As our Founding Fathers were discussing the creation of the Senate, or upper house in Congress, they had to consider qualifications for members to hold such important positions. What they determined constitutes Article I, Section III, Clause III, of the Constitution or what is known as the Senate Qualification Clause. This clause reads, “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”Because of the added responsibilities of the Senate, the qualifications are increased from those of the House of Representatives. In the House, representatives only needed to be 25 years of age and live in the U.S. for seven years. Alexander Hamilton explained the difference between the two houses and why the Senate needed greater qualifications in Federalist No. 62, which reads, “The propriety of these distinctions is explained by the nature of the senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and stability of character, requires at the same time that the senator should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these advantages.”To put it simply, with age comes wisdom. We see later in Section III, the Senate has many more duties than the House including conformation of Cabinet positions and judges. Our Founders wanted more mature men to hold these positions — men who had reached the ripe, old age of 30. How many of you are suddenly feeling old?When considering length of citizenship, our Founders considered the Senate’s role in foreign policy, especially the ratification of treaties with foreign nations. They wanted to ensure senators had completely embraced American ideals and given up old connections. Again, Hamilton in Federalist No. 62 wrote, “participating immediately in transactions with foreign nations, ought to be exercised by none who are not thoroughly weaned from the prepossessions and habits incident to foreign birth and education.”There were some, especially among the immigrants like Pennsylvania delegate James Wilson, who felt a lengthy citizenship requirement would preclude qualified individuals. In all there were seven foreignborn delegates, and ones like Wilson felt their careers had been hampered because of citizenship requirements. Yet others felt the citizenship length should be even longer.Gov. Morris, a delegate from New York stated, “Foreigners will not learn our laws & Constitution ...
