Jan Brewer Vetoes Presidential Birther Bill (VIDEO)

PHOENIX -- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill to require President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before their names can appear on the state's ballot.

The bill vetoed by Brewer on Monday would have made Arizona the first state to pass such a requirement. According to My Fox Phoenix, the governor said the measure "is a bridge too far."

The AP reported last week on the legislation:

The Arizona proposal would require political parties and presidential candidates to hand in affidavits stating a candidate's citizenship and age and to provide the candidate's birth certificate and a sworn statement saying where the candidate has lived for 14 years.

If candidates don't have a copy of their birth certificates, they could meet the requirement by providing baptismal or circumcision certificates, hospital birth records and other documents.

"I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their 'early baptismal or circumcision certificates'," said Brewer in light of vetoing the bill, according to My Fox Phoenix. "This measure creates significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona."

Last week, Brewer was tight-lipped on whether or not she planned to sign off on the bill. At the time, she called the measure "an interesting piece of legislation."

Hawaii officials have certified Obama was born in that state, but so-called "birthers" have demanded more proof.

UPDATE: Brewer discussed her decision the presidential birther bill that cleared the Arizona state legislature last week during a phone interview on Fox News on Monday night. Here's an excerpt of what she had to say about the measure:

Well, the birther [bill] is the requirement that any presidential candidate or any other candidate would have to show proof of citizenship, and if they didn't, then they would have to show a batt -- baptisiminal -- baptisimal -- baptismal certificate or a certificate of circumcision. So it is something that I felt very, very uncomfortable with and I feel that it serves no purpose. So today, I went on record and I vetoed it.
...
And it doesn't help Arizona. This bill is a distraction, and we just simply need to get on with the state's business.

WATCH:

Comments

[ccm800]

11:55 PM on 04/20/2011

Not for nothing but Jan Brewer looks like she should be sitting in a dive bar at 4:30 in the afternoon smoking superlongs and drinking a Harvey Wall Banger

[Rowan Rain]

10:28 AM on 04/21/2011

And sounds...

[THE GREAT PURIFIER]

11:04 PM on 04/20/2011

Seen any good movies lately, Jan?

May I recommend "The Birther of a Nation", directed by Donald Trump.

It is a hilarious, knee-slapping, wig-flipping fun.

[Coyote1177]

07:52 PM on 04/20/2011

If his mother is a us citizen then so is he.

[THE GREAT PURIFIER]

11:07 PM on 04/20/2011

That is true, but remember that his citizenship is not now nor has ever been an issue. At issue here is where he was born, which is a constitutional requirement for the presidency.

[BadWolf]

04:35 PM on 04/21/2011

It's only an issue for those on the margins of sanity who think that the state of Hawaii is lying. They can't call Obama racially derogatory names so they go after him this way.

[Tony581]

05:51 PM on 04/20/2011

The confusion over the meaning of the obscure statement in the US Constitution, "natural born citizen," continues to this day. According to constitutional scholar Gabriel Chin, a recent legal panel concluded that "natural born citizen" is the most stupid clause in the entire constitution. Based on a 1608 English legal ruling, Calvin's Case, it is almost impossible to decipher its true intent. Chin argues that Obama would qualify to be US president whether or not he was born in the territorial US, since his mother was a citizen, and he therefore was a citizen of the USA at the moment of birth.

[Lancer 101]

03:14 PM on 04/20/2011

Brewer has stopped taking her hate pills - at least for a while.

[johnr49]

02:15 PM on 04/20/2011

Personally, I can't stand Jan Brewer and thoroughly despise SB1070, but this veto, plus her veto of the bill proposing guns on campuses at least demonstrates that she's not completely nuts.

[loudneighbor]

03:09 PM on 04/20/2011

I agree 100%. Just goes to show there are many shades of grey out there.

[eskatyt]

08:38 PM on 04/20/2011

Shows she's got a sense of self-preservation.

Not even the Roberts Court would uphold this law. (knock on wood)

[Jim MO PA]

01:17 PM on 04/20/2011

Birthers - So does this mean Jan Brewer is part of the conspiracy? Chief Justice Roberts swore in President Obama, so is he in on it too? GOP is doing nothing about this, are they in on it too?

[BadWolf]

04:37 PM on 04/21/2011

Jim-They're all in on it! Even the CIA, FBI, NSA and probably even the TSA!

[Dieseldagreat98]

12:58 PM on 04/20/2011

Don't the Republicans have more important things to do? The day they can define what they want their future to look like is the day they'll have some new ideas. They should say how they want to live and be treated by their government. They'd rather take on looney, worthless pieces of dog crap legislation like this. They really need to get their act together down there.

[NoahVail]

12:49 PM on 04/20/2011

This situation reminds me of the one in "The Great McGinty"  by Preston Sturges.  In that classic comedy two ex-patriots meet in a seedy bar in Panama, one because he had one moment of dishonesty, and had to flee the law, and the other, a former Governor, who had one moment of honesty.  Its OK Jan-  when we meet South of the border I will buy you a drink.

[annersbananers]

12:04 PM on 04/20/2011

Good for her. She's right- it's a distraction. Doesn't Arizona have other things to worry about, like the budget.

[TheNative]

10:22 AM on 04/20/2011

Brewer did the right thing in rejecting this amendment. I'm not so sure it was for the right reasons.

[Larkin31]

06:54 AM on 04/20/2011

Gabby Giffords will one day run this state. Brewer's days are numbered.

[mowgo]

04:12 AM on 04/20/2011

Bravo Gov Brewer for standing against members of your own party to do what is right. I didn't think you had it in you.

[collettethehedgehog]

02:58 AM on 04/20/2011

Is that a chicken I see roosting on her shoulder? She must have a dentist appt later.

[Hendrix]

02:51 AM on 04/20/2011

Governor Brewer deserves credit for having a level headed response to this radical Republican legislation. We're always so ready to blast someone for signing something we don't like. Well give her some credit for facing up to the nuts who pervade both party (s).