II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1087 

To amend section 337 of 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2005 

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend section 337 of 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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•S 1087 IS

1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘under section 

2 310(b) an oath’’ and all that follows through ‘‘per3 sonal moral code.’’ and inserting ‘‘under section 

4 310(b), the oath (or affirmation) of allegiance pre5 scribed 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 prescribed in this subsection 

10 is as follows: ‘I take this oath solemnly, freely, and without 

11 any mental reservation. I entirely renounce all allegiance 

12 to any foreign state or power of which I have been a sub13 ject or citizen. My fidelity and allegiance from this day 

14 forward are to the United States of America. I will bear 

15 true faith and allegiance to the Constitution and laws of 

16 the United States, and will support and defend them 

17 against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will bear arms, 

18 or perform noncombatant military or civilian service, on 

19 behalf of the United States when required by law. This 

20 I do solemnly swear, so help 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)— 
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•S 1087 IS

1 ‘‘(A) with the term ‘oath’ included, the term 

2 ‘affirmation’ shall be substituted for the term ‘oath’; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) with the phrase ‘so help me God’ included, 

5 the phrase ‘so help me God’ shall be omitted. 

6 ‘‘(3) If a person shows by clear and convincing evi7 dence to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that such 

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

9 take the oath prescribed in paragraph (1)— 

10 ‘‘(A) because such person is opposed to the 

11 bearing of arms in the Armed Forces of the United 

12 States, the words ‘bear arms, or’ shall be omitted; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) because such person is opposed to any 

15 type of service in the Armed Forces of the United 

16 States, the words ‘bear arms, or’ and ‘noncombatant 

17 military or’ shall be omitted. 

18 ‘‘(4) As used in this subsection, the term ‘religious 

19 training and belief’— 

20 ‘‘(A) means a belief of an individual in relation 

21 to a Supreme Bring involving duties superior to 

22 those arising from any human relation; and 

23 ‘‘(B) does not include essentially political, socio24 logical, or philosophical views or a merely personal 

25 moral code. 
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•S 1087 IS

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

2 allegiance’ under this section shall be deemed to refer to 

3 the oath (or affirmation) of allegiance prescribed under 

4 this subsection.’’. 

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

6 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 6 

7 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

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