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Abolishment of Literacy Test for Citizenship is Urged for Parents of Soldiers

November 5, 1942
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Parents of those in the armed forces would no longer have to pass a literacy test for citizenship, under a bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Joseph E. Casey, Massachusetts Democrat.

The bill, now under study by the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, goes beyond previous measures in that it provides no minimum age or length of residence.

One recent proposal, approved by Attorney General Francis Biddle, requires that the alien be 50 years old and have resided in this country since 1924 as conditions for waiving the educational test. Another, sponsored by Rep. Thomas H. Eliot, Massachusetts Democrat, permits enemy aliens to become citizens if they have close relatives in the armed forces, but keeps the literacy requirement. Both these bills have been favorably reported by the committee.

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