'Birther' bill rejected by Senate committee

Feb. 14, 2011 05:41 PM
Associated Press

An Arizona Senate committee rejected a proposal to require candidates for the presidency to show their birth certificates.

The bill by Republican Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu was defeated in a 3-to-5 vote Monday by the Senate's judiciary committee.

It originally proposed those requirements for presidential candidates but was amended to make it apply to candidates for statewide offices and legislative posts.

The bill was aimed at making President Barack Obama prove his nationality by birth.

Hawaii officials have repeatedly confirmed Obama's birth there, but so-called "birthers" contend Obama was actually born in Kenya, his father's homeland.

The House passed a similar bill in 2010, but it died in the Senate without a vote.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... jects.html