Proud to be an American Citizen Act
PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN CITIZEN ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 25, 2006)
Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, as the original sponsor of H.R. 5323, I commend the House far adopting the Proud to Be An American Citizen Act.
I want to thank Chairman SENSENBRENNER and Ranking Member CONYERS of the Judiciary Committee for their support of this bill, as well as Mr. HOBSON of Ohio for his original co-sponsorship.
H.R. 5323 provides authorization for Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) to support community citizenship ceremonies. A similar provision was enacted into law in the 1996 immigration reform bill, but has since expired.
CIS reports that more than 28,000 new citizens will be sworn in at 133 citizenship ceremonies around the country. These ceremonies are marked by Democrats and Republicans alike. Not only have many of us participated in these ceremonies, but throughout the years, so have President Bush, Madeline Albright, Ronald Reagan, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
H.R. 5323 recognizes those immigrants who have played by the rules and been through this country's rigorous immigration screening process. Legal immigrants have earned their citizenship after years of waiting, high fees, learning English, and a passing grade on a citizenship test. The culmination of this all is taking the Oath of Citizenship.
Every year in my district around the 4th of July, I host a Citizenship Ceremony. This past year, 120 immigrants from China, Fiji Island, Algeria, Canada and other countries took their Oath, and sang our National Anthem and America the Beautiful in a community wide celebration.
Just this month, CIS and the Department of the Interior's National Park Service announced a partnership to welcome new citizens to the U.S. via national parks. In the last week, citizenship ceremonies have been held at Ellis Island National Park in New York to Yosemite National Park in California.
All of us can look back to our own families and find the first generation immigrants. Let us welcome new citizens as we would have wanted our ancestors to be welcomed.
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