Video: Kaine Speaks on Senate Floor to Express Support for Birthright Citizenship
BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO OF KAINE’S FLOOR SPEECH IS AVAILABLE HERE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a civil rights lawyer and former constitutional law professor, delivered a speech on the Senate floor to express his strong support for the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision and his opposition to President-elect Trump’s recent declaration that he will attempt to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. by executive order on the first day of his term. The President-elect proposed revoking birthright citizenship during his first term in office, which Kaine denounced.
“I rise today to discuss a fundamental question: who is a citizen of the United States?” Kaine asked. “My comments are inspired by an interview given recently by the President-elect in which he announced that he would try to end birthright citizenship on day one of his presidency.”
Kaine then went on to share the history of the citizenship clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The amendment was ratified in July 1868 following the Civil War and overturned the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision by granting citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil regardless of race. The Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment in the 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Kaine continued, “Birthright citizenship means that you are a U.S. citizen if you are born in America. Your right to citizenship does not depend upon the status of your parents.”
“I would argue that the U.S. has been the leader of a global movement to embrace birthright citizenship,” said Kaine. “In future weeks, I’ll return to the Senate floor to describe the many benefits that birthright citizenship has bestowed on our nation, and I’ll do so by telling the stories of Americans born to immigrant parents whose contributions have enriched this country and even enriched the place we stand today—the United States Senate.”
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