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[Congressional Record: October 19, 2000 (Senate)]
[Page S10843]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr19oc00-306]
EDUCATION LAND GRANT ACT
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Chair lay
before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on the
bill (S. 2812).
There being no objection, the Presiding Officer laid before the
Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:
Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 2812) entitled
``An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to
provide a waiver of the oath of renunciation and allegiance
for naturalization of aliens having certain disabilities'',
do pass with the following amendment:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. WAIVER OF OATH OF RENUNCIATION AND ALLEGIANCE FOR
NATURALIZATION OF ALIENS HAVING CERTAIN
DISABILITIES.
Section 337(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1448(a)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``The Attorney General may waive the taking of the oath by a
person if in the opinion of the Attorney General the person
is unable to understand, or to communicate an understanding
of, its meaning because of a physical or developmental
disability or mental impairment. If the Attorney General
waives the taking of the oath by a person under the preceding
sentence, the person shall be considered to have met the
requirements of section 316(a)(3) with respect to attachment
to the principles of the Constitution and well disposition to
the good order and happiness of the United States.''.
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendment made by section 1 shall apply to persons
applying for naturalization before, on, or after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to thank my colleagues for
unanimously agreeing to pass S. 2812, a bill introduced earlier this
year by Senator hatch and myself to amend the Immigration and
nationality Act to eliminate a barrier that has prevented persons with
certain mental disabilities from becoming United States citizens. By
passing this bill today, Congress will make our immigration policy more
fair and more humane.
The bill we will pass today will not dramatically change or improve
our immigration policies--that work remains to be done--but this bill
will make a big difference in the lives of a few American families--
families like the Dowds, the Costas, the Wickers, and the Teixlers of
Connecticut. Back in July, I explained why we need to pass this
legislation. I told a story about a young man named Mathieu. Mathieu's
family--his mother, his father, and his sister--have all become
naturalized U.S. citizens. But Mathieu has not been allowed to become a
citizen because he's a 23-year-old autistic man who cannot swear an
oath of loyalty to the United States, which is required as part of the
naturalization process. His naturalization request has been in limbo
since November of 1996 because Mathieu could not understand some of the
questions he was asked by the INS agent processing his application for
citizenship. For years Mathieu's mother has lived in fear that her most
vulnerable child could be removed from the country and sent to a nation
that he hardly knows, and where he has no family or friends.
As I explained in July, Mathieu's mother--again, a United States
citizen--wants what every American in her position would want. She
wants to know that all of her children, including her most vulnerable
child, will have the protections of citizenship. Mathieu's life is
here. His friends and caregivers are here. His family is here.
Mathieu's place is here, and now, with the passage of this bill,
Mathieu's mother can rest easy because Mathieu can join the rest of his
family as a U.S. citizen.
This legislation has not been the subject of great debate, but it is
an important correction for us to make. I thank Catherine Cushman, and
attorney who works for the Connecticut Office of Protection and
Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, for bringing this issue to my
attention. I also thank Catholic Charities, USA for their guidance and
expertise on this matter. Finally, I thank Senator Hatch, Senator
DeWine, Senator Feingold, Senator Feinstein, Senator Kennedy, and
Senator Kohl for their support of this bill.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
agree to the amendment of the House.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
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