Posted on 09/15/2004 2:29:34 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - A California Republican congressman introduced a constitutional amendment Wednesday that would allow Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president. But he insisted the candidate he really wants to see is a 76-year-old House Democrat from Hungary.
"There are those here today who will interpret this constitutional proposal permitting naturalized citizens to serve as president as a political ploy," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, an early supporter of Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial bid, said in remarks prepared for the House floor.
"This is no ploy. I honestly believe that Tom Lantos should be able to seek the highest office in the land, just like any other elected official."
Lantos, D-Calif., who's served in the House for more than two decades, said he was flattered but saw no need to amend the Constitution.
"However, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is re-established in the United States, I will invite Arnold Schwarzenegger to be my lieutenant," he said.
Joking aside, Rohrabacher said in an interview that Schwarzenegger is doing a great job as governor and voters might want to elect him president one day. But the Orange County lawmaker said that was just a short-term benefit to his proposal to allow anyone who's been a citizen for 20 years or more to be eligible to run for president.
"We've got some talented people who might be able to help our country and provide some much-needed leadership, and there's no reason if they've been a citizen for over 20 years to exclude them," Rohrabacher said.
His proposed amendment has companion legislation in the Senate authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Schwarzenegger, who became a citizen in 1983, has said he supports amending the Constitution so he and other foreign-born citizens could be president. But he's sidestepped questions about whether he might want to run, saying he's focused on governing California.
It takes two-thirds majority votes in both the House and the Senate for Congress to propose a constitutional amendment, and then three-fourths of states must pass it, too.
Right up there with McCain-Feingold... :-}
Its not going to go anywhere. This is just my local Congressman scratching Arnold's back.
---precisely---
Tom Lantos ???
A raving lunatic communist for president?
And porobably will be running as a republican by then - this country has gone to S**T!
What? That's UNAmerican!
That will have to be a consitutional amendment, so it ain't going to happen.
No
Dana, I love you, but please don't do this.
I like Dana and will vote for him, but sometimes I think he's been bonked on the coconut with his surfboard once too often.
nyah
Early in the last century we had a bunch of amendments and we wound up prohibition, the income tax and Senators who were no longer accountable to their States.
We should also let the dead run for president, afterall they do vote quite often.
So9
If one were to consider one of the main reasons that only American born citizens can become President, the idea of an amendment allowing foreign born citizens wouldn't seem like such a big deal. One of the reasons only American born citizens can hold the office is to prevent a potential conflict of interest, and to keep foreign nationals from moving here, naturalizing and taking office only to turn against us in favor of their country.
And then we have John Kerry. He's doing what we fear most, and he IS an American born citizen. So if someone like Kerry is allowed to hold the office, despite being a traitor who would hand us over in a heartbeat, then the idea of a foreign national isn't so bad.
In no way am I supporting a move to allow anyone born on foreign soil into the White House. It's just a point to ponder.
Good point, Isabelle...
Will our future President be required to speak English?
Nutcase Hatch as advocated this, along with
==allowing illegals to vote in our elections
==blowing up computers that download music illegally.
[If such a bill ever passes and foreigners are allowed to run for the Presidency and/or vote in our elections, we are finished as a sovereign nation.]
OH NO
I like Arnoldddd but I dont' think we should amend that part of the consitution
NOOOO WAYYYY
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