I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2513 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prescribe the oath or 

affirmation of renunciation and allegiance required to be naturalized 

as a citizen of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2005 

Mr. RYUN of Kansas (for himself and Mr. FEENEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prescribe 

the oath or affirmation of renunciation and allegiance 

required to be naturalized as a citizen of the United 

States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. OATH OR AFFIRMATION OF RENUNCIATION 

4 AND ALLEGIANCE. 

5 (a) REVISION OF OATH.—Section 337 of the Immi6 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1448) is amend7 ed— 
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1 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘under section 

2 310(b) an oath’’ in the first sentence and all that 

3 follows through the end of the third sentence and in4 serting ‘‘under section 310(b) the oath (or affirma5 tion) of allegiance prescribed in subsection (e).’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub7 section: 

8 ‘‘(e)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the oath 

9 (or affirmation) of allegiance is as follows: ‘I take this oath 

10 solemnly, freely, and without any mental reservation. I en11 tirely renounce all allegiance to any foreign state or power 

12 of which I have been a subject or citizen. My fidelity and 

13 allegiance from this day forward are to the United States 

14 of America. I will bear true faith and allegiance to the 

15 Constitution and laws of the United States, and will sup16 port and defend them against all enemies, foreign and do17 mestic. I will bear arms, or perform noncombatant mili18 tary or civilian service, on behalf of the United States 

19 when required by law. This I do solemnly swear, so help 

20 me God.’. 

21 ‘‘(2) If a person by reason of religious training and 

22 belief (or individual interpretation thereof), or for other 

23 reasons of good conscience, cannot take the oath pre24 scribed in paragraph (1) with the term ‘oath’ or ‘so help 
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1 me God’ included, the person shall take the oath in a 

2 modified form as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) In the case that the person cannot take 

4 the oath with the term ‘oath’ included, the term ‘af5 firmation’ shall be substituted for the term ‘oath’. 

6 ‘‘(B) In the case that the person cannot take 

7 the oath with ‘so help me God’ included, then ‘so 

8 help me God’ shall be omitted. 

9 ‘‘(3) If a person shows by clear and convincing evi10 dence to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that such 

11 person, by reason of religious training and belief, cannot 

12 take the oath prescribed in paragraph (1) with the affir13 mation to bear arms or perform noncombatant military 

14 service, the person shall take the oath in a modified form 

15 as follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) In the case that such person is opposed to 

17 the bearing of arms in the Armed Forces of the 

18 United States, then ‘bear arms, or’ shall be omitted. 

19 ‘‘(B) In the case that such person is opposed to 

20 any type of service in the Armed Forces of the 

21 United States, then ‘bear arms, or’ and ‘noncombat22 ant military or’ shall be omitted. 

23 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘reli24 gious training and belief’ means a belief of an individual 

25 in relation to a Supreme Bring involving duties superior 
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1 to those arising from any human relation, but does not 

2 include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical 

3 views or a merely personal moral code. 

4 ‘‘(5) Any reference in this title to ‘oath’ or ‘oath of 

5 allegiance’ under this section or subsection (a) shall be 

6 deemed to refer to the oath (or affirmation) of allegiance 

7 prescribed under this subsection. ’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is six 

10 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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