For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 10, 2001
Remarks by the President
At INS Naturalization Ceremony Ellis Island New York, New York
10:55 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very
much, Mr. Attorney General. I appreciate your kind words,
and I appreciate your service to America. My fellow
Americans who stand behind us, congratulations. (Applause.)
Just a few minutes ago I was the leader of
another country. Now it's my honor to speak to you as the
leader of your country. And the great thing about America is
you don't have to listen unless you want to. (Laughter.)
Governor Pataki, it's great to be with
you. Mayor Giuliani, thank you both for your kind
comments. Senator Schumer -- Charles Ellis Schumer, who was
named for Ellis Island -- and Senator Clinton, thank you all for being
here. Congressman Fossella and Congresswoman Moloney, thank
you for being here. Assistant Attorney General Dinh, thank
you for your service to our country. I made a great
appointment when I picked him. Silvia Sanchez, thank you for
singing the National Anthem.
And ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to be
here. I'm pleased to be joined by two members of my Cabinet
who are Americans by choice -- Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel
Martinez. (Applause.)
This little piece of land, less than 30 acres
in all, is like no other place in America. Twelve million
souls arrived here, and would speak of the experience for the rest of
their lives. They remembered the difficulties along with the
joys. They remembered the long lines -- never longer than on
a single day in 1907, when more than 11,000 new immigrants filed
through this hall. They remembered how loud it was here, and
how confusing.
There was no president to greet them, only
people with clipboards, stethoscopes, and a lot of
questions. A man from Italy describes seeing the Statue of
Liberty for the first time. He said, "The thrill was
unbelievable, but always the fear because you had to go through Ellis
Island."
For all that, they kept hoping, they kept
believing, and they kept coming. And 100 million Americans
can draw a straight line from the life they know today to a moment in
this hall, when a name was called and a person took the first step
toward citizenship in the United States of America. Each of
you took that first step sometime ago. Several of you have
been here for decades.
This group of new Americans includes students,
teachers, a restaurant owner, a professor, a bartender, an insurance
agent, a doctor, and a violinist. For all of you, the oath
of citizenship is more than a formality. And today, America
is more than your home; it's your country. This is one of the things
that makes our country so unique. With a single oath, all at
once you become as fully American as the most direct descendant of a
founding father.
The founders themselves decided that when they
declared independence and wrote our Constitution. You see,
citizenship is not limited by birth or background. America
at its best is a welcoming society. We welcome not only
immigrants themselves, but the many gifts they bring and the values
they live by. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants take the
oath of citizenship every year. Each has come not only to
take, but to give. They come asking for a chance to work
hard, support their families, and to rise in the world. And,
together, they make our nation more, not less, American.
Immigration is not a problem to be
solved. It is a sign of a confident and successful
nation. And people who seek to make America their home
should be met in that spirit by representatives of our government. New
arrivals should be greeted not with suspicion and resentment, but with
openness and courtesy.
As many immigrants can testify, that standard
has not always been observed. For those seeking entry, the
process is often a prolonged ordeal full of complexities and
burdens. I'm committed to changing this with INS reforms
that treat every immigrant with respect and fairness.
Today, here's the goal for the
INS: a six-month standard from start to finish for
processing applications for immigration. It won't be
achievable in every case, but it's the standard of this administration
and I expect the INS to meet it. (Applause.)
Not every applicant is entitled to admission,
but every applicant is entitled to a timely and courteous review of his
or her case. We can help legal immigrants in other
ways. If a child's parent and financial sponsor should pass
away, we should permit the other parent to take over as a
sponsor. And in the case of a minor child, entitlement to a
visa should be measured by the age on the date of the application, not
on the date the INS has finally processed the visa.
And we should spare families the hardship of
separation while one member is awaiting a green card. I
support providing an extension of the temporary window that allows
people to file for legal residency without having to return to their
country of origin. And I urge the members of the United
States Congress to act swiftly on 245-I reform. (Applause.)
In the life of an immigrant, citizenship is a
defining event. In the life of our nation, new citizens
bring renewal. By taking an oath, as you have done today,
immigrants affirm a belief in the American creed. For most
Americans, there's no formal moment of affirmation. But to
each of us fall the same responsibilities. Our democracy's
sustained by the moral commitments we share: reverence for justice and
obedience to the law, tolerance and decent respect for the opinions of
others, responsibility not only to ourselves, but for our families and
neighborhoods, love of country -- shown not in prideful boasts, but in
modest gratitude, and an active concern for our nation's future.
That future depends on the values of
self-government, our sense of duty, loyalty, self-confidence and regard
for the common good. We're a diverse country, and getting
more diverse. And these virtues are what keeps this great
country together. Believing in them and living by them, this
great land will always be united. (Applause.)
When they left behind the old world, the
millions who landed here at Ellis Island came with a vision of a better
life. They sought more than economic opportunity, but that
was surely part of it. They wanted more than political
freedom, though that was crucial. Above all, they wanted the
rights, the duties and the dignity of American
citizenship. This place is now a museum, but it stands for a
living tradition. And on Ellis Island today, the great hope
of America is renewed.
Since becoming the President, I've gotten to
do a lot of really fascinating things. There's nothing like
-- quite like the event this morning. So will you please
join me, and rise, as we say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Right hand up, please. Actually,
right hand on your heart.
(The pledge was repeated.)
Congratulations. (Applause.)
END
11:07 A.M. EDT
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