This raises more questions than it answers and it doesn’t change the point I was making. This story was dated Sept. 23, 2005. Obama’s jpg of an alleged COLB is stamped with the June 6, 2007. IOW, Obama didn’t use the COLB to get the passport in that story. What document(s) did he use and why didn’t he show those documents instead of the jpg?? Why would he need a new COLB if he had something else with which to obtain a passport as a senator?? Also, this still leaves a huge hole between 1968 and 2005 ... a time in which Obama may have used an Indonesia passport or may have retained Indonesian citizenship as an adult.
Renunciation of US citizenship cannot be done within the United States or its territories. You must appear in person at a US consulate in another country, presumably the country in which you already reside legally and intend to reside thereafter. You must then sign an oath of renunciation and hand over your US passport. Even if you take all these steps, your renunciation may not be accepted by the State Department, especially if they believe that you plan to return to the United States (even for a visit) within a short period of time. If you renounce US citizenship formally and it is accepted, your name is then published in the Federal Register as a legal notice to anyone who might be trying to locate you – including the IRS.”
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/28201/renounce_us_citizenship_process_and.html?cat=37
SEC. 349. [8 U.S.C. 1481]
(a) A person who is a national of the United States whether by birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing any of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality-
(1) obtaining naturalization in a foreign state upon his own application or upon an application filed by a duly authorized agent, after having attained the age of eighteen years; or
(2) taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after having attained the age of eighteen years; or
(3) entering, or serving in, the armed forces of a foreign state if
(A) such armed forces are engaged in hostilities against the United States, or
(B) such persons serve as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer; or
(4)(A) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after attaining the age of eighteen years if he has or acquires the nationality of such foreign state; or
(B) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after attaining the age of eighteen years for which office, post, or employment an oath, affirmation, or declaration of allegiance is required; or
(5) making a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State; or
(6) making in the United States a formal written renunciation of nationality in such form as may be prescribed by, and before such officer as may be designated by, the Attorney General, whenever the United States shall be in a state of war and the Attorney General shall approve such renunciation as not contrary to the interests of national defense; or
(7) committing any act of treason against, or attempting by force to overthrow, or bearing arms against, the United States, violating or conspiring to violate any of the provisions of section 2383 of title 18, United States Code, or willfully performing any act in violation of section 2385 of title 18, United States Code, or violating section 2384 of said title by engaging in a conspiracy to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, if and when he is convicted thereof by a court martial or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) Whenever the loss of United States nationality is put in issue in any action or proceeding commenced on or after the enactment of this subsection under, or by virtue of, the provisions of this or any other Act, the burden shall be upon the person or party claiming that such loss occurred, to establish such claim by a preponderance of the evidence. Any person who commits or performs, or who has committed or performed, any act of expatriation under the provisions of this or any other Act shall be presumed to have done so voluntarily, but such presumption may be rebutted upon a showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the act or acts committed or performed were not done voluntarily.
[SEC. 350 was repealed]
SEC. 351. [8 U.S.C. 1483]
(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (6) and (7) of section 349(a) of this title, no national of the United States can lose United States nationality under this Act while within the United States or any of its outlying possessions, but loss of nationality shall result from the performance within the United States or any of its outlying possessions of any of the acts or the fulfillment of any of the conditions specified in this chapter if and when the national thereafter takes up a residence outside the United States and its outlying possessions.
(b) A national who within six months after attaining the age of eighteen years asserts his claim to United States nationality, in such manner as the Secretary of State shall by regulation prescribe, shall not be deemed to have lost United States nationality by the commission, prior to his eighteenth birthday, of any of the acts specified in paragraphs (3) and (5) of section 349(a) of this title.
[Sections 352-355 were repealed]
SEC. 356. [8 U.S.C. 1488] The loss of nationality under this chapter shall result solely from the performance by a national of the acts or fulfillment of the conditions specified in this chapter.
SEC. 357. [8 U.S.C. 1489] Nothing in this title shall be applied in contravention of the provisions of any treaty or convention to which the United States is a party and which has been ratified by the Senate before December 25, 1952: Provided, however, That no woman who was a national of the United States shall be deemed to have lost her nationality solely by reason of her marriage to an alien on or after September 22, 1922, or to an alien racially ineligible to citizenship on or after March 3, 1931, or, in the case of a woman who was a United States citizen at birth, through residence abroad following such marriage, notwithstanding the provisions of any existing treaty or convention.
There are no papers to be destroyed. Your associated content source is only talking about a relatively recent lists of renunciations. Besides, there's still no evidence Obama ever had U.S. citizenship to renounce prior to becoming an Indonesian citizen.
The U.S. State Department has no record of the annual number of Americans who do renounce their citizenship. However, the IRS publishes their names in the Federal Register. The IRS's interest on the subject is a financial one; since 1996, the agency has tracked American expatriates to try to recoup tax revenue, which, in some cases may be owed for up to ten years when a person leaves the country. In any case, the actual number of people renouncing their citizenship, for example, in 2002 the Federal Register recorded only 403, of which many were merely longtime resident aliens who were returning home.