Speech #1140013393

Because of that litigation and interpretation. in order for those American Indian children to be recognized as American citizens. it actually took specific congressional action. and Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. I believe that goes directly to this issue that this practice is not embedded in the Constitution and in the 14th Amendment. and so that allows the statutory fix my language would offer. Senator HARRY REID. the minority leader. actually introduced a bill in 1993 titled the "Immigration Stabilization Act." which included nearly identical language to my amendment and standalone bill. This language has broad support in the country. including broad bipartisan support. In Senator REIDs billnow that is going back a waysit stated "in the exercise of its powers under section 5 of the 14th article of the amendment to the Constitution of the United States. the Congress has determined and hereby declares that any person born after the date of enactment of this title to a mother who is neither a citizen of the United States nor admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident will not be a U.S. citizen." So there we have language from a leading Democratic Member that goes to the same issue. There is broad bipartisan support. not just in the Congress but in the country for this fix. particularly in the context of these huge illegal alien flows into the country. I believe Americans recognize that we cannot continue to adopt and recognize this policy. It is an enormous magnet for the continuing flows of illegal aliens into the country. It brings up industries such as this shadowy world of birth tourism which was recently raided by Federal authorities. It puts those mothers and families in the hands of very unsavory criminal elements in many cases. and we should not allow this to continue. My amendment would stop that practice. stop those abuses. and stop encouraging those flows of illegal aliens. I strongly encourage the Senate to directly consider this amendment. vote on it. and to adopt it as part of this very important underlying bill. Finally. I ask unanimous consent to have two letters that were written by leading groups on immigration reform. FAIR and the Eagle Forum. printed in the RECORD. They are in strong support of this measure.