North America

For Immediate Release

August 10, 2006

Contact: R. Matthew Fretz - rmfretz@rmfretz.com

Ramsey - Independent Candidate R. Matthew Fretz released the following statement regarding Representative Scott Garrett's assertion, and subsequent supporter reiteration, that all naturalized citizens must have an understanding of English.

"To restore our faith in elected officials, our elected officials must speak the truth on our behalf. By stating all naturalized citizens must have an understanding of the English language in order to become citizens, Representative Garrett was misrepresenting the law in justifying his vote against renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After seeing Garrett supporters perpetuating this misrepresentation, I feel obligated to dispel the myth.

On page 99 of "Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants" (published in 11 languages), exceptions to taking the English language proficiency test and the English version of the civics test are outlined. The exemptions are based on age (over 50) and a minimum number of years in permanent residency (15-20 depending on age). For 2005, nearly 26% of all naturalized citizens would have qualified for the age half of the combination. We cannot be certain how many met both criteria, as it is not apparently available on Immigration and Naturalization's website.

We do know in 2005, over 302,000 naturalized citizens were living here legally for more than 8 years before becoming citizens. Of those whose nation of origin is in the North America region (including Central America and the Caribbean), there were more than 90,000 new citizens who had legally lived in the United States for more than 11years.

These citizens have played by the rules, spent years contributing to our economy, and have earned their United States citizenship. Attempting to deprive citizens of their fundamental right to vote when they have never been required to read English is unacceptable. Justifying this effort with a misrepresentation of the truth is unethical.

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Fretz for Congress

Naturalizations in the United States: 2005

Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants (Page 99,
bottom)

PERSONS NATURALIZED BY GENDER, AGE, MARITAL STATUS, AND OCCUPATION:
FISCAL YEAR 2005

Garrett's misrepresentation(Third column)