Posted on 07/31/2009 7:45:45 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
The Constitution specifies that in addition to being "natural born," the president must be 35 years old and with a minimum 14-year residency in the country. The same applies to the vice president.
Nickles's legislation, inspired by an aide who adopted two children from Eastern Europe, does not address immigrants' right to hold America's highest office. But his colleague Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, last year introduced a constitutional amendment to loosen the prohibition on foreign-born citizens serving as president.
The Constitution's framers chose the term "natural born" not only to highlight the need for allegiance, but also to eliminate the possibility that foreigners could exert power over the fledgling government, according to constitutional experts. Since then, immigrants have served in the highest posts in nearly every other facet of American life.
Hatch's proposal would allow anyone who has been a U.S. citizen for 20 years, and completed 14 years of residency to serve as president. (Earlier legislative proposals, also yet to be passed, would require immigrants to be naturalized for 35 years before becoming eligible to be president.)
But Nickles figures that his bill may have a better chance of becoming law quickly because amending the Constitution is typically a years-long process requiring two-third votes in each House of Congress and approval by 38 st
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I was attempting to say why he has not provided any official documents -- and he won't until forced to do it.. by the courts? by the military?
His ideological parents are the 1960s Marxist-Alinsky hippie street rabble. They and their other ideological issue are the Rat Party (formerly the traditional, patriotic Democratic Party).
Their aim is to "Bring it all down, man."
They cannot be trusted without some kind of verification -- that requirement for Americans is new; and I remember every election since W.W.II.
Ironically, Obama is the kind of person whom the Founders suspected. One reason why Alexander Hamilton was regarded with suspicion was that he was born in the “Islands.”
As far as our being sovereign citizens, they've been aided and abetted by certain Republicans, too. Orrin Hatch proposed the amendment that was highlighted in the article that is the topic of this thread.
No one objected to certification, despite the clear knowledge that a problem of eligibility was present, again as the article that is the topic of this thread demonstrates.
Why stop there?
There have been quite a few attempts to put a Constitutional amendment into motion, regarding the natural-born citizen requirement.
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is one. Don Nickles (R-OK) was another. Who are the rest, and are they still in office?
This is as good a place as any, to start calling them all out.
He's demonstrated little to no allegiance to this country, and has shown demonstrable hostility to the Constitution prior to his being elected President, despite having sworn an oath to uphold that Constitution. So, yes, the Founders' attempt to weed out foreign influences does seem prescient, in Obama's case.
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, who was born in Canada, also supports this amendment. She explained: You can't choose where you are born, but you can choose where you live and where you swear your allegiance.
...
My proposal is already garnering bipartisan support. Several senators have publicly expressed support for a constitutional amendment in statements made to the media over the last several months. In addition, we are fortunate to have with us today, a panel of six distinguished members of Congress to discuss various proposals in the Senate and the House that would maximize voter choice for the Presidency. I look forward to hearing from them and from our academic experts on Panel 2.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=1326&wit_id=51
Bill S. 2678 attempted to change article II, section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States with reference to the requirements of being a “natural born citizen” and hence; the entitlement to run for President of the United States. This bill met the same fate that similar attempts to change the Constitution have in the past. Attempts such as The Natural Born Citizen Act were known to have failed and the text scrubbed from the internet, with only a shadow-cached copy left, that only the most curious public can find.
S. 2128:
108th Congress
2003-2004
A bill to define the term “natural born Citizen” as used in the Constitution of the United States to establish eligibility for the Office of President.
Sponsor: Sen. Don Nickles, [R-OK]
Cosponsors [as of 2008-11-10]: Sen. James Inhofe [R-OK]; Sen. Mary Landrieu [D-LA]
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s108-2128
Written Statement Presented to the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on "Maximizing Voter Choice: Opening the Presidency to Naturalized Americans" October 5, 2004
The principles on which our democracy is founded need to be protected, extended, and reaffirmed. The Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment (with a 20-year time-of-citizenship requirement) introduced by Senator Hatch and Representative Rohrabacher and the President and Vice President Eligibility for Office Bill (with a 35-year time-of-citizenship requirement) introduced by Representatives Snyder, Issa, and Frank provide an opportunity to protect, extend, and reaffirm one of our most fundamental principles, namely, the principle that all American citizens should have equal rights. The Natural Born Citizen Act moves move toward equal rights without a constitutional amendment; it creates equal rights for foreign-born adoptees, like my son, but not for most naturalized citizens.
In practical terms, the right to run for President is not the most important right a citizen can have. After all, the vast majority of American citizens will never attempt to run for President. In symbolic terms, however, the right to run for President is vitally important.
Commentators, politicians, and teachers are fond of saying that the United States is a country where anyone can grow up to be President, because this expression conveys the essence of our democracy. This expression clearly sends the signal that political offices in this country are not inherited or restricted to a select few, but instead are open to anyone who can convince the voters of his or her merit. This message gets through. In an ABC News poll taken earlier this year, 54 percent of Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 believe they could grow up to be President.
The power of this symbolism was brought home to me just a few days ago. On September 22, the Syracuse Post-Standard wrote an editorial in support of the amendments to eliminate the natural-born citizen requirement that were introduced by Senator Hatch and Representative Rohrabacher. The author of this editorial knew about me and my work because of my testimony before a House Committee in 2000, and the editorial contained a quote from me and mentioned by son, Jonah. The next day I received a letter in the mail from Ms. Cathy Fedrizzi, one of my son's second-grade teachers. Here is some of what this letter said:
Dear Dr. Yinger,
As I read this morning's editorial about Jonah, I had a feeling this would be a hard day. I was scheduled to visit Jonah's class to teach about the upcoming election. Part of my lesson involves teaching about who is eligible to become president?
.As we worked our way through the lesson, I noticed Jonah sitting on the edge of the group. That's unusual for Jonah?whenever I've taught guest lessons before, he's been front and center, so I had a feeling he wasn't happy. Before I got to the rules for becoming President, he told me the rule about being born a citizen. I explained that some laws are made a long time ago and seem like a good idea at the time, but I didn't like the law the way it was either. He didn't seem satisfied with my answer, and neither was I.
I feel sad every time this situation occurs. ?. I hope that some day, before I stop teaching, I can tell eight year old students that anyone sitting on the floor at my feet could one day be president of the United States.
My son should not have to feel this way. No American second grader should have to feel this way. No American citizen should have to feel this way. I urge the members of this committee, and indeed all members of Congress, to support Senator Hatch's Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment, one of the comparable amendments introduced in the House, or, as a second-best solution, the bill proposed by Senator Nickles. Let us renew our commitment to the equal-rights principle, one of the cornerstones of our democracy, by giving naturalized citizens the right to run for President.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?renderforprint=1&id=1326&wit_id=3885
Keep reading, I’ve put up replies with several of these “dog breath politicians,” as you put it.
I haven’t really even scratched the surface here. But, it’s late on the east coast. Feel free to post additional examples. A good start would be Hatch’s “Panel 2” and the testimony mentioned by this Prof. Yinger in 2000.
I want to know who, in Congress, of any political party, wants to make the Presidency a free-for-all ... for the children of course (I just knew it had to be up in there somewhere, and there it was).
Just whose conspiracy is this, anyway? I’m thinking the “birthers” are a little late to the party.
Good night.
I believe that is Lou Dobbs position.
Agreed. It’s bad enough that an illegal can come across the border and drop a baby and have it be eligible to be president. We certainly don’t need to open it up to the world. I think we can find a qualified candidate out of our own multitudes (though, that’s getting more and more difficult to believe with every election cycle).
good post bump
Hey, thanks. Unless you’re referring to the first post and just happened to bump mine. :) Either way, here’s another bump.
I am so fed up with our pols that I think there should be a movement to vote out every single incumbent in Congress, bar none.
Bump
Good Morning, RG.
Axelrod ordered (and got) this week’s Birther Sweeps with a surprising amount of media outlets, their next step is to get ‘birthers’ on the air to shut them up and down with Alinsky derision tactics.
It is imperative that whoever goes on the air is armed with all the ORIGINAL birthers attempt via bills and resolutions from 5 years ago and especially last year.
And as for you State Run Media lurkers: ‘It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up that gets ya.’
And a late good morning to you, too.
I’m just sitting here wondering what Oklahoma has against the Constitution, myself.
Pinging an Oklahoman for insight. PhiKapMom, why are there so many Oklahoma Senators involved in efforts to allow people like Henry Kissinger and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the office of President?
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