Welcome Remarks for the Constitution Day Naturalization Ceremony

Good morning! Welcome to the Rotunda of the National Archives. Congratulations to America’s 25 newest citizens. I’m so very happy for you.

Thank you to the Alice Deal Middle School for that wonderful recitation of the Preamble to the Constitution.

And thank you to Chief Judge Beryl Howell for presiding over today’s ceremony. 

The National Archives is proud to host this naturalization ceremony with the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the United States District Courts for the District of Columbia. This is the first naturalization ceremony we’ve held since 2019. I’m so glad they are back.

This week we celebrate the 235th anniversary of the ratification of the United States Constitution. There’s no better place to become an American citizen than here in this room. Behind me is the original Constitution, which is the basis on which the United States Government is structured. In your oath of allegiance today, you pledged to uphold this Constitution.

To my right is the Declaration of Independence, the parchment that our Founding Fathers signed in 1776 in Philadelphia setting in motion our path to nationhood.

And to my left is the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. They spell out the basic personal rights and freedoms that are guaranteed to every American. They include freedom of speech, religion, and the press; the right to petition the government; and the right to due process of law and a speedy and fair trial. You will exercise these rights every single day in your new country.

Together, these documents are the cornerstone of democracy in your new home.

Naturalization ceremony days are always my favorite days here at the National Archives, and I never fail to get emotional. There’s my sheer joy for you, our new citizens, and the promise that your journey represents. And I think about my own ancestors. My distant paternal ancestors, who fled failed revolutions in Germany and potato famine in Ireland in the mid-1800s.

And, more immediately, my beloved paternal grandparents, Maria Abad Martinez and Francisco Rodriguez Gil, who came to America in the 1930s for economic opportunities unavailable in their native Spain. Their immigration story heavily shaped my identity and my worldview. I wish they could see their granddaughter today, standing in front of America’s founding documents and welcoming new citizens, and know that she is grateful for their courage and their sacrifices.  

So many Americans have stories like mine, and now you, our newly naturalized citizens, will have your own journey to share. We have billions of pages of records here at the National Archives. Becoming an American citizen makes you part of the National Archives too. Your naturalization records will one day be part of our holdings. And maybe someday your descendants will search our records and will discover your story.

Now I would like to introduce the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Marsha Espinosa, who oversees the Department of Homeland Security’s public outreach, media, strategic and incident communications efforts and serves as the principal advisor to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on all internal and external communications.   Please welcome Marsha Espinosa…

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Now I would like to welcome Roger Bennett, founder of the Men In Blazers Media Network, one of the most listened-to football (or as we insist on saying here in the United States, soccer) platforms in the world. Mr. Bennett hosts a slew of podcasts covering multiple leagues in the Men's and Women's game. His television show, Men In Blazers, appears on NBC's Peacock. He is also the author of Reborn in the USA: An Englishman's Love Letter to His Chosen Home, which debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. Roger Bennett once described himself as an “American trapped in an Englishman's body.” Luckily, he became a U.S. citizen in 2018 to solve that problem.

Please welcome Roger Bennett…