'I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen,' said Bachmann. | REUTERS Bachmann: Swiss miss no more

Michele Bachmann no longer wants to be a Swiss miss.

The Minnesota congresswoman asked the Swiss government Thursday to withdraw her citizenship, saying she wanted to make it clear that she was a proud U.S. citizen.


“Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978,” said Bachmann in a statement.

( PHOTOS: Michele Bachmann)

“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. As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, stepdaughter of an Army veteran and sister of a Navy veteran, I am proud of my allegiance to the greatest nation the world has ever known,” she added.

POLITICO, along with Swiss TV, reported Tuesday she was granted Swiss citizenship on March 19.

On Wednesday, Bachmann’s office insisted she’d been a dual citizen for much longer.

“I automatically became a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland in 1978 when I married my husband, Marcus. Marcus is a dual American and Swiss citizen because he is the son of Swiss immigrants. As a family, we just recently updated our documents,” the Minnesota Republican and former presidential candidate said in a statement. “This is a non-story.”

But her claim that she has been a Swiss citizen since 1978 raised questions about why, if that’s true, she didn’t disclose this while running for Congress and president of the United States.

Her office said she didn’t need to.

“It wasn’t necessary to disclose, because she is an American citizen and always has been. She has a United States birth certificate and a United States passport,” Bachmann spokesperson Becky Rogness told POLITICO on Wednesday evening.

An official with the House Parliamentarian’s office said there are no House rules that either required her to disclose her Swiss citizenship or prevented her from serving on committees that deal with sensitive matters, such as the House Intelligence Committee on which Bachmann sits.

The Swiss government was tight-lipped about the case, and would not confirm receipt of Bachmann’s request to withdraw citizenship.

“I don’t know anything about this, so I can’t comment,” said Martin Bienz, Swiss consul-general in Chicago, which has jurisdiction over Minnesota. “I followed the story in the media, of course. Anyone who has dual nationality can withdraw from one nationality…. This is basically a private issue and I cannot comment.”

Swiss Embassy spokesperson Norbert Baerlocher declined to comment on Bachmann’s case.

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