Lawmakers weigh foreign-born as president
Associated
Press | October 6 2004
WASHINGTON -- It's not about Arnold, lawmakers
indicated. But the California governor was certainly one of the rising stars
on many minds Tuesday as a Senate panel talked about amending the Constitution
to let immigrants occupy the White House.
Measures discussed by the senators would remove the prohibition
against foreign-born presidents, opening the job to Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, along with millions of others.
"This restriction has become an anachronism that is
decidedly un-American," said Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Hatch and other lawmakers barely mentioned the Austrian-born
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, or the Canadian-born Granholm, a Democrat. But
both have said they support changing the Constitution, and Schwarzenegger's
starring role at the Republican National Convention left Republicans buzzing.
"This hearing would certainly not be complete if the
name of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was not mentioned at least once, but
of course he is just one famous example," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,
R-Calif.
Hatch, Rohrabacher and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., have proposed amending
the Constitution to allow immigrants to run for president after being citizens
for 20 years. A measure sponsored by Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., would require
35 years.
Schwarzenegger became a citizen in 1983, Granholm in 1980.
Amending the Constitution would require two-thirds majority
votes in the House and Senate, then approval by three-fourths of states.
The presidency was the one office the founding fathers barred
to immigrants, apparently driven by concerns of foreign meddling or a resumption
of monarchy, according to scholars who testified Tuesday. Those fears are
outdated, they said.
California's senior senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein,
was the one lawmaker to express strong reservations. The requirement "may
not be a bad thing, it may be a strengthening thing," she said.
The Democrat said later her concerns had nothing to do with
Schwarzenegger.
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