Proposed law would require proof of future White House candidates

Posted by Gordon on July 4, 2009 at 9:36am
See how many support prez eligibility bill now

Posted: July 03, 2009
12:10 am Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WND

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, has become the sixth co-sponsor of a #proposal by Rep. Bill Posey, R - Fla., that would require documentation of eligibility from presidential candidates.

She has joined Reps. John Campbell, R - Calif.; John R. Carter, R-Texas; John Culberson, R-Texas; Bob Goodlatte, R - Va.; and Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, in support Posey's H.R. 1503 plan.

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.

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”

#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.

The question that prompted the legislative effort now also is being raised on billboards nationwide.



BORN IN THE USA?
Posey: Eligibility document plan not personal
'The last election is over ... but it's reckless not to eliminate future problems'

Posted: June 17, 2009
10:13 pm Eastern

By Andrea Shea King
© 2009 WND

A Florida congressman who has proposed requiring candidates for the presidency to document their eligibility for the office under the "natural born citizen" requirements of the U.S. Constitution says it's not intended to affect President Obama's current term, but he wants to avoid similar issues in the future.

"The last election is over," Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., said on a radio 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."

WND reported just a day ago that the plan that was filed by Posey alone now has four cosponsors: Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; Rep. John R. Carter, R-Texas, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas and Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas.

Posey talked about his plan, his goal and his intentions on this writer's The Andrea Shea King Show last night.

He explained how the support was assembled.

"I was talking to Neugebauer about it, and my good friend John Culberson was listening to the conversation and so Randy said, 'Yeah, I told my staff I wanted to sign up on that already.' And having heard the conversation, Culberson says, 'Yeah, sign me up.' And the judge (Carter) was sitting in the next row listening to the conversation and he said, 'By God, sign me up!' So you know, we might start getting a little bit of steam here pretty soon," he reported.

"I didn't strong arm these people," Posey explained. "I haven't begged anybody to sign on this thing, I haven't asked anybody, really. The people that come up and slap me on the back and say, "Good luck to you!' I say, 'Hey, there's room for you on here!' And of course, they start doing the moonwalk, you know? 'Oh no, no, no, congressman!' he laughed. "But you know, times change and time wounds all heels."

The genesis of Posey's bill began while still serving in Florida's state senate, where his first assignment placed him squarely in the middle of fixing the elections process following the 2000 presidential voter ballot debacle.

"Since that time, that's been a hot spot with me," he said. "To make sure our elections process is fair and "uniform, is implemented and runs like a clock."

He said while reviewing the eligibility dilemma, he decided there's nothing to be done about the 2008 election.

"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.

"The only part of the Constitution that did not have implementing legislation was the president's eligibility of being a citizen, native born, age 35. So I simply filed a bill, no fanfare, no press conference. Didn't seek co-sponsors to require that presidential candidates be required to furnish a copy of their birth certificate, just to remove that item of contention, not realizing it would be a shot heard around the world."

He said he found opposition on his own staff.

"When I first had the draft, I didn't hear from my chief of staff for a while, and I finally asked him 'Hey, what's up with that draft that I asked you to staff?' And he said, 'Come in here, come in here' and he closed his door and he said, 'You can’t do that.' I said, 'What do you mean, I can't do that?' He said, 'That’s not the way we do things up here.' I said, ‘Well, what do you do up here?' He said, 'Well, you write the Judiciary a letter, and you make an inquiry...' and I said, 'Yeah, and it gets lost and soon forgotten.' And he said 'Well yeah, it might.' And I said, 'Well how do you ever resolve it?' He said, 'Well that's just the way it's usually done up here.' And I basically said, 'Do you like your job? Make sure that gets filed before you go "home.'"

He said he was warned about the criticism, and it arrived.

"Even my local paper had a picture of a guy wearing a T-shirt that said, 'Washington D.C.' and wearing a tin hat that said 'Birtherville' on it. You know, 'I sent my congressman to Washington, and all I got was this stupid tin hat.' And that was typical of the criticism I've received from one end of this country to the other."

He also was named by Keith Olbermann "The Worst Person in the World," and Rachel Maddow trashed him on her show, and then asked him to come on. And although Posey admits he would relish a good debate with her, just to set the record straight, he's refused her invitations.

"You know, I won't do it cause she's got a lousy, low rated show, and I don't want to give her the ratings, quite frankly. But you know what's so ironic? Is with all this stuff that's been written calling me an idiot and a tin hat, they all seem to have forgotten that the Washington Post and the New York Times called for this exact legislation less than 36 months ago when they thought it would render McCain ineligible because McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone," he said.

"Now, Barack Obama himself, then a U.S. senator, thought it was important enough to co-sponsor the resolution declaring McCain eligible ... It's kind of an ironic circle, isn't it?" he said.

Though the freshman representative said he won’t make this personal about Obama – "It’s not a matter that I don't want to tackle it head on with him," – he made the point that, "The only people that I know who are afraid to take drug tests are the people who use drugs."

He paused, choosing his words carefully. "There's zero chance … of him being removed from office. I've talked to high ranking members of our judiciary committee who say, 'You know, this is a matter of standing, this is why the Supremes won't take this up, and the Supreme Court exists to protect individuals or groups of individuals from having their rights trampled and there's not anybody that has the proper standing.'"

But he said they alluded to the fact it's Congress' obligation.

So he's trying to respond to that responsibility heading into the future.

"It's prospective. It's not personal. It's not debating the last election. The last election is over. 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," he said.

Posey has taken major media heat over his attempt to clarify the process by which a presidential candidate is vetted.

"I'm trying to get the record straight, that's all. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, that's all. The Lefties cannot understand. That's what the Leftist media cannot understand. It's inconceivable to them. The first reporter that called me up opened the conversation asking why I filed 'that racist bill.' I'm trying to see that the Constitution is heretofore followed, end of subject, period. Nothing more, nothing less.

"But that reality, angry people just don't want to accept it. I don't apologize for trying to do the right thing. I'm not happy with the way the Constitution's been trampled. I'm not happy that we have Government Motors now offering interest free loans competing against Ford who has to charge market rates to make ends meet. I'm not happy about so many of the things that are going on in this country right now, that are obviously beyond my control to do anything about them as this is right now. But my Constitutional duty, the oath I took to protect and defend the United States against all enemies domestic and foreign, requires that I take this action that I'm doing, in whatever large part or small part it may play," he said.
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Comment by Josie on July 8, 2009 at 6:53pm Whoo hoo! (cheers)

I sadly think that nothing will come of this. I didn't hear of this until now!

If it's PROVEN that BHO is an alien, I wonder what'll happen next? He won't go away without a fight! He's a dictatorial Dem, you know!