Nearly every industrialized country in the world requires at least one parent to be a citizen or legal immigrant before a child born there becomes a citizen. Not a single country in Europe automatically grants citizenship to the children of illegal immigrant parents.

Why is birth citizenship a concern? The most recent data indicate that nearly 20 percent of all births in California are to illegal immigrants. A University of California Berkeley poll of women from Tijuana found that most of the women said that the reason they entered the United States illegally was to take advantage of automatic citizenship. Today one of every 10 births in the country is to an illegal immigrant mother.

Once an illegal immigrant gives birth in the United States, it is unlikely that mother and child will ever be deported. And they can then take advantage of federal, state and local benefit programs, courtesy of the American taxpayer.

This granting of automatic citizenship comes from a misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. It was drafted after the Civil War to guarantee that the recently freed slaves gained full citizenship rights.

When it was enacted in 1868, there were no illegal immigrants in the United States because there were no immigration laws until 1875. So drafters of the amendment could not have intended to benefit those in our country illegally.

Professor Peter Schuck of Yale University Law School has referred to "the offense to common morality and common sense of conferring citizenship on children whose only connection to the United States is that their mothers crossed the border (illegally) in time to give birth here."

Legal experts disagree as to whether a constitutional amendment or a federal statute is needed to eliminate "birth citizenship." However, there are three reasons why Congress can and should act:

(1) No Supreme Court case has dealt directly with the offspring of illegal immigrants and the question of automatic citizenship.

(2) The Constitution expressly gives Congress the power to decide national immigration policies.

(3) During the debate on the 14th Amendment in 1866, the senator who was the author said it would "not of course include persons born in the United States who are foreigners. ..."

Congress is long overdue in making sure the 14th Amendment is correctly interpreted. Illegal immigration has become a crisis in America. Our borders are out of control. More than 10 million people live in the United States illegally.

Passing a law to eliminate birth citizenship would help deter illegal immigration and reduce the burden on the taxpayer of paying for illegal immigrants' education, health care and other government benefits.

 Smith, a Republican from Texas, is the former chairman and a current member of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and claims.

Lungren, a Republican from Sacramento, is the former attorney general of California and a member of the same House subcommittee.