Speech #640217942

Citizenship is of tangible worth. :but the possessor thereof may voluntarily renounce it. even though Cosgress may not .be able to iarbitrarily impose such renunciation. Marriage of an American woman witha foreigner may involve national complications of like kind as physical expatriation may involve. apd is therefore within the control of Congress. Marriage of -an American woman with a foreigner is tantamount to voluntary expatriation. and Congress may without exceeding its -powers .make it so. .as It has. in fact. done by the act of March .2. 1907. (165 California. 776. affirmed.) So .that. if Jcan make this plain. as.I .see.It this is the situation.: We define an "alien" .to be .any person whomsoever who has not been .naturalized or who is not native .born. The committeeundoubtedly thought that covered everybody. but here is presentedthe case of a woman who was native born. but who has expatriated herself by .marrying an .alien. Hence she loses her status as a native born and becomes under the law a subJect of the foreign power to which :her husband owes -allegiance. and is to be treated -as a subject of that -foreign power as much as though she were born there.