Representative Gutierrez Breaks his Oath of Office

I follow Congress.org on Facebook so I can get updates on the articles they publish and have a chance to reply to some of the comments when appropriate. In an article they recently posted about the Arizona immigration law there was some shocking content.

To begin, the article was concerned with Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and his intentional trespass and arrest to protest the Arizona immigration law. If the law was legitimately unconstitutional, I wouldn't have a problem with a Representative behaving this way. However, when the law is something that the federal government is not only already supposed to be doing but also valid, protesting it goes against the oath members of Congress take when they enter office.

The part of the article that really got me, however, was a quote from Rep. Gutierrez where he had this to say: "Just because you're part of a structure doesn't mean your allegiance and your fidelity is to that structure,". The quote, apparently, was regarding why a Representative would get out and protest in such a way when they normally contain their actions to the courts and "...halls of power". It is a telling choice of words, however, and answers not the question asked, but instead the question of where his loyalties lie.

According to this quote, it is his belief that just because you're an American citizen, it doesn't mean you're loyalties have to lie there. Just because you're a sworn member of congress, doesn't mean you have to have an allegiance to the nation and values you've sworn to uphold and protect.

The Oath of Office was originally: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." but apparently only an oath to uphold the Consitution was required of anyone except the President, who had to swear the full Oath. A specific, shortened oath of "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States" is now required by all members of the Senate and House.

I'm not going to go into it now, but this is one of many major problems our nation faces. People, citizens or not, who want the benefits of living in the United States but who want to hold allegiance to the country of their ancestors. Keeping your heritage alive is fine, we should even encourage it, but your loyalty shouldn't lie with another nation or even the people living in it. Your loyalty should be to the United States and ALL of her CITIZENS.

You can read the article in question here and visit Rep. Gutierrez's website here in case you feel like leaving him any comments.

Finally, I would urge everyone to be on the lookout for such sentiments from all of their representatives. We can't do anything about the Representatives in other states, but we can do something about our own Representatives here in Texas. If we permit one who share's such sentiments to return to office when we have the chance to vote them out then we are as much to blame as they are for any offense committed. They enter office in OUR name, the name of the PEOPLE of their district and we must be vigilant about knowing what our candidates and elected officials believe.

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