A resolution to direct the Senate Legal Counsel to appear as amicus curiae in the name of the Senate in Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky, By His Parents and Guardians, Ari Z. and Naomi Siegman Zivotofsky v. John Kerry, Secretary of State (S. Ct.).

S.RES.504
Introduced: 
July 16, 2014
113
Second
July 16, 2014
Agreed to in Senate

In 10/2002, Menachem Zivotofsky was born in Jerusalem to 2 U.S. citizens. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act (FRAA, *H.R. 1646 of 4/27/01) mandated that, on request, Jerusalem-born U.S. citizens would be able to list ‘Jerusalem, Israel,’ as the place of birth on their passports. However, the State Dept. refused to allow Zivotofsky this option in accordance with its neutral stance on the sovereignty of Jerusalem. The Zivotofsky family then sued the U.S. government for the right to list Israel in Menachem’s passport and following over 10 years of legal proceedings, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on 4/21/14.

The larger issue in the case related to separation of powers, with the legislative branch on one side, represented by the Israel-sympathetic Congress, which passed the original law, and the executive branch on the other, represented by the Obama administration and Bush administration, which had protested the relevant provision in the FRAA when it was passed. The Zivotofsky family posited that it was well within Congress’s power to regulate the issuance of passports while both of the administrations involved argued that the president has a constitutional ‘recognition power’ that allows him or her the right to represent the U.S. in international diplomacy and, therefore, the State Dept. has the authority to print ‘Jerusalem’ on passports if the president wishes to remain neutral on the city’s sovereignty.

This resolution would order the Senate Legal Counsel to appear as amicus curiae, or ‘friend of the court,’ before the Supreme Court in support of the Zivotofsky family and to defend the constitutionality of the FRAA.

1 cosponsor (1R).

Last major action: 7/16/14 Agreed to in the Senate by unanimous consent.

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