Just why is Obama constitutionally eligible?

Explanations from members of Congress about why Barack Obama is eligible to be president have ranged from “independent and official investigations” cited by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., to the online Factcheck.org affirmation of the validity of his birth documentation cited by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa.

But citizens apparently have to check again later, as the explanations now are changing even from the same congressional office.

WND reported that Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., previously said, “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.”

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.

His newest explanation, however, is that Obama is eligible because he was born on American soil.

Here’s the first explanation, which states Obama qualifies by meeting the citizenship requirements “as set forth by the U.S. State Department.”

But a subsequent letter added that the U.S. Supreme Court “held that an individual born on American soil is a natural born citizen as required by the Constitution to be elected president. President Obama’s birth in Hawaii satisfies that requirement.”

The second letter, dated July 11:

“I feel that folks ought to know what their so-called representatives are doing to cover for Obama,” the woman who received the letters told WND.

WND previously posted a Congressional Research Service memo on Scribd.com for download that advises members of Congress how to respond to questions about Obama’s eligibility

Attached to the memo was a 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 statements from members of Congress also appear to make assumptions about Obama, such as the validity of the “Certificate of Live Birth” that was released by the White House, even though numerous experts have concluded that it is a fake.

When Obama released that image April 27, after years of stating that the document was not available, the Hawaii Department of Health and governor’s office refused even to confirm for WND that it 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 his eligibility.

Instead of resolving issues, the image that Obama released to the public 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 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.

An extensive report from Mara Zebest, who has contributed as author or editor to dozens of books on computer software, concluded the image clearly is a fraud.

Among the statements from members of Congress:

• U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.” The Constitution requires that to be eligible to serve as president an individual must be a natural born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years old, and have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Currently, a candidate’s eligibility under these requirements is vetted by a number of sources, both inside the government and out. First, candidates go through an intensive political vetting process in both the primary and general election – their histories are carefully examined by their political opponents who have a vested interest in uncovering the facts. At the end of the campaigns, the voting public weighs in. Then, when all the votes have been cast and counted, it is up to Congress to certify the results. A final check-and-balance against eligibility irregularities lies with the courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court.”

• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said, “In the run-up to the 2008 federal election and in its aftermath, many Texans have written to express their thoughts and concerns about the electoral process. Some have even raised concerns about the eligibility of candidates to serve in elected office under the Constitution. The courts and the Federal Elections Commission play a central role in determining the eligibility of candidates to serve in the offices they seek. You can be certain that I will continue to be vigilant in making sure that these institutions perform their critical role in overseeing fair and transparent elections.”
• Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., The “Constitution of our nation requires natural born citizenship in order to serve as President of the United States of America.” But then she explains that the “Office of Vital Records within the Hawaiian Department of Health has confirmed the birth and citizenship of President Obama.” Nowhere in the letter to her constituent does she explain why the confirmation of “citizenship” equates to meeting the requirement for “natural-born citizenship.”
• Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., 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:

  
  

• 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.”

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