2 more sign on to demand birth certificates

Posted by Gordon on July 8, 2009 at 10:03pm
BORN IN THE USA?

House support for eligibility procedure growing

Posted: July 09, 2009
12:30 am Eastern

© 2009 WND

Two more members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of a proposal to require presidential candidates to document their eligibility for the office under the U.S. Constitution, which requires Oval Office occupants to be among other things, a "natural born citizen" of the United States.

The bill's provisions are simple:

"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.”

It also provides:

"Congress finds that under section 1 of article II of 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, and it now is pending in a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

It was introduced by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla.
The newest additions are Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas.

They joined Reps. 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, in support of Posey's H.R. 1503 plan.

A spokesman for Blackburn said in Tennessee a 16-year-old has to document his or her birth to get a driver's license. Her constituents, the spokesman said, were losing faith in the system because of the absence of a requirement for the president to show evidence of his or her eligibility.

Carter spokesman Brent Hall said it just seemed logical to address the issue so that the question never reappears in future elections.

A participant at a forum on a political website noted "average citizens have to have a copy of our birth certificate just to apply for a passport, but the president of the United States doesn't have to show theirs??? This doesn't make sense at all."

Besides the support that is growing in the U.S. #House, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he's in favor of both state and federal demands that future presidential candidates have a formal procedure to document their qualifications.

"The bill requires any federal candidates' campaign committee filing with the Federal Election Commission to produce a copy of the candidate's birth certificate," Coburn wrote. "If the bill makes it to the Senate, I will likely support it."

Is there such a thing as an ethical member of Congress? Find out in Sen. Tom Coburn's "Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders”