Franks joins demand for eligibility proof

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., has decided that while President Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office may not be subject to an immediate court challenge, if the president runs for a second term, he should be required to prove he is qualified.

As WND reported, Franks told a townhall meeting in Kingman, Ariz., over the weekend he was considering a lawsuit to establish Obama's eligibility.

The congressman's spokeswoman, Bethany Haley, said Franks did consider a lawsuit during the runup to the 2008 election and immediately after the results were announced. But she confirmed to WND today that the congressman no longer is considering immediate action.

Franks did, however, today sign onto a move in Congress that would demand proof from future candidates, beginning with the 2012 race, Haley confirmed.

The original report on Franks' desire for a lawsuit came from the Mohave Daily News, which reported that the plan for a lawsuit was pending. Haley confirmed the action had been considered but had been dropped by the congressman.

"The real story is that he had considered a lawsuit before the 2008 election. He was ranking member on the Constitution subcommittee and it was relevant for him to take a stand on that," she said.

Afterwards, however, his research showed there was "not conclusive evidence" to be the basis for a lawsuit, Haley said.

Demand the truth by joining the
petition campaign to make President Obama reveal his long-form,
hospital-generated birth certificate!

The irony that Haley pointed to, however, was Obama's campaign on "transparency" and "accountability" and his subsequent refusal to "disclose even the simplest form" proving his ability to meet constitutional requirements of a president. Those demands include the president be a "natural born" citizen.

Haley confirmed Franks today joined the list of supporters of the demand for proof from future candidates.

WND reported earlier when Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, became the 11th supporter of the plan by Rep.
Bill Posey, R-Fla.

The provisions of H.R. 1503 are straightforward:

"To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of President to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the Office of President under the Constitution."

The bill also provides:

"Congress finds that under … the Constitution of the United States, in order to be eligible to serve as President, an individual must be a natural born citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 35 years and has been a resident within the United States for at least 14 years."

The sponsors' goal is to have the bill become effective for the
2012 presidential election. The legislation now is pending in a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Other cosponsors are Reps. Kenny Marchant, R-Texas; Dan Burton, R-Ind.; Ted Poe, R-Texas; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; John Campbell, R-Calif.; John R. Carter, R-Texas; John Culberson, R-Texas; Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; and Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas.

WND
earlier reported when Posey talked about his idea on a radio program.

"The last election is over," Posey said in the interview. "I don't think that outcome is going to change. Personally, I think it's futile to go there, but looking toward the future I think it would be reckless if we do not do everything we could to eliminate problems like that in the future. And that's why I filed the bill."

His comments came on the Andrea
Shea King Show.

"I don't think a Supreme Court would remove a president from office if they heard the case. But ... we should make a good faith effort to make sure that things in the future are as they should be," he said.

WND has reported on dozens of legal challenges to Obama's status as a "natural born citizen." The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Some of the lawsuits question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Complicating the situation is Obama's decision to spend sums estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoid releasing a state birth certificate that would put to rest all of the questions.

WND has reported that among the documentation not yet available for Obama includes kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, his files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records, and his adoption records.

"Where's The Birth Certificate?" billboard helps light up the night at the Mandalay Bay resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Because of the dearth of information about Obama's eligibility, WND founder Joseph Farah has launched a campaign to raise contributions to post billboards asking a simple question: "Where's the birth certificate?"

The campaign followed a petition that has collected more than 450,000 signatures demanding proof of his eligibility, the availability of yard signs raising the question and the production of permanent, detachable magnetic bumper stickers asking the question.

The "certification of live birth" posted online and widely touted as "Obama's birth certificate" does not in any way prove he was born in Hawaii, since the same "short-form" document is easily obtainable for children not born in Hawaii. The true "long-form" birth certificate – which includes information such as the name of the birth hospital and attending physician – is the only document that can prove Obama was born in Hawaii, but to date he has not permitted its release for public or press scrutiny.

Oddly, though congressional hearings were held to determine whether Sen. John McCain was constitutionally eligible to be president as a "natural born citizen," no controlling legal authority ever sought to verify Obama's claim to a Hawaiian birth.

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