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From attorney Mario Apuzzo:

“Thursday, August 6, 2009

Why the “Natural Born Citizen” Clause of Our Constitution Is Important and Worth Preserving

Article II, Sec. 1, cl. 5 of the Constitution provides in pertinent part: “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President. . .” In this clause and in Articles I, III, and IV, the Founding Fathers distinguished between “Citizen” and “natural born Citizen.” Per the Founders, while Senators and Representatives can be just “citizens,” the President must be a “natural born Citizen.” Through this clause, the Founders sought to guarantee that the ideals for which they fought would be faithfully preserved for future generations of Americans. The Founders wanted to assure that the Office of President and Commander in Chief of the Military, a non-collegial and unique and powerful civil and military position, was free of all foreign influence and that its holder has sole and absolute allegiance, loyalty, and attachment to the U.S. The “natural born Citizen” clause was the best way for them to assure this.

That the “natural born Citizen” clause is based on undivided allegiance and loyalty can be seen from how the Founders distinguished between “citizen” and “natural born Citizen.” This distinction is based on the law of nations which became part of our national common law. According to that law as explained by E. Vattel in his, The Law of Nations (1758), a “citizen” is a member of the civil society. To become a “citizen” is to enter into society as a member thereof. On the other hand, a native or indigenes or “natural born Citizen” is a child born in the country of two citizen parents who have already entered into and become members of the society. Vattel also tells us that it is the “natural born Citizen” who will best preserve and perpetuate the society. This definition of the two distinct terms has been adopted by many United States Supreme Court decisions. (The Venus, 12 U.S. 253 (1814) and Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1874) to cite just two.) With the presidential qualification question never being involved, neither the 14th Amendment (which covers only “citizens” who are permitted to gain membership in and enter American society by either birth on U.S. soil or by naturalization and being subject to the jurisdiction of the United States), nor Congressional Acts (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1401), nor any case law (e.g. U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898)) has ever changed the original common law definition of a “natural born Citizen.” This amendment and laws have all dealt with the sole question of whether a particular person was going to be allowed to enter into and be a member of American society and thereby be declared a “citizen.” The 14th Amendment did not involve Article II, let alone define what a “natural born Citizen” is. Never having been changed, the original constitutional meaning of a “natural born Citizen” prevails today. We can also see from these definitions that a “citizen” could have more than one allegiance and loyalty (acquiring allegiance from one’s foreign parents or from foreign soil) but a “natural born Citizen” can have only one and that is to America (soil and parents are all united in one nation).

The original definition of “natural born Citizen” gives our Constitutional Republic the best chance of having a President and Commander in Chief of the Military who has sole and absolute allegiance, loyalty, and attachment to the United States. By satisfying all conditions of this definition, all other avenues of acquiring other foreign citizenships and allegiances (jus soli or by the soil and jus sanguinis or by descent) are cut off. Having all other means of acquiring other foreign citizenships or allegiances cut off is unity of citizenship which is what the President must have at the time of birth. Additionally, by requiring the child’s parents to be U.S. citizens best assures that those parents most likely will have absorbed American customs and values which, in turn, they will transmit to their child.

The “natural born Citizen” clause serves a critical purpose today and must be enforced in every Presidential election. The President has immense power, both civil and military. The clause assures the American people that their President does not have any conflicting allegiances or loyalties. In our nuclear world, it will avoid having a President who may hesitate to act quickly and decisively in a moment of crisis due to some internal psychological conflict of allegiance or loyalty. It will avoid any foreign nation expecting and pressuring the President to act in their best interest instead of that of America. The clause gives the American people the best chance that they will not be attacked from within through the Office of President. Knowing the President is a “natural born Citizen,” the American people will trust their President with their lives. Finally, such a President can expect that the military will give him or her full trust and obedience.

When President Obama was born in 1961, under the British Nationality Act 1948, both his father and he were British subjects/citizens. In 1963, they both became Kenyan citizens. In fact, Mr. Obama’s father was never even a legal resident or immigrant of America. Hence, regardless of where Mr. Obama was born or that he may be a United States citizen under the 14th Amendment, he is not an Article II “natural born Citizen” and not eligible to be President. This ineligibility has absolutely nothing to do with his race or class but all to do with his being born with multiple citizenships and allegiances and not satisfying the strict eligibility requirements of Article II. If someone believes that today the “natural born Citizen” clause no longer serves any useful purpose, then the proper way to change or abandon it is by way of constitutional amendment under Article V of the Constitution, not by usurpation.

Mario Apuzzo, Esq.”

Read more about the lawsuit here:

http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-natural-born-citizen-clause-is.html

Newsmax.com has an interesting article talking about the birthplaces of, so far, 43 presidential birth places, but none yet commemorating Mr. Obama:

1. George Washington — Address: George Washington Birthplace National Monument; Rural Route 1; Box 717; Washington’s Birthplace, Va. 22443
2. John Adams — Address: 133 Franklin St.; Quincy, Mass. 02669
3.Thomas Jefferson — Address: U.S. 250; 3 miles east of Charlottesville, Va.
4. James Madison — Address: Monroe Hall; Virginia SR 205; Westmoreland County near Colonial Beach, Va. 22443
5.James Monroe — Address: Monroe Hall; Virginia SR 205; Westmoreland County near Colonial Beach, Va. 22443
6.John Quincy Adams — Address: 141 Franklin St.; Quincy, Mass. 02169
7.Andrew Jackson — Address: 14 miles south of Rock Hill on South Carolina State Route 5. The Park is on Route 1. Address:196 Andrew Jackson Park Road; Lancaster, S.C. 29720
8.Martin Van Buren — Address: 46 Hudson St.; Kinderhook, New York 12106
9.William Henry Harrison — Address: 12602 Harrison Landing Road; Charles City, Va. 23030
10. John Tyler — Address: John Tyler Memorial Highway; Charles City, Va. 23030
11. James Polk — Address: Box 475; Pineville, N.C. 28134

12. Zachary Taylor — Address: Highway 33; 5 miles west of Gordonsville, Va., and just over 20 miles from Charlottesville, Va.
13. Millard Fillmore — Address: Millard Fillmore Birthplace; Locke, N.Y. 13092
14. Franklin Pierce — Address: The Pierce Homestead; Routes 9 and 31; Hillsboro, N.H. 03244
15. James Buchanan — Address: Buchanan Historic Site; Mercersburg, Pa. 17236
16. Abraham Lincoln — Address: Sinking Spring Farm; 2995 Lincoln Farm Road; Hodgenville, Ky. 42748
17. Andrew Johnson — Address: Mordecai Historic Park; Wake Forest Road; Raleigh, N.C. 27601
18. Ulysses Grant — Address: Grant’s Birthplace; Routes 52E and 322; Point Pleasant, Ohio 45143
19. Rutherford Hayes — Address: Rutherford B. Hayes Birthplace; East William Street; Delaware, Ohio 43015
20. James Garfield — Address: James A. Garfield Birthplace; 4350 S.O.M Center Road; Moreland Hills (now Chagrin Falls); Cuyahoga County, Ohio 44022
21. Chester Arthur — Address: Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site; Route 36; Fairfield, Vt. 05455
22. Grover Cleveland — Address: Grover Cleveland Birthplace State Historic Site; 207 Bloomfield Avenue; Caldwell, N.J. 07006
23. Benjamin Harrison — Address: Benjamin Harrison Birthplace; William Henry Harrison Home; Symmes and Washington Avenues; North Bend, Ohio 45052
24. Grover Cleveland — Address: Grover Cleveland Birthplace State Historic Site; 207 Bloomfield Avenue; Caldwell, N.J. 07006
25. William McKinley — Address: William McKinley Birthplace; 36 S. Main St.; Niles, Ohio 44446
26. Theodore Roosevelt — Address: Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site; 28 East 20th St.; New York, N.Y. 10003
27. William Taft — Address: 2038 Auburn Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45219
28. Woodrow Wilson — Address: 18-24 Coalter Street, Staunton, Va. 24401
29. Warren Harding — Address: Highways 97 and 288, Blooming Grove, Ohio 44878
30. Calvin Coolidge — Address: P.O. Box 247, Plymouth, Vermont 05056
31. Herbert Hoover — Address: West Branch, Iowa 52538
32. Franklin Roosevelt — Address: 519 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, N.Y. 12538
33. Harry Truman — Address: 1009 Truman Ave., Lamar, Mo. 64759
34. Dwight Eisenhower — Address: 208 East Day St., Denison, Texas 75020
35. John Kennedy — Address: 83 Beals St., Brookline, Mass. 02146
36. Lyndon Johnson — Address: Box 329 Johnson City, Texas 78636
37. Richard Nixon — Address: 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, Calif. 92686
38. Gerald Ford — Address: 3202 Woolworth Ave, Omaha, Neb. 68103
39. James Carter — Address: 300 North Bond St., Plains, Ga. 31780
40. Ronald Reagan — Address: 119 S. Main St., Tampico, Ill. 61283
41. George H.W. Bush — Address: 173 Adams St, Milton, Mass. 02187
42. Bill Clinton — Address: Bill Clinton was born at the Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Ark. The hospital has been demolished.
43. George W. Bush — Address: George W. was born to Barbara and George Bush in what was then Grace-New Haven Community Hospital and is now Yale-New Haven Hospital.
44. Barack Obama — Address: Unknown.

VIDEO "BORN IN THE USA"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCzmLfsdhjY

Writing for the six-judge majority of Wong Kim Ark, Justice Gray began by noting that the Constitution uses the terms "citizen of the United States" and "natural-born citizen of the United States," but does not define them.

As a result, following the Court in Minor v. Happersett (1875), he turned to the common law. Operating according to jus soli, English common law declared that all children born within the king's realm were subjects of the king except those born of foreign ambassadors or of alien enemies occupying part of the king's dominions, since such children could not be said to be "born within the allegiance, the obedience, or the power, or, as would be said at this day, within the jurisdiction of the King."

Common law doctrine, Gray asserted, was simply adopted by the United States.

The Fourteenth Amendment did not change that situation; it merely reaffirmed it in such a way as to overturn Taney's Dred Scott ruling that limited United States citizenship to whites. The phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" was included for two reasons. First, it emphasized the common law exceptions of children of ambassadors and occupying armies. Second, it excluded "children of members of the Indian tribes, standing in a peculiar relation to the National Government, unknown to the common law".

SO, who CAN define "Natural born citizen", once and for all?

It SHOULD be Congress. However, in nearly 30 such attempts to define the phrase since the 1870s, such codification has NEVER made it out of committee. Additionally, with more than 17 Amendments to the Constitution since 1789, including 5 Amendments (12th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th) that deal directly with the office of president, no attempt to define "Natural born citizen" has ever been attempted. Even when Congressman Abercrombie slipped "Whereas the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii" in the non-binding H.R. 593, he stopped short on defining Omama as a citizen, and certainly NOT a "Natural born citizen".

Because of the Legislature's OBVIOUS inability to come to an agreement on this subject, the Supreme Court seems as the only neutral body that can decide this question. In the same way they finally defined "to keep and bear arms" in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), they are the only body that can resolve the matter on how the Framers defined "Natural born citizen".