Obama Birth Certificate Law: Hawaii Can Now Ignore Repetitive Requests

HONOLULU — It's now law in Hawaii that the state government can ignore repetitive requests for President Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law Wednesday a bill allowing state government agencies not to respond to follow-up requests for information if they determine that the subsequent request is duplicative or substantially similar to a previous request.

The law is aimed at so-called "birthers," who claim Obama is ineligible to be president. They contend the Democratic president was born outside the United States, and therefore doesn't meet a constitutional requirement for being president.

Lingle didn't elaborate on her reasons for signing the bill, but state Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino previously issued statements saying that she's seen vital records that prove Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen.

Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama's original birth certificate.

Health Department officials supported the law because the state still gets between 10 and 20 e-mails seeking verification of Obama's birth each week, most of them from outside Hawaii.

A few of those requesters file repeated inquiries seeking the same information, even after they're told state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest.

Advocates for openness in government oppose the law because they fear it could be used to ignore legitimate requests for information.

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The bill is SB2937.

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Online:

Hawaii Legislature: http://capitol.hawaii.gov/

Comments

[TeaLady005]

10:25 PM on 05/16/2010

My goodness! Many have said this birth certificate thing was a non-issue? But if that were true why is Hawaii still being flooded with so many requests to see it, that the state law makers had to pass a law to allow them to not have to respond to each? Several of my friends wonder as I do, why the president just will not release it to the public? Why is it such a big deal anyway? He knows there are billboards going up around the country asking him to make it public, so why not just put it in the morning newspapers and silence all the controversy?

[ProfessorBrooks]

12:26 AM on 05/17/2010

Your logic is deeply flawed. Just because there are thousands of whackos who refuse to accept the facts and evidence that has already been reviewed by legitimate sources and continue to ask for proof again and again does not mean that the issue becomes legitimate. There are thousands of people who refuse to believe the moon landing happened--does that mean we should launch an investigation into what NASA is hiding from the American people. Do the math: ten to twenty requests a week, many from the same person over and over, in a country with three hundred million citizens...think it through.

[TeaLady005]

10:11 AM on 05/17/2010

The central question to my post was "why doesn't our president just make his long form birth certificate public?" I have read other posts that say Mr. Obama has a lawfirm that fights to keep his records sealed. I don't know if that is true,,,but still can not think of any reason why he refuses to show the American citizens a simple thing such as a birth certificate?

[nikflorida]

07:42 PM on 05/15/2010

This sounds like a good thing, but as Hawaii State Senator Will Espero (the guy who introduced this bill) pointed out, "I don’t think anything we provide or give them will convince them otherwise.” The newest thing is to 'debate' his alleged IRS fraud, with him and Michele using multiple stolen SSNs. Read more at http://nikflorida.org. Where we don't tell you WHAT to think, just to think.

[BeVeryAfraid]

03:34 PM on 05/15/2010

"This is a facility that deals with federal student loans. They don’t process grants from foreign governments or from foundations. Obama has mentioned that he had student loans, and in fact only paid them off completely after he was elected Senator. The birthers of course scoffed at this. The fact that files exist for the President at this facility confirms his story. The President, like most Americans who go to college, had federal student loans."

What does that tell us? I filled out a FAFSA form a few months ago (what fun). Guess what? Only US citizens and legal permanent residents are eligible for federal student loans; foreign students are not. So all the stories that Obama went to college as a foreign exchange student are out the window. And if he released his college records, as the birthers seem so desperate for, the worst they’re gonna show is that he might have blown off a few classes. You know, like in “Animal House”.

Shocking, no?

[Dogma]

08:36 AM on 05/15/2010

This is CLEARLY a conspiracy.

...That is, if by 'consipiracy' Hawaii intends to keep dumb people in the dark.

[Mr Universe]

04:29 AM on 05/15/2010

Perhaps John McCain should be deported to Panama?

[Mr Universe]

04:27 AM on 05/15/2010

Wait, wait, just a minute.Arizona just passed a law that people need to show proof of citenship.

JOHN McCAIN, WHERE ARE YOUR PAPERS?1?

[Dogma]

08:39 AM on 05/15/2010

The funny thing is, I read recently (here?) that JM doesn't even live in AZ. He lives in San Diego.
(But I'm sure he'll need papers for his vacation houseS, there.)

[Zen0469]

07:15 PM on 05/14/2010

A fact is a strange and wonderful thing for a teabagger. Ephemeral perhaps, rather like a charmed quark for instance.

A teabagger believes that if he submits 1000 requests for Pres. Obama's birth certificate, there is a tangible chance that on just one of those occasions the answer might be what he wishes it to be.

[Mr Universe]

05:31 PM on 05/15/2010

Ever see those folks who repeatedly hit the crosswalk buttons thinking it will make the light change faster? Teabaggers are like that. Repeat whatever it is you want until you get it.

Or maybe those little kids who want their Mother's attention while she is talking to someone else or busy at the checkout stand.

Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom...

Then Mommy finally screams "WHAT!!!!"

"Can I have this?"

[VA Voter]

01:47 PM on 05/14/2010

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) is the only president born of two immigrants, both Irish.

Presidents with one immigrant parent:
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), whose mother was born in England
James Buchanan (1857-1861) and Chester Arthur (1881-1885), both of whom had Irish fathers,
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) and Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), whose mothers were born respectively in England and Canada.

[inthelandoftheblind]

02:48 PM on 05/14/2010

Interesting!Fanned!

[isaac32767]

08:19 PM on 05/21/2010

So the big conspiracy goes all the way back to 1801! The patriots of America thank you!

[Jocalo]

01:12 PM on 05/14/2010

47 years ago, when the marriage between a black man and a white woman was still illegal in some states and the battle for civil rights was in its infancy, a brilliant plan was spawned to cover up the origins of a future President of the United States. First, they put birth announcements in two Honolulu papers and planted a forged birth certificate. Second, in a genius move, just to make their chances of planting their secret Kenyan-born Muslim even better, they named the mixed race baby, Barack Hussein Obama.

I betcha there were people who thought that their plan was CRAZY, but they were wrong, cause see? It totally WORKED and now people need to see the TRUTH before it's too late!

[luvobama]

01:43 PM on 05/14/2010

Fanned

President Obama's parents were just as brilliant as he is.

Imagine the planning and strategy they had in place!!!

[Jocalo]

01:57 PM on 05/14/2010

Fanned back

[inthelandoftheblind]

02:52 PM on 05/14/2010

Well...of course they knew what to do - they were preparing the way for the ANTI_CHRIST...or hadn't you heard?

Fanned!

[tekno2600]

12:05 PM on 05/14/2010

Next Hawaii needs to pass a law that says if you follow the new Arizona law that says all presidential candidates must submit a birth certificate, which Obama did and Panama John McCain did not, and some stupid birther still says I want to see the "long form birth certificate" (which the Hawaii Department of Health no longer produces in response to requests for records), then I say that birther needs to have the teabags forcibly removed from his ears and let all the weak tea drain out from his cranial cavity. NO APPEAL!!!

[Gingersp]

01:33 PM on 05/14/2010

Fanned!!

[Ken Maddox]

10:53 AM on 05/14/2010

I only voted for the White half, so I can still use my whiteness to prove, I'm betterin' them. How stupid are we supposed to become, I voted for the man. I voted for him, knowing all the while, that he was the son of a Kenyan father and an American mother. It would not have mattered if his mother had been a black American, if he was still the same man for whom I voted. To think, in the dawn of the 21st century, with all our advancements there would still be some among us that would consider the pigment of a man's skin to be a deciding factor in his worth. That is an apalling thought.

[luvobama]

01:45 PM on 05/14/2010

Fanned

I was stunned by the amount of racism we still have in this country.

I always knew there were pockets of it, but wowee.

I still think their mouths are far bigger than their numbers.

[inthelandoftheblind]

05:03 PM on 05/14/2010

These birthers are truly, little more than an annoyance, a handful of repeat belchers, but must be such an embarrassment to those with legitimate gripes, or sadly, some with other baseless fears. They can get all lumped into one group - the other guys.

I voted for Obama, but my president selected Tom Vilsack as our Secty. of Agriculture - & he's a Monsanto shill, then the HC bill passed was the Senate version, written by an insurance lobbyist, who was hired to work with Boehner.

What's next...not holding Wall St. accountable?

[Aimleft]

10:21 AM on 05/14/2010

HA HA HA. About time Hawaii did something to end the ridiculous, repetitive requests from these eggheads with nothing better to do than continue along this track, stirring up trouble as hard as they can. I'm sure they'll squawk in irate, self-righteous indigination against this "cover-up" but at least they will have lost steam in one area of their ongoing insanity.

[Bike Commuter]

10:31 AM on 05/14/2010

I think another way to cut down on the requests would have been to require a completed Census form be included with all requests.

[Warren J Warren]

09:49 AM on 05/14/2010

Obama, the best Black President we ever had. And Bush, the worst white president we ever had. So what? Obama is the only black president we will ever had, so somewhear in the next three hundred years this statement will be true. I am assuning thise words will be pass down through generations. Now for those out there who desire to chellenge this statement, this country should elect the next ten president who just happen to be black. Therefore the world can see if Warren J. is right with his assumption.
This is what you call putting the cart before the horse. It will take these types of elections to measure President Obama's performas. President Obama performas can only be measure with another black president. Only. No matter how wrong or how stupid and dump a white president is, President Obama will never measure up in most white Americans eyes. Ain't that right? WWW

[Aimleft]

10:24 AM on 05/14/2010

Not sure where you're getting these sweeping generalizations from, but I don't think most white Americans see Obama in terms of his color only. Yes, there will be plenty who don't care what he does - he's BLACK; therefore he is to be vilified and loathed. But many others can see what he's doing (with great difficulty as so much of it involves patching up the immense damage left by previous administration) and be appreciative, or be unhappy with his policies based on their own merits or lack thereof, without regard to his skin color.

[Dawgnme]

10:32 AM on 05/14/2010

Is it not popsicle time yet? Letting Johnny spend a little bit too much time on the computer, now aren't we?

[AvgAmericanWokenUp]

09:04 AM on 05/14/2010

The President of the United States should be natural born. We as American Citizens should have the right to demand records to prove any President Elect, Black, White, Green, Blue to be qualified. This is OUR COUNTRY right?
I don't see what's so wrong about it.
All I know is Arnold Schwarzenegger better not become President, ever.
So we need to be good Americans and PAY ATTENTION!
I support the "Birthers" because they have put faith in a cause which may or may not be valid, but at least people are out there who still care about our LAWS OF GOVERNANCE.

[serialcoma]

09:19 AM on 05/14/2010

You support the birthers because you are willfully ignorant and weak-minded.

[viewfromuphere]

09:39 AM on 05/14/2010

here's the thing....
the birth certificate has been seen and verified by the state of Hawaii....what birthers seem to be wanting the president to take that certificate to every birther in America so they....individuals who couldn't verify if a postage stamp was accurate can look at a piece of paper then say....no that's not an American cerficate because.....fill in latest conspiracy theory here.....

[nikflorida]

10:20 PM on 05/15/2010

LOL that's exactly what State Senator Espero said: "I don’t think anything we provide or give them will convince them otherwise.” Just like Jenny Sanford's husband, who said of his absence at her divorce hearing, "I didn't think you'd go through with it" ... and a roommate who behaved as if she was SHOCKED to realize that I was moving out, although I had told her I would if A B and C in 30 days, then 20 days, then 15 days... moving day, she's crying on a couch wailing "I didn't believe you." I'm like, "when have I ever lied to you?" Same thing. If I BELIEVE it's not so, and believe HARD enough, then somehow reality will change to fit my belief. Ya know, kinda like the whole prosperity gospel thing: if you're poor or sick, it's because you didn't have enough faith. If you're rich or powerful, it's because you fervently believed you would be, and God intended you to be. So, if we want the POTUS to be foreign-born enough, he will be, nearly half a century later. *shrug*

http://nikflorida.org. Where we don't tell you WHAT to think, just to think.

[takeabigdeepbreath]

06:53 AM on 05/14/2010

If this billboard isn't evidence of free speech in this country, I don't know what it. It comes very close to sedition though, in my opinion, suggesting that Obama is a jihadist and has some connection to Fort Hood. It's shocking how people's fears about their own future can lead to such distorted thinking.

[serialcoma]

09:19 AM on 05/14/2010

That's not thinking.... it's fear and bigotry unleashed.

[luvobama]

01:49 PM on 05/14/2010

And uncensored.

Those creepy people are an embarassment to our country.

Who would have thought we had so many we ir dos in our midst?