witnesses can not be procured to testify as to all such residence, it may be proved by the oral testimony of two such witnesses for each such place of residence, in addition to the affidavits required by this act to be included in the petition. At the hearing, residence within the United States but outside the county, and the other qualifications required by this subdivision during such residence shall be proved either by depositions made before a naturalization examiner or by the oral testimony of at least two such witnesses for each place of residence.

Mr. Griffin's bill proposes to amend that paragraph by adding at the end thereof the following new sentence:

Except that no person mentally, morally, and otherwise qualified shall be debarred from citizenship by reason of his or her religious views or philosophical opinions with respect to the lawfulness of war as a means of settling international disputes.

Mr. DICKSTEIN. Mr. Griffin is here now.

STATEMENT OF HON. ANTHONY J. GRIFFIN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Griffin, the committee is in session for the purpose of considering your bill, H. R. 3547. We are ready to hear you. How much time will you require?

Mr. GRIFFIN. We have 14 speakers, including myself.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not think we can spare the time to hear so many people.

Mr. GRIFFIN. It will depend altogether upon the courtesy and consideration of the committee. We will be glad to be guided entirely by your wishes in the matter.

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair has here [indicating] a list of letters and telegrams written to the committee. They are placed before the committee. Also, I have a package of telegrams and letters here [indicating] that are in opposition to the bill. A large number of these people want to be heard as witnesses. One hundred or more desire to be heard.

Mr. DICKSTEIN. I do not suppose we can dispose of these hearings to-day. We will have to run along as best we can and hear as many

as we can.

Mr. KERR. Let us limit the time for each side and let each side divide its time.

Mr. DICKSTEIN. I should like to see everybody given an opportunity to say what he has in mind.

Mr. Box. We have not the time to let everybody say all he wants

to say.

The CHAIRMAN. Suppose we run along till 12 o'clock and then see how we stand. Mr. Griffin, you will please proceed.

Mr. GRIFFIN. Mr. Chairman and my colleagues of this committee, Sir Philip Sidney wrote a little ode which runs like this:

Sometimes, when unknown folks surround you,

To whom you are unknown, 'tis fair to mention
Your claims to worth, that they may not confound you
With vulgar folks, but show you due attention.

While I am known to my colleagues of this committee for as long as I have been in the House, which is over 12 years, it is just possible that they have not dug deeper than the mere casual record

in the Congressional Directory. I know the positive attitude that this committee holds in the matter of Americanism, loyalty, devotion to the flag, and so forth, and I hope I may be excused for making a personal allusion to myself. I come down to the present generation from two strains, namely, Holland-Dutch on the maternal side and Irish on the paternal side. My mother's great grandfather fought in the American Revolution. I think with that background I can at least lay claim that I can not, in the very nature of things, lack anything of devotion and loyalty to my country. Let that be coupled also in your minds with the thought that I am far from being a pacifist. I served 12 years in the National Guard and in the United States Army. I was a captain during the Spanish-American War.

I emphasize these facts because there has been a great deal of misapprehension as to the purpose of H. R. 3547. Some have

said:

This bill proposes to give immunities and privileges to naturalized citizens that are not accorded to the native born.

That statement I deny.

This bill has nothing whatever to do with military service in time of war. Let that be understood plainly in the beginning. This bill simply has to do with a state of mind and with an interpretation of an act of Congress itself.

Read the bill carefully and note what it says. It simply provides that no person who is mentally, morally, and otherwise qualified, shall be debarred from citizenship by reason of his or her religious views or philosophical opinions with respect to the lawfulness of war as a means of settling international disputes.

The CHAIRMAN. I find on page 8 of naturalization regulations the third subdivision of section. That is the oath of allegiance. That says, speaking of the alien:

He shall, before he is admitted to citizenship, declare on oath in open court that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he absolutely and entirely renounces and abjures all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly by name to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he was before a citizen or a subject; that he will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

Your bill provides that the fourth subdivision of section 4 of the act of June 29, 1906, shall be amended by adding those words. The fourth subdivision of section 4 of the act of June, 1906, as amended by the act of March 2, 1929, read as follows:

Fourth. No alien shall be admitted to citizenship unless (1) immediately preceding the date of his petition the alien has resided continuously within the United States for at least five years and within the county where the petitioner resided at the time of filing his petition for at least six months, (2) he has resided continuously within the United States from the date of his petition up to the time of his admission to citizenship, and (3) during all the periods referred to in this subdivision he has behaved as a person 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. At the hearing of the petition, residence in the county where the petitioner resides at the time of filing his petition, and the other qualifications