Speech #930204082

To compensate for that builtin distortion in perspective that afflicts all native sons. in these times. I recommend to my colleagues a recent article from the Boston Globe by Joy GervilleReache for an uplifting reading experience. In it the author. an editorial writer for the Christian Science Monitor. recounts the recent occurence of an oathtaking ceremony at the John McCormack Federal Building in Boston. in which 59 foreign nationals. herself included. became naturalized citizens of the United States. All 59 of us stood with right hand raised. while the oath of allegiance was administered. The oathtaking strengthened the desire to belong by making me feel wanted. Then the judge spoke. and what he said was warm and moving. He told us that his grandparents were Italian immigrants. "The great strength of this country." Judge Tauro began. "is caused by occasions such as this. when men and women such as yourselves. filled with hope. high expectation and determination. join hands in voluntary association with native Americans in an oath of allegiance to the United States of America." Two aspects of being an American in particularthe duties of democracy and the privilege of prosperityare often clearly known by an immigrant population while the indigenous people often lack the detachment necessary to put the role of allegiance to the Nation in the proper focus. The constant renewal of conscious commitment to the American experiment is perhaps the singlemost important infusion which America receives from its immigrant citizens. As Joy GervilleReache explains it. Its a matter of feeling rather than cold reasoning.