A legislative committee in Arizona has endorsed a bill that would require presidential candidates to prove – by submitting a birth certificate – they are qualified for the office under the Constitution's demand that they be a "natural born citizen."
The committee voted 6-1 on a proposal from Rep. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley, the Arizona Daily Star reported today. The measure now moves to the full House.
WND report earlier when the bill was submitted to the legislature. About three dozen state lawmakers had signed on as co-sponsors, giving it considerable support even before it started the march through the legislative process.
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The bill would require the submission of documentation and also have state officials independently verify the accuracy of documents used to affirm the constitutional eligibility of presidential candidates.
At the time the bill was proposed, state Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, told the Arizona Capitol Times, "Certainly, there has been controversy over President Obama and his birth certificate, where he was born, etc. It just makes sense and will stop any controversy in the future to just show you are a natural born citizen."
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The plan essentially would have the same effect as the federal law proposed by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla.
The provisions of Posey's H.R. 1503 are:
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"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."
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The sponsors' goal is to have the bill become effective for the
2012 presidential election. The legislation now is pending in a U.S. House committee and has more than a dozen co-sponsors.
Burges told the East Valley Tribune her bill is not aimed directly at Obama, although she does have concerns about his loyalties.
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"When someone bows to the king of Saudi Arabia and they apologize for our country around the world, I have a problem with that," she told the newspaper.
"We want to make sure that we have candidates that are going to stand up for the United States of America. This is my home. I want to leave my children a better country than I inherited," she said.
"Obama has a book and it said, when it came down to it, he would be on the Muslim side," Burges said at the time. "Doesn't that bother you just a little bit?"
Any state adopting and enforcing requirements similar to the federal plan would have a significant impact. Although the submitted documents would remain confidential, a determination to exclude a candidate from Arizona's ballot would questions elsewhere.
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Arizona Democrats already are arguing that the bill is not needed.
"He [Obama] clearly met the standards to run for president and hold office as president because the federal government installed him as president in January of last year," said Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Phoenix Democrat. "The question has been asked and answered."
As WND has reported, however, no controlling legal authority ever directly addressed the question of whether Obama met the U.S. Constitution's requirements to be president, that is being 35 years of age, a resident for at least 14 years and a "natural born citizen."
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The proposal, H2442, also would require that the Arizona secretary of state independently verify that the documents submitted are correct. Any failure could cause the candidate's name to be withheld from the ballot, officials said.
Leaders on a growing list also are asking question, including Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Ron Ramsey, Hawaii state Sen. Will Espero, U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former House majority leader Tom DeLay, U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., feminist icon Camille Paglia, New Hampshire State Rep. Laurence Rappaport, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., and prominent commentators Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Lou Dobbs, Peter Boyles and WND's Chuck Norris and Pat Boone.
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."
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Some of the lawsuits question whether Obama 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 excess of $1.7 million 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.
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![]() "Where's The Birth Certificate?" billboard helps light up the night at the Mandalay Bay resort on the Las Vegas Strip. |
The campaign followed a petition that has collected more than 490,000 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.
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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.
If you are a member of the media and would like to interview Joseph Farah about this campaign, e-mail WND.
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