman: Chosen by the members. 3. Duties: Be responsible for traffic control, handling of parking, and having parade route closed and supervised. See that safety is promoted on the streets and where final ceremonies are held. Provide first-aid and ambulance service for emergencies. Keep order at place of induction ceremonies. Trafic, Safety, and Emergency Committee Continued 3. Duties Continued Plan and supervise a safe and quick way of getting the crowd into and away from the parade area and place where final ceremonies are held. Records Committee: 1. Chairman: Chosen by the members. 2. Duties: Keep a record of the proceedings of all committees. Keep chronological record of whole program as a guide for the a. Committee reports with suggestions for future programs. b. Scrapbook of publicity. c. Copies of instructional materials. d. Copies of radio scripts. e. Copies of addresses given at the induction ceremony. f. List of new voters. g. Copy of program of final ceremony. h. Copy of marching plan of the parade. i. Pictures of various phases of the project. Directory Committee: 1. Chairman: Chosen by the members. 2. Duties: Compile a list of all organizations in the area served, including both private and governmental groups. Acquaint these organizations with the proposed plans. Arrange for these groups to participate in planning and carrying out the project. PROGRAM (Suggested by the Committee on American Citizenship of the At the day and time appointed for the ceremony of naturalization the persons to be naturalized shall take seats in the body of the court room. The crier of the court shall say: the The Honorable, the Judges of the United States District Court for Oyez! District of Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business with the Honorable, The United States District Court for the of District are admonished to draw near and give their attention for the court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court. The judges of the court shall take their places on the bench. Then the designated examiner shall say: May it please the court, the Constitution of the United States empowers Congress to establish a uniform rule of naturalization throughout the United States. Our fathers did not seek to keep America for themselves. They did not rest their hopes for the future on a single generation or a single nationality. On the contrary, they believed that ordinary people of any nationality, if they can agree about fundamental principles and are willing to fight, if necessary, in order to preserve them, are wise enough to make self government practicable and strong enough to make self government safe. Since 1790 our laws have provided continuously for the naturalization of aliens, and every generation of Americans has been enriched by persons who have come to this country from abroad, eager to share in the blessings that America has to bestow on the terms on which she is willing to bestow them. In accordance with laws passed under the authority of the Constitution I now move that the petitions for naturalization filed by the following persons be granted. The designated examiner shall read the names of the persons or shall present to the court a list containing their names. Then the presiding judge shall say: Has it been shown to the satisfaction of the Department of Justice that these petitioners have resided within the United States during the periods required by the Acts of Congress and that during all of these periods they have been and still are persons of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States and have met all the other requirements for naturalization? 2 Then the designated examiner shall say: On behalf of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice I am authorized to say that this showing has been made. The presiding judge shall say: The motion is granted. As it was given to our fathers in old times and as our fathers have given to us, so we give. The petitioners will rise. Article I, Section 8. 28 U. S. C. 1427. The petitioners having risen, the presiding judge shall say: You are about to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. This oath has two parts. In the first part you will absolutely and entirely renounce allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty. These words are plain. The oath means what it says. When you have taken it you will owe all your allegiance to the United States. The natural allegiance by which you have been hitherto bound will be destroyed as completely as if it had never existed. I charge you that if any person among you has a different intention in taking the oath you reveal it now to the end that the petition for naturalization filed by that person may be withdrawn or dismissed. If there is no answer, the presiding judge shall say: In the second part of the oath you will swear to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Our fathers came to America from many lands. They wanted many things-the opportunity to work and to acquire property, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences, freedom of speech, freedom from imprisonment without a fair trial. These wants were afterwards summed up in the Declaration of Independence in the statements that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. The rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence are moral rights. Our fathers wanted to make them political rights as well. Therefore they built the politics of the Constitution of the United States on the morals of the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution is the instrument by which the people of the United States instituted the form of government under which we are living. Their purposes in doing so as set forth in the preamble were to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity. The Constitution has been changed from time to time in the past and will perhaps be changed from time to time in the future. But the principles of the Constitution as our fathers expressed them have never been changed. If we thought that you did not agree with these principles we would not want you as fellow citizens. Because we are persuaded that you do agree with them-because we believe that you will keep your oath to support and defend the Constitution, no matter what it may cost in blood or in money-we are about to admit you to the privileges of native-born Americans. In your new dignity you will not be known as subjects. You will be known as citizens-and if citizens then joint heirs with your fellows of the great Americans by whom the Constitution was ordained. Do not be deceived. Every privilege begets a corresponding duty. We promise you the pursuit of happiness. We do not promise you happiness. We promise you equality of opportunity. We do not promise you riches. We promise you freedom of speech. We do not promise you wisdom. We promise you liberty. We do not promise you peace. Then the presiding judge shall say: The petitioners will come forward to the bar of the court. The petitioners, either together or in groups of convenient size, shall then go forward to the bar of the court. When they have done so the presiding judge shall administer the oath of allegiance in the following form. You hereby declare, on oath, that you absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which you have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that you will support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America against all the enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that you will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that you will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. So help you God." The petitioners shall severally answer: "I do." Following the administration of the oath the newly naturalized citizens may, if desired, resume their seats in the court room and someone designated by the presiding judge may deliver an additional address upon the form and genius of our government and the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.* 38 U. S. C. 1448. The Immigration and Nationality Act permits, under certain circumstances, the taking of this oath without the clauses relating to bearing arms and performing noncombatant service. 4 36 U. S. C. 154. |