Howard Fischer – Bill stems from Obama ‘birther’ controversy

Bill stems from Obama 'birther' controversy

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
January 12, 2010

President Barack Obama

The Associated Press

Rep. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley, right, in a

2008 file photo with then-state Sen. Karen
Johnson, R-Mesa.

Capitol Media Services

If Barack Obama wants to run for re-election he would need to produce proof of both his U.S.
birth and citizenship to get on the ballot in Arizona, at least under a measure being pushed by
a state legislator.

Rep. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley, is crafting a measure to require anyone running for
president or vice president to provide proof to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office that they
are legally eligible to seek the office. The U.S. Constitution requires the president - and, by
extension, the vice president - to be "a natural born citizen."

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Howard Fischer – Bill stems from Obama ‘birther’ controversy

More to the point, Burges would require the secretary of state to verify, independently, that
the information is accurate.

"And if it's not certifiable, then that person's name would not go on the ballot," she said.

Burges told Capitol Media Services the measure is not necessarily about Obama, though she
admitted she has her doubts that he was born in Hawaii as he claims and, even if so, that he
can show he is a U.S. citizen.

"With what's happening throughout the world, we need to make sure that our candidates are
certifiable," she said.

Burges did not support Obama and is not a fan. And she said if, in fact, he is not a "natural
born" citizen, that makes him suspect.

"When someone bows to the king of Saudi Arabia and they apologize for our country around
the world, I have a problem with that," she said.

The kind of certification Burges wants, though, could be more difficult than simply checking
for a valid birth certificate, as the arguments about his legal qualification go beyond whether
he was actually born in Hawaii.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Pennsylvania charged, among other theories, that Obama
lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother married an Indonesian man and moved there, and
that he failed to reclaim it as an adult. But Judge Barclay Surrick threw out the case without
ruling on the legal theory, saying the plaintiff did not have standing to sue.

The U.S. Supreme Court eventually rejected the case.

Burges' bill, if it becomes law, would put the secretary of state in the position of having to
determine whether the individual circumstances of a candidate's life disqualify him or her
from being on the Arizona ballot.

The two-term lawmaker said her concerns remain about having a president whose citizenship
- and, by her reckoning, loyalty - is not clear.

"We want to make sure that we have candidates that are going to stand up for the United
States of America," Burges said.

"This is my home. I want to leave my children a better country than I inherited. And the only
way I can do that is what I can do as a state legislator."

Burges said her suspicions about Obama go beyond that well-publicized bow in Saudi Arabia.

"Obama has a book and it said, when it came down to it, he would be on the Muslim side,"
Burges continued. "Doesn't that bother you just a little bit?"

The quote comes from Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," in which he writes about
conversations with immigrant communities following the 2001 terrorist attacks, especially

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Howard Fischer – Bill stems from Obama ‘birther’ controversy

Arab and Pakistani Americans. Obama said they were fearful over detentions and FBI
questioning and were concerned about the historical precedent.

"They need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America
has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I
will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction," Obama wrote.

Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has reported on state government news since 1982, the
last 16 years for Capitol Media Services. Prior to that, he had been Associate Editor for Phoenix
Business Journal, New Times, and the (Tucson) Arizona Daily Sun and Managing Editor of the Bisbee
Daily Review. In addition to reporting for KNAU, Howard also reports for daily and weekly news
institutions around the state. Fischer and his wife, Gabe, live in Laveen, an as yet unincorporated
community on the southwest edge of Phoenix.

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