More than two dozen House Republicans have proposed a bill that would prevent the Obama administration from changing the Oath of Allegiance that people take when becoming naturalized U.S. citizens.
The bill from Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., is a reaction to last week's announcement that the Obama administration's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wants to water down the oath. USCIS has said it will not require naturalized citizens to say they will "bear arms on behalf of the United States" or "perform noncombatant service."
The agency said it made the change to accommodate people's religion or conscientious objection. It said officials administering the naturalization oath are free to let people avoid those phrases if they claim to have a "deeply held moral or ethical code."
But the move angered many conservatives, who said the change further weakens U.S. immigration rules by giving people citizenship rights in the United States without some of the corresponding responsibilities to defend the nation. Black said Congress needs to ensure the Obama administration doesn't create a wave of naturalized citizens who don't feel obligated to defend the country they have adopted as their new home.
"The Oath of Allegiance exists for a reason," Black said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "While our courts have long allowed exemptions to portions of this oath for those with deeply held religious and moral objections, the new guidelines from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services essentially amount to an exception for anyone who wants one."
"[T]o think that broad swaths of immigrants would be granted citizenship without reciting a complete Oath of Allegiance and without even providing attestation of their objection is completely nonsensical — even for this administration and its liberal immigration priorities," she added.
In addition to Black, the bill was co-sponsored by 32 other House Republicans as of Thursday.
USCIS said it was accepting comments from the public on its proposed change. Comments can be submitted to: ope.feedback@uscis.dhs.gov.
The current naturalization oath reads as follows:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
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