Don't
Confuse Me With Facts
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person |
comments |
Sen. Sherrod Brown,
D-OH |
"President Obama has provided several
news organizations with a copy of his birth certificate (false),
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." |
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
(false) and submitted an
additional copy to the independent website FactCheck.org (false).
The birth certificate demonstrates that he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii
in 1961, thereby making him a natural-born citizen eligible to be
president." (not determined) |
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA |
"President Obama demonstrated his
citizenship during his campaign by circulating copies of his birth
certificate (false), which
showed he was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961."
|
Sen. John
Cornyn, R-TX |
"As we enter the 111th Congress, our
nation faces many challenges. We are in the midst of tough
economic times, and the federal government must stand on the side of
taxpayers and small businesses. Now more than ever, we need fiscal
discipline in Washington. I welcome President-elect Obama's
commitment to reform the federal budget process and rein in wasteful
government spending, and I will hold the President-elect accountable as
Congress works to quickly identify and eliminate inefficient,
ineffective, and outdated federal programs." He didn't respond to
our question about the eligibility issue. |
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID |
The Constitution and federal law
require that, among other things, only native-born U.S. citizens, (false
-- "natural born" -- there's a difference) or those born abroad,
but only to parents who were both American citizens (also
false), 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 (false) 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." (false) |
Kay Granger, R-TX |
"Now that the election is over and the
campaigns have ended, I think it is important that the politicians and
the citizens of our nation put the fierce partisan rhetoric aside so
that we can work together to come up with real solutions to our
country's challenges." |
Wally Herger, R-CA |
"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 (false)
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, (false) that has
been verified as being authentic (false).
In short, therefore, I do not believe sufficient evidence was brought to
light to conclude that President Obama was ineligible for the office." |
Paul Hodes, D-NH |
"President Obama publicly posted his
birth certificate on his campaign website (false)
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 (no, it doesn't),
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."
Please do -- you'll see that
document is not a birth certificate. |
Rush Holt, D-NJ |
"The claim that President Obama was
born outside of the United States, thus rendering him ineligible for the
presidency, is part of a larger number of pernicious and factually
baseless claims that were circulated about then-Senator Obama during his
presidential campaign. President Obama was born in Hawaii."
The response provided no documentation. |
Sen. Jon Kyl,
R-AZ |
"Thank you for your recent e-mail.
Senator Obama meets the constitutional requirements for presidential
office (not determined).
Rumors pertaining to his citizenship status have been circulating on the
Internet, and
this information has been debunked by Snopes.com (ha,
ha, ha), which investigates the truth behind
Internet
rumors." |
Sen. Mel
Martinez, R-FL |
"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 (but not addressed).
The voters have made clear their view that Mr. Obama meets the
qualifications to hold the office of president." |
Thaddeus McCotter, R-MI |
He cited the U.S. Supreme Court's
constitutional authority to rule on the dispute and the fact that the
court refused to hear evidence in at least four cases brought before the
justices (all on technicalities -- no
court has ever looked at the evidence). "Rest assured, however, I
will well remember your concerns regarding this issue during the 111th
Congress." |
Rep. John Mica, R-FL |
He noted the dispute is under court
review. "I will carefully monitor the progress of this case.
However, as a Representative in Congress, my opportunity to intervene in
resolving this question is limited. As further court and judicial
action is taken, please be assured I will continue to raise the
questions and concerns we both share." |
Sen. Charles Schumer,
D-NY |
"The courts have held that President
Obama is a natural-born American citizen (false).
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 (false)." |
Sen. Richard
Shelby, R-AL |
"Well, his father was Kenyan and they
said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate.
You have to be born in America to be president." Shelby later
backed off, saying he was confident Obama is a U.S. citizen. |
Vic Snyder, D-AK |
"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. (true) |
Sen. Arlen
Specter, R-PA |
"On June 13, 2008, the Obama campaign
released a copy of his birth certificate (false)
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 (false),
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 (not a
birth certificate). ... Accordingly, it has been concluded that
President Obama has met the constitutional qualifications to be
President of the United States." |
Ginny Brown-Waite,
R-FL |
"The claim that Barack Obama is not a
citizen of the U.S. is false (true --
he's just not a "natural born" citizen)). This rumor is
simply election year politics." She referred questioners to Snopes
for documentation. |
©
Copyright Beckwith 2009
All right reserved
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