About John Moses
John Moses was born in Norway and went on to serve in the US Senate representing ND. John Moses's career in Congress began in 1945, during the postwar decades, and ran through 1945, a tenure of 0 years. As a Democrat, John sat in a chamber where most colleagues were born in the United States; naturalized citizens remain a small minority of Congress in every era.
Norway grants limited political rights to foreign-born residents — typically at the local or municipal level — but bars non-citizens from national elections and from serving in its own legislature. In practical terms: Foreign residents with 3+ years of continuous residence may vote in local and county elections. National elections are restricted to Norwegian citizens. The contrast with the US experience is sharp. A naturalized American moving to Norway might influence a town council vote, but would be shut out of the national legislature — the exact institution this member was sent to represent Americans in.
Norway has sent 2 naturalized citizens to Congress in total. Across the full history of the US Congress, Norway ranks 12th of 38 tracked birth countries, accounting for 2 naturalized-citizen lawmakers.
Why does Norway's own voting regime matter on an American member's profile? Because it frames a question the US Congress itself wrestles with whenever immigration and citizenship come up: which countries extend the same democratic trust to people who arrived later that the United States extended to John? Norway's answer is partial and largely symbolic: a vote for dog-catcher, perhaps, but not for parliament.