Speech #1050022864

U.S. fathere could pass on their citizenship to children born overseas. but U.S. mothers could not. Senator Simon sought. to remedy this gender inequality by automatically granting U.S. citizenship to those individuals born overseas to U.S. mothers before 1934. Under his legislation. the Immigration and Nationality and Technical Corrections Act of 1994. the children of American mothers and foreign fathers became US. citizens. His legislation also contained language to address the third generationthe children of these children. it is likely that the grandchildren of the U.S. mothers and foreign fathers would have been U.S. citizens had their cliildren been U.S. citizens. Therefore. the 1994 law also granted U.S. citlenaship to these grandchildren. This provision granting citizenship to the grandchildren. however. contradicted another section of the Immigration and Nationality Act fINA]. INA states that. in order to transmit U.S. citizenship from a parent to a child born overseas. the parent must have lived in the United States for 10 years. A US. citizen who has a child overseas needs to have lived In the United States over a 30year period to pass on U.S. citizenship to his or her children.