Puerto Rican-born congressman questions Supreme Court justices about becoming president By TAL KOPAN | 3/14/13 2:50 PM EDT While Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer were before Congress testifying about sequestration and the courts Thursday, one member of the House Appropriations committee decided to use the moment to get some high-end legal advice. At the beginning of the hearing, Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, asked the justices whether a person from Puerto Rico would be eligible to be president. Serrano was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the Bronx, New York, when he was seven. Breyer responded that lawyers always ask two questions: Why, and why not? On “why”, Breyer asked: “Isn’t Puerto Rico an important part of this country? Yes.” Second, he asked, why not? “I don’t have an answer,” Breyer said. “I think you just made the front page of all the papers in Puerto Rico. And New York,” Serrano said. “Let me just say my exploratory committee is coming together in the next hour.” Kennedy noted that the main constitutional requirement of presidents is that they are natural citizens over the age of 35 – for which Serrano qualifies. The justice noted that the reason for the provision was likely to prevent European royalty from coming to the United States to rule. At least, probably, he said: “I wasn’t there at the time.” Serrano’s Republican counterpart on the panel, Chairman Ander Crenshaw, noted that lawmakers had decided that Sen. John McCain could run for president despite being born in Panama, so why couldn’t Serrano. A clearly delighted Serrano said later of his exchange with justices: "They came very close to giving me and opinion and the opinion was hovering around: why not?" Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.

Puerto Rican-born congressman questions Supreme Court justices about becoming president

By TAL KOPAN |

3/14/13 2:50 PM EDT

While Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer were before Congress testifying about sequestration and the courts Thursday, one member of the House Appropriations committee decided to use the moment to get some high-end legal advice.
At the beginning of the hearing, Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, asked the justices whether a person from Puerto Rico would be eligible to be president. Serrano was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the Bronx, New York, when he was seven.
Breyer responded that lawyers always ask two questions: Why, and why not?
On “why”, Breyer asked: “Isn’t Puerto Rico an important part of this country? Yes.” Second, he asked, why not? “I don’t have an answer,” Breyer said.
“I think you just made the front page of all the papers in Puerto Rico. And New York,” Serrano said. “Let me just say my exploratory committee is coming together in the next hour.”
Kennedy noted that the main constitutional requirement of presidents is that they are natural citizens over the age of 35 – for which Serrano qualifies.
The justice noted that the reason for the provision was likely to prevent European royalty from coming to the United States to rule. At least, probably, he said: “I wasn’t there at the time.”
Serrano’s Republican counterpart on the panel, Chairman Ander Crenshaw, noted that lawmakers had decided that Sen. John McCain could run for president despite being born in Panama, so why couldn’t Serrano.
A clearly delighted Serrano said later of his exchange with justices: "They came very close to giving me and opinion and the opinion was hovering around: why not?"
Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.