 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The administration contends that the oath can be improved, because some of its language is antiquated. But that opinion is far from universal. "I like the character of the current oath," says Alexander. "It has strength and clarity. Some of its language goes back to 1790. It reads like something rowdy patriots in Philadelphia or Williamsburg would have written, not an English professor in 2003." Former Attorney General Ed Meese of the Heritage Foundation also has raised concerns about the revision. So has the Citizenship Roundtable, a project of the American Legion and the Hudson Institute. Wednesday was Citizenship Day — the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution — and also the day the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services had intended to unveil the new oath at an event in Washington, D.C. The agency wanted to swear in immigrants for the first time using the revised language, which was to take effect immediately and replace America's old Oath of Allegiance by bureaucratic fiat. The event was held and immigrants were sworn in as citizens — but they were sworn in with the same oath the government has been using for half a century. "Surprisingly, Congress has never voted on the content of this oath," says Alexander. "We have left it to federal regulators. It's time to protect it." In a speech last week — on September 11, no less — Alexander compared the Oath of Allegiance to other key symbols of American identity, including the American flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, and the National Motto. The difference, he noted, is that the actual words of the oath are not a part of federal law, though the oath's content is guided by five principles that are. "The oath needs legal protection," says Alexander. "If this revision had come up during the Clinton administration, there's no telling what it would have said — there would probably be language about multicultural education or global education or something." Alexander's legislation would stop that from happening. Any changes in the future would have to be approved by Congress. The bill already has 29 cosponsors, all of them Republicans. "I'm hoping to get some Democrats on board as well," says Alexander. |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
<% dim printurl
printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>
