Mar 10, 7:16 PM EST
Nebraska presidential birth certificate bill dies
By GRANT SCHULTE
Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A Nebraska bill introduced in response to a flap over President Barack Obama's citizenship and requiring presidential candidates to prove their citizenship with a birth certificate won't get out of committee, the panel's chairman said Thursday.
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial, didn't appear in person before the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee but said in written testimony that he didn't want his proposal to be perceived as a political attack on the president. An aide said the bill was strictly intended to guarantee that presidential candidates are confirmed as eligible for office.
"He doesn't want this to be a sideshow," said Dan Wiles, the aide who read the senator's testimony to the panel. "He wants to know if we can craft some kind of process to give people the security that we've done our job" of verifying candidates.
People known as "birthers" have contended since 2008 that Obama is ineligible to serve as president. They say he actually was born in Kenya, his father's homeland, and they have questioned the digital "Certificate of Live Birth" Obama has released.
Hawaii officials have repeatedly confirmed Obama's citizenship and attempts to challenge his eligibility to serve as president in court have failed. But the issue has persisted among birthers, and Nebraska is one of 10 states that have considered measures to require more proof that presidential candidates are U.S. citizens.
State Sen. Bill Avery, who chairs the committee, said the Nebraska bill, LB654, would die there.
It would have required presidential candidates to provide state officials with a sworn statement and a certified copy of their U.S. birth certificate to appear on the state's election ballot. The Nebraska Secretary of State would confirm each candidate's eligibility.
One supporter, Nellie Ristvedt, of Crete, said the legislation would likely trigger a federal lawsuit that she hoped would rise to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This isn't about any one person," Ristvedt said. "It's about the constitution being followed. It's about the rule of law, and that is my only concern."
Several lawmakers on the panel questioned the bill's purpose, and noted that federal appellate courts might simply refuse to hear the case after lower courts ruled.
The proposal would "be obligating us to a court challenge, where we'd have to spend thousands of dollars," said state Sen. Scott Price of Bellevue. "You want the state to have to defend this, with the hope that the Supreme Court might make a ruling."
The other states that have considered legislation are Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Connecticut, Indiana, Tennessee and Maine. A measure proposed in Maine failed.
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