Sen. robert bennett on natural born citizenship 8/4/09
Sen. Robert Bennett interview by Patriot's Heart Network on 4 Aug, 2009. The Honorable Sen. Bennett appears confused and misinformed on the definition of "natural born citizen". There is no definition in the Constitution, nor in any court case, nor is there any US law that specifically defines the term "natural born citizen". Many Constitutional scholars are convinced that the framers got the phrase from Emerich de Vattell's "The Law of Nations". The definition he gives is "those born in the country, of parents [plural] who are citizens". Thankfu…
Vattel was a Swiss monarchist who never recommended elections and who never said that the leader of a country should be a citizen, much less a two-parent-citizen citizen. He gives several examples of countries picking their sovereigns (kings and emperors) from the nobility of other countries, and he never says that that is a bad thing.
The meaning of Natural Born Citizen cannot come from Vattel because it was not used in a translation of Vattel until after the Constitution was approved. But Natural Born appeared in the writings of Blackstone, and in the common law and in the laws of the early states, and it was always used to mean “born in the country.” It was NEVER used to mean “born in the country to two citizen parents.”
All US-born citizens are Natural Born Citizens. That is why such prominent conservative Senators who are also lawyers as Orren Hatch and Lindsay Graham say that a Natural Born Citizen is simply one who was born in the USA:
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), said:
“Every child born in the United States is a natural-born United States citizen except for the children of diplomats.” (December 11, 2008 letter to constituent)
Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), said:
“What is a natural born citizen? Clearly, someone born within the United States or one of its territories is a natural born citizen.” (Senate Judiciary Committee hearing hearing on OCTOBER 5, 2004
The Wall Street Journal put it this way:
“Some birthers imagine that there is a difference between being a “citizen by birth” or a “native citizen” on the one hand and a “natural born” citizen on the other. “Eccentric” is too kind a word for this notion, which is either daft or dishonest. All three terms are identical in meaning.”
Aside from what ann1 said I’ll add this–in the English language (the language the Constitution was written in) a “natural born” _anything_ is someone who is _anything_ from birth. A natural born leader is someone who is born a leader. A natural born killer is someone who is born a killer. A natural born citizen is someone who is born a citizen.
The Oxford English Dictionary is THE internationally recognized authority on the English language and they define it “A quality or position held from birth.”
The way birfoons keep weirdly trying to redefine the term in a transparently desperate effort to argue Obama isn’t eligible is at least amusing, but utterly lacking in substance.