ICYMI: Congresswoman Simon Calls Out Republicans’ Continued Attacks to 14th Amendment and Delivers Opening Statement at House Oversight Committee Task Force Hearing on[...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, the House Oversight Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses held a hearing on "Protecting American Citizenship: Confronting Birth Tourism." As the top Democrat on the Task Force, Congresswoman Simon highlighted how birth tourism is already illegal and pointed out Republicans' more sinister goal to conflate visa fraud and birthright citizenship to undermine the 14^th Amendment and who is defined as "American" in the United States.

In case you missed it, Congresswoman Simon's opening remarks can be found below.

"Today's hearing is being presented as a conversation about birth tourism, which is already illegal. It is illegal, and it is rare for someone to obtain a Visa to come to the United States for the primary purpose of giving birth so that their child receives citizenship. It is illegal and rare for businesses to market birth tourism services to expectant parents abroad. Accordingly, one of our witnesses here today is already under criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

"The Republicans have a much bigger and more sinister goal for this hearing today. Our Chairman [Brandon Gill] is asserting and conflating Visa fraud and birthright citizenship so that our President and Stephen Miller can continue their campaign to rewrite the constitution and change the ethnic makeup of this country to one that they prefer. The Chairman has introduced H.R. 9854, 'The Citizenship Act of 2026,' legislation that would gut the constitutional right to citizenship for children born here in the United States. Additionally, he has argued that the 14th amendment was written for formerly enslaved people and their children - and nothing more.

"Well, Mr. Chairman, as a direct descendant of enslaved Africans who is now serving in the United States Congress, I would like to correct your history. It was in the mid-1860s that Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois first drafted citizenship language that would later form the basis of the 14th amendment. His initial version applies specifically to people of African descent; then a day later he replaced that language with a guarantee for all persons born in the United States. That was not an accident.In July of this year, the Supreme Court of the United States reiterated that. And it is settled law. I have to wonder if your team [Republicans] studied that history, because the Members of the United States Congress who wrote the guarantee made a deliberate decision to not limit American citizenship by race, by ancestry, or the circumstance of a child's parents.

"160 years later, Chairman [Gill's] legislation would gut the intentional and inclusive guarantee [of the 14^th Amendment], by labeling by people as 'invaders.' Mr. Chairman, your bill attempts to apply the concept [of invader] to a volunteer firefighter, a pastor who provided shelter and food and clothing for those in need, a beloved daycare teacher, a nurse who cares for dialysis patients, a five-year-old in a bunny hat [Liam Conejo Ramos]. These are our neighbors, not a foreign army.

"The real threat is our President's decision to pull more than 25,000 members of law enforcement away from their jobs across the country, fighting drugs and child exploitation and human trafficking and terrorism, so that they can instead go after peaceful mothers and fathers and children. Mr. Chairman's bill [H.R. 9854] and this hearing today are a clear attempt to formally create a caste system here in the United States of America. Their [Republican] vision would bar American-born children from the American dream and from fully participating in American life. It is decidedly un-American. These are babies, children born in the United States.

"This task force, which purports to be about defending constitutional rights, has no place in potently attempting to dictate American born children who deserve citizenship and who doesn't - especially when the same politicians calling these children 'a burden' have voted to cut food assistance for millions of Americans in Texas alone. More than 344,000 babies have lost their SNAP benefits in the last year. Now, if we care about children, let's care about children.

"The 14th amendment was written in the aftermath of slavery, because this country had learned at an extraordinary cost what happens when the government gets to decide which people born on American soil fully belong. We should not reopen that door. We must not reopen that door. And for anyone watching this hearing today who believes that citizenship should not depend on the politics of your parents, call your representative. Tell them to oppose H.R. 9854 and tell them that this bill should never get a markup."

Oversight Democrats on the Task Force, led by Congresswoman Simon, will examine systemic barriers and unlawful discrimination in employment, education, housing, and healthcare; fight for the protection of essential services and programs; fight for guaranteed access to critical goods despite political pushbacks; and ensure the right of all Americans in having a fair shot to contribute to their nation.

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