Chris Dodd: “I rise with Senator Hatch, Senator Feingold, Senator Kennedy, Senator DeWine, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Kohl to…”

“I rise with Senator Hatch, Senator Feingold, Senator Kennedy, Senator DeWine, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Kohl to introduce a bill to resolve a rare but serious problem for some American families. I want to tell you a story about a young man named Mathieu, a resident of Connecticut. Mathieu's family--his mother, his father, and his sister--have all become naturalized U.S. citizens. But Mathieu has not been allowed to become a citizen because he's a 23-year-old low-functioning autistic man who cannot meet a very technical requirement of the naturalization process, namely that he be able to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States. His naturalization request has been in limbo since November of 1996 because Mathieu could not understand some of the questions he was asked by the INS agent processing his application for citizenship. All of the other members of Mathieu's family have become U.S. citizens. Now Mathieu's mother lives with the fear that when she dies her most vulnerable child could be removed from the country and sent to a nation that he hardly knows, and where he has no family and no friends. Mathieu's mother--again, an American citizen--wants what every American wants--she wants to know that her child will be treated fairly by her government even when she's no longer capable of taking care of him herself. Mathieu's life is here. His friends and caregivers are here. His family is here.”