MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann ended her Swiss citizenship less than diplomatically Thursday, saying she was giving it up to prove she is a “proud American citizen.”
The Minnesota Republican said Thursday that she had written to the Swiss Consulate asking to withdraw her citizenship just two days after it was first reported that she had taken steps to affirm it. Bachmann had drawn flak from critics who noted that Switzerland has universal health care, something Bachmann vigorously opposes.
“I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen. I am, and always have been, 100 percent committed to our United States Constitution and the United States of America,” Bachmann said.
If the Swiss were offended by her snub, they didn’t show it.
“The embassy does not comment on this private decision by Mrs. Bachmann,” Norbert Baerlocher, a spokesman for the Swiss Embassy in Washington, said in an email. He did confirm that the Swiss Consulate in Chicago had received Bachmann’s request via email.
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