KF26 CONTENTS STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Page Simpson, Hon. Alan K., U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming Simon, Hon. Paul, U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., U.S. Senator from the State of Massachusetts T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Executive Associate Commissioner for Programs, Im- migration and Naturalization Service, Washington, DC; accompanied by Don Crocetti, Associate Commissioner for Examinations, Immigration and Naturalization Service; and David Rosenberg, Director, Citizenship USA, Immigration and Naturalization Service Panel consisting of Paul W. Roberts, chief executive officer, Naturalization Assistance Services, Inc., Lakeland, FL; and Richard Krieger, vice presi- dent, Marich Associates, Inc., Rockville, MD Panel consisting of Michael J. Feuer, director, Board of Testing and Assess- ment, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC; and Bert F. Green, Jr., professor of psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Panel consisting of Rosemary Jenks, director of policy analysis, Center for Immigration Studies, Washington, DC; and Kathi Flynn, immigration su- Panel consisting of John Fonte, visiting scholar, American Enterprise Insti- tute; Lawrence Harrison, professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Douglas Klusmeyer, editor, Stanford Humanities Review Panel consisting of Georgie Anne Geyer, syndicated columnist and author of Americans No More: The Death of Citizenship; Dan Stein, executive director, Federation for American Immigration Reform; and Raul Yzaguirre, Various memos, e-mail notices, letters, and other correspondence Letter containing a list of countries that do not permit dual citizenship Article entitled, "U.S. Students Stumble on Citizenship Test," from the Letter from Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini, city of Dearborn, MI to Letter from Don Bluestone, executive director, Mosholu Montefiore Com- Letter from Cliff Frazier, executive director, New York Metropolitan Mar- tin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolence to Mr. Krieger, dated Letter from Kamla Ramkissoon, site manager, Seva Community Services Letter from Yolanda Vega, director, agency services, Casita Maria Inc., Letter from Rabbi Moshe C. Levin, executive director, Chabad Lubavitch Prepared statement of Lawrence H. Fuchs, co-chair, U.S. Commission Letter from Antonia Hernández, president and general counsel, Mexican- American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), dated Oct. Letter to the editor of the National Review from Charles Kamasaki, senior Prepared statement of Harry P. Pachon, Ph.D., Kenan professor of political studies, Pitzer College/Claremont Graduate School, and president, Tomás Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) Policy Brief, dated October 1996 NATURALIZATION PRACTICES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1996 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in room OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ALAN K. SIMPSON, A U.S. Senator SIMPSON. The hearing will come to order. Good morning. Welcome to a hearing of the Subcommittee on Immigration on INS naturalization practices. There has been quite a bit of notoriety about this issue. I think it is important to leave some kind of a record behind with regard to at least the current situation. Today, the subcommittee will hear testimony from witnesses who are familiar with the practices of the recent past. We will hear from INS, from independent test-givers, from test development experts, and from outside observers. But I think before we turn our attention to the process and all its requirements, we need to be clear why naturalization is so very important. U.S. citizenship is, and should be, a most precious, precious status. I know when I practiced law in Cody, WY, that was one of the most impressive ceremonies when they would appear before the district judge within the District of Wyoming in the small communities to receive this precious status, and it is indeed. Certainly, whether a person is a citizen by birth or by choice, U.S. citizenship is eagerly sought by immigrants from around the globe. Many of us who are born here in the United States take our citizenship for granted. We do not always treasure it as we ought too. It is those who naturalize, who choose America over any "foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty" and promise to "bear true faith and allegiance," it is these newest citizens who remind us of how special American citizenship is. Naturalization is the process which reinforces the bonds among all citizens, and it culminates in the at least formerly impressive ceremony where our Nation welcomes its newest Americans. Please know that the requirements for naturalization are not arbitrary. First, citizenship applicants must reside in the United States for 5 years, 3 years if their spouse is already a citizen; second, be able to speak, to read, and to write English; third, to have knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of U.S. history and the principles of the Government of the United States; and be a person of good moral character attached to the principles of the Constitution, and well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. These requirements are intended to ensure a common framework for Americans and to protect the fundamental institutions that Americans hold dear. These requirements ensure that those who have the privilege of citizenship are able to exercise the responsibilities which accompany it. Some individuals promote American citizenship on the basis of the practical benefits that it brings. Citizens are entitled to several important privileges-the right to vote for representatives in their local, State, and national government; a U.S. passport and all the protection that offers when traveling the world; opportunities for employment in certain Federal jobs and, under the new welfare reforms, access to certain Federal welfare programs. Recently, one individual, a naturalized American, who strongly opposes the recent welfare reforms advocated and adopted by Congress, announced that he will devote $50 million not simply as a private charity to ameliorate hardships that may or may not result from the reforms, which I supported, and many of us did in a bipartisan way, but rather that that money go toward naturalization efforts, which will then guarantee continued access to taxpayerfunded support systems. That is an interesting concept. While there are very practical benefits that derive from U.S. citizenship, and thus from naturalization, they should not, in my view, be the goal. I would hope that the Immigration and Naturalization Service and others who administer the naturalization process will focus on its central purpose; that is, to admit new members into our body politic, persons whose full allegiance is to this Nation and who have shown that they will be able to assume all the responsibilities, people who embrace a common flag and a common language, and that they will then be able to assume the responsibilities, as well as obtain the benefits of that full membership. I am just going to cite a couple of quotes, and I wouldn't let you guess where they came from. Here is one from many years ago during World War I: You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American. That was Woodrow Wilson who said that. I knew you probably thought it was some evil rascal somewhere. Here is another one. It says: We have no 50-50 allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else or he is not an American at all. We Americans are children of the crucible. The crucible does not do its work unless it turns out those cast into it in one national mold. That was Teddy Roosevelt who said that one. He also said: The absolutely one certain way of bringing this Nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German Americans, Irish Americans, English Americans, French Americans, Scandinavian Americans, or Italian Americans each preserving its separate nationality. |