Fed up with so-called “birthers,” lawmakers in Hawaii are considering a bill that will allow government officials to ignore repeated requests for the birth certificate of President Barack Obama.
A state official told the Associated Press there remains “a cohort of people” that believe Obama was not born in the United States and thus ineligible to serve as president of the United States. The state continues to receive between 10 and 20 e-mails a week seeking verification that Obama is a natural-born American citizen.
“Sometimes we may be dealing with a cohort of people who believe lack of evidence is evidence of a conspiracy,” said Lorrin Kim, chief of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development.
Unfortunately for Taitz and. her birther brethren, state law forbids the release of a certified birth certificate without a “tangible” reason. And since Hawaii Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino has already given multiple statements confirming Obama’s vital records are authentic, these requests have become nothing more than a nuisance, officials say.
Still, some question whether a law is really the answer to the issue.
Noted Rep. Cynthia Thielen, a Republican: “Do we really want to be known internationally as the legislature that blocked any inquiries into where President Obama was born? When people want to get more information, the way to fuel the fire is to say, ‘We’re now going to draw down a veil of secrecy.”
Under the proposed legislation, people who persist on making requests would be declared a “vexatious requester” by the Office of Information Practices, which would place restrictions on accessing government records for two years.
Lawmakers say the bill will be scheduled for a committee vote soon.