Thread: Senator: Constitution doesn't define presidential eligibilit

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Senator: Constitution doesn't define presidential eligibility

Republican claims State Department sets requirements

Posted: July 04, 2011
5:39 pm Eastern
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© 2011 WND

One member of Congress suggests it actually is the U.S. State Department that sets the eligibility requirements for presidents, not the Constitution, and another says anyone with concerns about the heated dispute should go to court, where not a single judge has been willing to hear arguments on the merits.

The comments are just the latest is a series of statements on which WND has reported coming from members of Congress, who have been advised by their Congressional Research Service on how to dismiss such concerns.

WND reported how Jerry W. Mansfield, an information research specialist in the Knowledge Services Group of the CRS, issued a memo to prepare members of Congress to rebut and defuse questions constituents were asking regarding Obama's presidential eligibility under the natural-born citizen requirement of the Constitution.

Get the New York Times best-seller "Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama Is Not Eligible to be President," autographed by Jerome Corsi, Ph.D.

WND has posted the CRS memo on Scribd.com for download.

Attached to the memo was an attack piece published by FactCheck.org to dismiss claims that Obama's short-form Certification of Live Birth, originally published during the 2008 presidential campaign by DailyKos.com, was a forgery.

Many of the previous statements from members of Congress apparently based on CRS material obfuscate the difference between "citizen" and "natural -born citizen" and simply make assumptions about Obama for which the evidence is lacking.

According to an e-mail forwarded to WND by a constituent, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., explained, "I believe that President Obama has met all the requirements of citizenship as set forth by the U.S. State Department, and therefore is eligible for the office of the presidency."

The comment attributed to Sessions didn't recognize that the Constitution clearly uses "natural born Citizen" to define a president, which is different from other references to "citizen," and those requirements are from the Constitution, not the State Department's bureaucracy.

Sessions' office could not be reached for comment.

But another comment came recently from Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., who said concerned citizens need to go to court over Obama's eligibility, even though courts ranging up to the U.S. Supreme Court have refused in dozens of cases already to hear arguments on the merits of the dispute.

His comments:

Video: Rep Lance on Obama eligibility http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTAOb6Zb ... r_embedded

In his town hall meeting at the Watchung, N.J., municipal building, he said, "I believe this is a matter if there is a question it should be litigated in the courts. I understand the courts have dismissed it."

When Obama released an image of a Hawaiian "Certificate of Live Birth" on April 27, after years of stating that the document was not available, the Hawaii Department of Health and governor's office refused to confirm for WND that the image released was an accurate representation of the state's records.



And the questions about Obama's status continue to grow. A recent poll showed fully half the nation wants Congress to investigate Obama's eligibility.

Instead of resolving issues, the image that Obama released to the public on April 27 has raised new ones. For example, during an interview by NBC News' national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff, former Hawaii health department chief Chiyome Fukino, who has claimed to have examined the "original" documentation in the state archives, said the original document was "half typed and half handwritten."

But the statement conflicts with the document that Obama released on April 27 from the White House, which his staff members described as "proof positive" of a Hawaiian birth. Only the signatures and dates are "hand-written," not half the document.

http://www.wnd.com/images/misc/obamabirthcert.jpg

Also, since then, a long list of experts have challenged the validity of the document Obama released. An extensive report from Mara Zebest, who has contributed as author or editor to dozens of books on computer software, reported this image clearly is a fraud.

In fact, with the release of an image of the Hawaiian "Certificate of Live Birth" April 27, some critics charge that he proved his ineligibility, because the document lists Barack Obama Sr. as his father.

A significant number of analysts have concluded that the understanding of "natural-born citizen" at the time it was used in the Constitution was a person born of citizen parents. Obama Jr.'s father was not a citizen of the United States.

The Constitution 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."

Since the term "natural-born citizen" is not defined in the Constitution, "Where's the Birth Certificate: The case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President" author Jerome Corsi drew from the writings of Swiss diplomat Emerich de Vattel, whose work is known to have influenced the Founding Fathers. Vattel wrote in "The Law of Nations" in 1758, "The citizens are the members of the civil society, bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority; they equally participate in its advantages. The natives or natural-born citizens are those born in the country of parents who are citizens."

Corsi said that during research for his book he found the only U.S. Supreme Court case directly on point is Minor v. Happersett, from 1874, in which the court said, "It was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners."

Even Senate Resolution 511, passed in 2008 to declare that John McCain was a natural-born citizen, specified a natural-born citizen would have to be born of two U.S. parents. McCain's birth in the Panama Canal Zone was regarded by the Senate as an exception that the Founders would have supported. The Senate reasoned that a person should not be disqualified from running for president because the parents were serving in the defense of the nation, Corsi said.

Among the sponsors of that statement was a junior senator named Obama.

The resolution includes two references to "Americans" or "American Citizens" as parents.

Among the statements from members of Congress:

* Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.: "Thank you for your recent e-mail. Senator Obama meets the constitutional requirements for presidential office. Rumors pertaining to his citizenship status have been circulating on the Internet, and this information has been debunked by Snopes.com, which investigates the truth behind Internet rumors."

* Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.: "Presidential candidates are vetted by voters at least twice – first in the primary elections and again in the general election. President-Elect Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination after one of the most fiercely contested presidential primaries in American history. And, he has now been duly elected by the majority of voters in the United States. Throughout both the primary and general election, concerns about Mr. Obama's birthplace were raised. The voters have made clear their view that Mr. Obama meets the qualifications to hold the office of president."

* Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio: "President Obama has provided several news organizations with a copy of his birth certificate, showing he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961. Hawaii became a state in 1959, and all individuals born in Hawaii after its admission are considered natural-born United States citizens. In addition, the Hawaii State Health Department recently issued a public statement verifying the authenticity of President Obama's birth certificate."

* U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla.: "The claim that Barack Obama is not a citizen of the U.S. is false. This rumor is simply election year politics." She referred questioners to Snopes for documentation.

* Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: "The courts have held that President Obama is a natural-born American citizen. Moreover, in December 2008, the Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit challenging Mr. Obama's eligibility to serve as president, concurring with three other federal courts in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Washington. The courts have confirmed the determination of state officials in Hawaii that health department records prove that Barack Obama was born a U.S. citizen in Honolulu."

* Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.: "President Obama demonstrated his citizenship during his campaign by circulating copies of his birth certificate, which showed he was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961."

* Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa.: "I am confident that Mr. Obama meets all the constitutional requirements to be our 44th president. Mr. Obama has posted a copy of his birth certificate on his campaign website and submitted an additional copy to the independent website FactCheck.org. The birth certificate demonstrates that he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961, thereby making him a natural-born citizen eligible to be president."

* U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif.: "As you know, some questions were raised about whether President Obama is a natural born citizen. There was a recent lawsuit arguing that he is not eligible for the Presidency for this reason. I understand that the Supreme Court considered hearing this lawsuit, but it ultimately turned down the request to have the case considered before the full court. I further understand that the director of Hawaii's Department of Health recently confirmed that President Obama was born in Honolulu and has personally verified that her agency has his original birth certificate on record. As you know, the U.S. Congress certified his election on January 8, and he was sworn into office on January 20, 2009. While I may disagree with President Obama on a multitude of issues, he has been elected as President of the United States through a fair process and has shown sufficient documentation, via a state birth certificate, that has been verified as being authentic. In short, therefore, I do not believe sufficient evidence was brought to light to conclude that President Obama was ineligible for the office."

* U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H.: "President Obama publicly posted his birth certificate on his campaign website which confirms that he was born in Hawaii in 1961. This birth certificate confirms that President Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States, above the age of 35, and is therefore qualified to be President of the United States of America. If you would like to view President Obama's birth certificate, I encourage you to go to the website http://fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate."

* Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, "The Constitution and federal law require that, among other things, only native-born U.S. citizens (or those born abroad, but only to parents who were both American citizens) may be President of the United States. In President Obama's case, some individuals have filed lawsuits in state and federal courts alleging that he has not proven that he is an American citizen, but each of those lawsuits have been dismissed. This includes a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court to not review an "application for emergency stay" filed by a New Jersey resident claiming that the President is not a natural born citizen because his father was born in Kenya. Furthermore, both the Director of Hawaii's Department of Health and the state's Registrar of Vital Statistics recently confirmed that Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961 and, as such, meets the constitutional citizenship requirements for the presidency. If contrary documentation is produced and verified, this matter will necessarily be resolved by the judicial branch of our government under the Constitution."

* Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa.: "On June 13, 2008, the Obama campaign released a copy of his birth certificate after numerous claims were made about his eligibility to hold the office of President. The released copy created additional questions, because it contained a blacked out department file number and was apparently missing a seal, and it was impossible to detect raised text, a common characteristic of official documents. There were satisfactory answers to such questions, however: the department file number had been blacked out to prevent hackers from breaking into the Health Department's system, and the State places the seal on the back of the certificate. The website Factcheck.org investigated the matter and provided high-resolution photos taken at multiple angles that revealed the raised text and the seal on the back of the document. ... Accordingly, it has been concluded that President Obama has met the constitutional qualifications to be President of the United States."

* U.S. Rep Vic Snyder, D-Ark.: "According to State of Hawai'i officials, the Hawai'i State Department of Health has President-elect Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with that state's policies and procedures.

* Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.: "The U.S. Constitution is our nation's supreme law and cannot be circumvented for any reason. It is my understanding that state officials in Hawaii have attested to the validity of President Obama's birth certificate showing that he was born in that state, which would make him a U.S. citizen. I also have read that both of Hawaii's major newspapers ran birth announcements in August 1961 documenting President Obama's birth in Honolulu. Based on these documents, most members of Congress from both parties appear satisfied that the president is a U.S. citizen. That would preclude any effort to remove him through the impeachment process, which requires a majority in the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate, on the basis of his constitutional eligibility for office."

* Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., "As a senator representing Colorado, I want to speak very clearly on this issue. President Barack Obama is a 'natural born' citizen of America, and he is eligible to be our nation's Commander in Chief. The legality of his birth certificate has been verified by numerous federal agencies, third party investigative groups, national media outlets, and primary source documentation. The United States Department of State and the Hawaii Department of Health have both verified the legality of the 'Certification of Birth' document provided by President Obama. In addition, highly regarded 'fact check' websites such as factcheck.org, snopes.com, and politifact.com support the findings of the federal agencies through their own independent investigations."

* Sen. Mark. R. Warner, D-Va., "The facts have consistently shown that President Obama was born in the United States. As a natural-born American citizen, he is fully eligible to serve as president of our country."

* Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., "Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution specifies the qualifications for this executive office. It states that no person except for a natural born American citizen is eligible to run for President of the United States. Also, the candidate must be at least thirty-five years of age and have resided in the United States for at least fourteen years. President Obama meets these constitutional requirements. If you were not already aware, on April 27, 2011 the White House released a copy of President Obama's long form birth certificate. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. According to the Fourteenth Amendment, all persons born in the United States are considered citizens of the United States. Under these criteria, President Obama, a 47-year old U.S. citizen, who has resided in the United States for longer than fourteen years, is eligible to be President.

* Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., "Independent and official investigations as well as legal proceedings have validated President Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as President of the United States. The Health Director and Head of Vital Statistics for the state of Hawaii (an official source) has also examined and declared the authenticity of the birth certificate and most recently President Obama released his full birth certificate. If change is to take place it's likely to come in the form of an election. This is part of the reason everyone needs to make sure we vote for the people who will represent our views correctly. This is also why we must continue to talk to our friends and relatives in other states about their own elected officials and encourage them to let their voices be heard."

Expressing doubt:

* Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in the From the Trenches World Report, "I believe that there should be a more formal process of review and validation as a matter of routine certification of candidates. The office of the presidency is undermined if Americans don't have confidence that the candidates for the highest office in the land are qualified for the position as required by the Constitution. … "

* Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, "Many of the issues, like the birth certificate, are within the jurisdiction of the courts, not Congress. Our power over the president is impeachment for 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' We learned from Clinton that lying, even under oath, probably doesn’t rise to those standards ... so I’m looking for the crime. Perhaps his violation of the war powers act? It’s something my colleagues and I are considering."


http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=318769

Quoted from MINOR v. HAPPERSETT. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 88 U.S. 162; 21 Wall. 162. OCTOBER, 1874,

Additions might always be made to the citizenship of the United States in two ways: first, by birth, and second, by naturalization. This is apparent from the Constitution itself, for it provides that "no person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President," and that Congress shall have power "to establish a uniform rule of naturalization." Thus new citizens may be born or they may be created by naturalization.

The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first. For the purposes of this case it is not necessary to solve these doubts. It is sufficient for everything we have now to consider that all children born of citizen parents within the jurisdiction are themselves citizens. The words "all children" are certainly as comprehensive, when used in this connection, as "all persons," and if females are included in the last they must be in the first. That they are included in the last is not denied. In fact the whole argument of the plaintiffs proceeds upon that idea.

Under the power to adopt a uniform system of naturalization Congress, as early as 1790, provided "that any alien, being a free white person," might be admitted as a citizen of the United States, and that the children of such persons so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under twenty-one years of age at the time of such naturalization, should also be considered citizens of the United States, and that the children of citizens of the United States that might be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, should be considered as natural-born citizens. n8 These provisions thus enacted have, in substance, been retained in all the naturalization laws adopted since. In 1855, however, the last provision was somewhat extended, and all persons theretofore born or thereafter to be born out of the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States, whose fathers were, or should be at the time of their birth, citizens of the United States, were declared to be citizens also.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/f ... vhapp.html

'Natural Born Citizen for Dummies'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGJdN2KP ... r_embedded

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Terry Wheeler from the WND blog:

The facts---cold and blaring---are: we are living with leaders who have a post-national mentality.

( Interesting that Communistst called themselves "Internationalists" for years.)

So the Constitution of the US is simply a reference point for them.

There is no desire to enforce the "natural-born" clause any more than the right to bear arms. Both are in the way of the future--as they see it for us.

And so it stands: Barack Obama is our president. And in the future--mark it--he will be used as precedent to allow ANYONE to be president of the US.