Boldrini hails passage of citizenship bill (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, October 13 - Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini on Tuesday hailed passage of a citizenship bill for immigrants' children. "The House today helped bring down a wall, at a time in which walls are sadly becoming popular again...it brought down a barrier that has kept so many young and very young new Italians separate from their play and schoolmates," she said.
    "Once the Senate also has its say, a disparity of rights that had become unbearable in the daily experience of hundreds of thousands of families will be no more," she went on.
    "This vote...strengthens our national identity, because it shows a capacity to include new citizens into our culture, our values, our rights and responsibilities".
    "I wish to thank all the grassroots organizations, the immigrant community, and the second-generation networks for incessantly prodding parliament on this issue," she said.
    "I hope that after this first fundamental step, we can see our way to...a process for granting citizenship to adult immigrants as well," Boldrini concluded.