Mr. Dulles. And that did not necessarily require, as far as you know, reference to Moscow?
Mr. Snyder. No.
Mr. Dulles. You think the local authorities could have done that on their own, and on the information they got from Oswald?
Mr. Snyder. Yes; the term "stateless," I might interject here, is used rather loosely by Soviet authorities, because, in the first place, they have clearly no authority and no basis upon which to determine whether a person is a citizen of a foreign state. I mean only the foreign state can determine that.
So that the Soviet authorities had no basis on which to determine whether Oswald was or was not a citizen of the United States or of six other countries.
Mr. Dulles. Except the fact that they had seen his passport and knew of the existence of his American passport.
Mr. Snyder. On that basis, they would—well, he was certainly an American citizen when he entered as far as they were concerned; yes, sir.
Representative Ford. Is a person who is stateless the same as a person who is "without citizenship"?
Mr. Snyder. Yes, sir; this distinction is only in translation, Mr. Ford.
Mr. Coleman. Mr. Snyder, in the passport application, at the bottom there is a place where you have to cross out "have" or "have not" in connection with four questions. Could you read into the record the printed part at the bottom of the application?