Hawaii Weighs Law to Defy Obama "Birthers"

Hawaii may start ignoring repeated requests for proof that President Obama was born there.

As the state continues to receive e-mails seeking Obama's birth certificate, the House Judiciary Committee heard a bill Tuesday permitting government officials to ignore people who won't give up.

So-called "birthers" claim Obama is ineligible to be president because, they argue, he was actually born outside the United States, and therefore doesn't meet a constitutional requirement for being president.

Who Are the Birthers?

Hawaii Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino issued statements last year and in October 2008 saying that she has seen vital records that prove Obama is a natural-born American citizen. Obama was born to a Kenyan father and an American mother.

But the state still gets between 10 and 20 e-mails seeking verification of Obama's birth each week, most of them from outside Hawaii, said Lorrin Kim, chief of the Hawaii Department of Health's Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development.

"Sometimes we may be dealing with a cohort of people who believe lack of evidence is evidence of a conspiracy," Kim said Tuesday.

A few of these requesters continue to pepper the Health Department with the same letters seeking the same information, even after they're told state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest. Responding wastes time and money, Kim said.

Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama's original birth certificate.

The issue coincides with Sunshine Week, when news organizations promote open government and freedom of information.

"Do we really want to be known internationally as the Legislature that blocked any inquiries into where President Obama was born?" asked Republican Rep. Cynthia Thielen. "When people want to get more information, the way to fuel that fire is to say, 'We're now going to draw down a veil of secrecy."'

Nobody at the hearing questioned the fact that the president was born in Hawaii.

Attorney Peter Fritz asked why the state would pass a law punishing repetitive requests for open records. Instead, the state could simply say it would only answer each person's question once.

If the measure passed, the state Office of Information Practices could declare an individual a "vexatious requester" and restrict rights to government records for two years.

The committee will schedule a vote on the measure, said Chairman Jon Riki Karamatsu, a Democrat.

[bptdude]

It is odd, that they simple do not just show a document of such importance.

Making a law to punish people who even ask is really getting creepy.

[XLogos]

While I agree that there is a slim minority that would not believe even if they held the original document in their hands, that minority is VERY slim.

The simple reason he has not released the original is that it allows the President and his fellow travellers like Skyk to portray conservatives as loons and bigots. It is a brilliant marginalizing political move, nothing more.

Regardless of where he was born, Mr. Obama is a citizen by birth due to his mother's citizenship and a legitimate office holder. You may think his ideas are horribly misguided & threaten our nation's future as I do, but questioning his right to hold office is a ridiculous and distracting argument that only serves to undermine the conservative cause. My dear fellow right-leaning patriots, please stop playing into their hands and further marginalizing our message!!!

To those on the left: were you to extend half this energy in dimissing the 9/11 "Truthers" on your side of the ailse, conservatives would be much more inclined to do likewise with our "Birthers".

[ALBrainTrust10]

VERY ON-THE-MARK......

I DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OBAMA APPLYING FOR COLLEGE AS A "FOREIGN STUDENT." ON ONE HAND HE USES HIS CITIZENSHIP TO BE PRESIDENT AND ON THE OTHER, HE POISES AS A FOREIGNER TO GET PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.

[Banggoesthe40]

If one were to run for president then one would expect to completely settle all questions that might come up....like was i born in the united states...easy answer release the bc. In April 2008 Michelle gave a speech praising affirmative action for allowing her and the awesome one to attend college....then she screwed up by going on to say the it also helped them graduate despite some difficulties with their studies. No small wonder that the press is hands off on his college grades...they know that "W" kicked his a$$.

[Banggoesthe40]

If one were to run for president then one would expect to completely settle all questions that might come up....like was i born in the united states...easy answer release the bc. In April 2008 Michelle gave a speech praising affirmative action for allowing her and the awesome one to attend college....then she screwed up by going on to say the it also helped them graduate despite some difficulties with their studies. No small wonder that the press is hands off on his college grades...they know that "W" kicked his a$$.

[lagibby]

I have two things for you folks:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVDI0wpyb68&feature=related
2. Excerpt from the Sunday Standard a Kenyan newspaper
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate
Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations.

Google it yourself

[KJV915]

Ok.. Somebody please xplain to me why I need an official birth certificate (not the birth announcement posted on the website)to get a passport, drivers license, register my kids at school, heck I had to provide a raised seal birth certificate for my 10 year old daughter to play Rec soccer!!. He will not provide it because he does not have it and can not get one. Pure and simple. For that matter, based upon his associations he could not clear a secret service back ground check to be a secret service agent!

[jgg000101]

seriously, I don't understand why instead of hawaii "making a law" obama doesn't just make a phone call and tell them to show it.

[denvermorgan3000]

If he would just release the birth certificate then it would all go away but the problem is he dont have one.

[jgg000101]

I am not a birther, but why hasn't this been cleared up already? Any American citizen could provide a certified birth ceftificate and would have no problem doing so. This is not going to get better for obama and this story ain't gonna help despite the ruling. All it is going to do is draw more attention and raise more questions. Like: if they are only receiving 10-20 emails per week, what's the need to for a law to stop them? I'm sure they get more emails than that requesting chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Personally, it makes me think that if they admit to 10-20, there's a lot more than that. It also makes me question the bc obama originally posted on the internet when the hawaiian officials say "the law bars the release of a certified bc without a tangible interest". It sounds to me like the bc obama originally submitted to clear this up is not what they have seen and are holding. In any event it appears like they are trying to hide something when all this would go away if obama just let them show it.

[jgg000101]

I've seen that. But this makes it seem like the one that was all over the internet isn't what the hawaiian officials have seen. I wish the officials had said what you said. In my opinion, this raises more doubts than it does to solve the issue.

[pdchapin]

Maybe they should amend the law so they can send out Presidential birth certificates to any US citizen for a fee. It could help balance the state budget.

[ALBrainTrust10]

SUPER IDEA!