Today, we will consider two bills. The first,H.R. 7, the "Citizenship Reform Act of 1997," was introduced by Brian Bilbray. H.R. 7 would alter the policy of birthright citizenship -- whereby just about every child born on American soil, including the children of illegal aliens, are granted automatic citizenship.

Mr. Bilbray's bill would extend birthright citizenship only to a child born in wedlock to parents either of whom is a citizen, national or permanent resident and to a child born out of wedlock if the child's mother is a citizen, national, or permanent resident.

The United States is one of the few major industrialized countries in the world which still grants automatic citizenship to even the children of illegal immigrants.

England -- the originator of birthright citizenship in feudal times -- reversed course 16 years ago.

It is time for us to reconsider our policy of birthright citizenship. I know this is a sensitive issue. Some argue, though I disagree, that birthright citizenship is anchored in the first section of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that "[a]ll persons born . . . in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States . . . ."

The 14th Amendment is one of the most emotion-laden provisions in the Constitution, for it was written to guarantee citizenship to those formerly held in bondage and their descendants after the Civil War.

But, because of the very real and very deleterious effects of our present policy, change is in order.

What are these real-world effects? Smugglers are bringing pregnant women into this country to give birth so that they can bestow upon their children American citizenship. About 16% of all the births taking place in California each year are to illegal alien mothers.

The County of Los Angeles estimates that almost 200,000 U.S. citizen children of illegal alien and amnestied alien parents living in Los Angeles are collecting $461 million a year in AFDC benefits.

Even apart from quantifiable costs, isn't citizenship devalued when it is given away as a result of criminal activity?

H.R. 7 would do much to discourage illegal immigration and relieve the fiscal burden on states with high numbers of illegal immigrants. And it would make United States policy consistent with the vast majority of countries around the world.

The second bill we will consider, H.R. 1428, the "Voter Eligibility Verification Act," was introduced by Stephen Horn.

Citizens and citizens alone should be allowed to vote in federal elections and thus to chart the course of our nation's future. This right only belongs to those who are native-born or who have naturalized and taken oaths renouncing all allegiance to any other country.

Congress reasserted this age-old maxim last year by making it a deportable offense for an alien to vote in a federal election. Such an act is also a federal crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment.

But how are these provisions to be enforced? How often do aliens vote in federal elections? Both of these questions can be answered only if those officials with responsibility for the voting rolls have a mechanism by which to ascertain who among their registered voters are non-citizens.

Representative Horn's bill, H.R. 1428, proposes such a mechanism. It would allow appropriate Federal, state and local officials to voluntarily verify the citizenship of individuals registered to vote in their jurisdictions -- providing they do not act in a non-uniform or otherwise discriminatory manner.

Under the confirmation system created by the bill, the officials could have their voter rolls checked against Social Security Administration and INS records.

I know there are concerns about whether Social Security and INS databases are reliable enough to do the job and whether they contain the necessary information in an easily accessible format. I also know there are concerns about possible discrimination -- for instance, when only registered voters with certain "ethnic" names are run through the system.

But let us not loose sight of the purpose of this legislation. It is to protect a cherished right of American citizenship -- the right to vote -- from being debased and diluted.

I now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina and ranking minority member, Mr. Watt.

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