Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment
- Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment
The Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment, also known as the Hatch Amendment, is a United States constitutional amendment proposed in July 2003 by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to repeal the natural-born citizen clause prohibiting foreign-born individuals from holding the office of President or Vice President of the United States. Hatch's amendment would allow anyone who has been a US citizen for twenty years to seek these offices. In the wake of the California recall election, 2003, this proposal is widely seen as an attempt to make California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (naturalized in 1983) eligible for the presidency and is sometimes nicknamed "Arnold bill". However, there are other politicians who were not born as American citizens and therefore would benefit from such an amendment. Notables include Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, Florida Senator Mel Martinez, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and before his death, California Congressman Tom Lantos. The text of the amendment reads as follows:
quotation
Section 1. A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been for 20 years a citizen of the United States, and who is otherwise eligible to the Office of President, is not ineligible to that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.
Section 2. This article shall not take effect unless it has been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States not later than 7 years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
External links
* Jerry Spangler: [http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595096558,00.html Hatch is pushing Arnold bill] , "Deseret Morning News" 7 October 2004
* [http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=1223 Statement of Senator Orrin G. Hatch before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on “Maximizing Voter Choice: Opening the Presidency to Naturalized Americans”]
* John Dean: [http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20041008.html The Pernicious "Natural Born" Clause of the Constitution: Why Immigrants Like Governors Schwarzenegger and Granholm Ought to be Able to Become Presidents] , 8 October 2004
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Hatch Amendment — may refer to U.S. laws such as: *Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment (2003) *Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (1978) … Wikipedia
Orrin Hatch — United States Senator from Utah Incumbent Assumed office … Wikipedia
List of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution — This is an incomplete list of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution, in reverse chronological order.Many amendments are proposed every year. Most never get out of Congressional committees. Few of the amendments below passed even… … Wikipedia
Natural-born citizen — is a term used in some countries to describe a certain kind of citizenship in terms of a requirement for eligibility to serve as head of state of a given country. It is mentioned in the United States Constitution as a requirement for the… … Wikipedia
Natural-born-citizen clause of the U.S. Constitution — Part of the constitutional provision as it appeared in 1787 Status as a natural born citizen of the United States is one of the eligibility requirements established in the United States Constitution for election to the office of President or Vice … Wikipedia
Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger — Arnold Schwarzenegger was first elected as Governor of California in the 2003 recall elections and won re election in 2006. It is the first elected office he has held, but was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the President s Council on… … Wikipedia
United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… … Universalium
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, country in N. America. This article is arranged according to the following outline: introduction Colonial Era, 1654–1776 Early National Period, 1776–1820 German Jewish Period, 1820–1880 East European Jewish Period,… … Encyclopedia of Judaism
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — states parties … Wikipedia
Patsy Mink — Infobox Congressman full name = Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink imagesize = 200px date of birth = birth date|1927|12|6 place of birth = Maui, Hawaii date of death = death date and age|2002|09|28|1927|12|6 place of death = Honolulu, Hawaii state =… … Wikipedia
