Alan Keyes files suit claiming Obama not a citizen

The real problem is that the document to which you link is a CERTIFICATION OF LIVE BIRTH and not a CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH. Let me explain the difference.

When the question of Senator Obama’s status as a natural born citizen was first raised, his campaign responded by posting on their website a scanned image of a “Certification of Live Birth” issued by the State of Hawaii, the state in which the Senator claims he was born. On the web site it was claimed that this document proves that Senator Obama is a natural born citizen. This claim is totally false. Under Hawaii Revised Statute (HRS) § 338-17.8, it is possible for anyone, including someone born in a foreign country, to have a “Certification of Live Birth” on file in the Hawaiian Department of Health. HRS 338-17.8 reads, in its entirety, as follows:

§338-17.8 Certificates for children born out of State.

(a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child.
(b) Proof of legal residency shall be submitted to the director of health in any manner that the director shall deem appropriate. The director of health may also adopt any rules pursuant to chapter 91 that he or she may deem necessary or proper to prevent fraudulent applications for birth certificates and to require any further information or proof of events necessary for completion of a birth certificate.
(c) The fee for each application for registration shall be established by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 91.

Doing away with the legalese, what this statute says in plain English is that the parents of any minor child can apply to the Hawaiian director of health and the director will issue their child a Hawaiian “birth certificate” if the parents can show that during the year before the child was born the parents considered Hawaii to be their legal residence. Now notice that under this statutory scheme there is NO REQUIREMENT that the parents be US citizens or that the child actually have been born in Hawaii or in any other state or possession of the United States. All the certification verifies is that for at least a period of one year prior to the child’s birth the child’s parents considered Hawaii their home and that this is their child who was live-born. Nothing more.

Remember that under HRS 388-17.8 you are issued only a CERTIFICATION of Live Birth, NOT a CERTIFICATE of Live Birth. Unfortunately, both of these documents have been referred to in the media (and in the Hawaiian statutes) as a “birth certificate,” thus causing unnecessary confusion. The difference between these two documents has been explained briefly by Hawaii’s Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). On its web site we read,

“In order to process your application, DHHL utilizes information that is found only on the original Certificate of Live Birth, which is either black or green. This is a more complete record of your birth than the Certification of Live Birth (a computer-generated printout). Submitting the original Certificate of Live Birth will save you time and money since the computer-generated Certification requires additional verification by DHHL” (http://hawaii.gov/dhhl/applicants/appforms/appl…) (emphasis in original).

In other words, Hawaii does not accept its own “Certification of Live Birth” as proof of natural born status. If you try to qualify for the Hawaiian Home Lands program by providing your “Certification of Live Birth” issued by the State of Hawaii itself, you will be denied until you can provide proof that you were actually born in Hawaii, something the “Certification of Live Birth” clearly does NOT do. Instead, you must produce a “Certificate of Live Birth” in order to be accepted by Hawaii as a natural born citizen.

Now, look at the document Senator Obama has provided on his web site (to which you provide a link) and which he claims proves he was born in Hawaii. Notice that it is a “Certification of Live Birth.” It is NOT a “Certificate of Live Birth.” Therefore, under the Hawaiian law quoted above, the document Obama has posted on his web site proves absolutely nothing at all about WHERE he was born. All it proves is that he was born and that for the year prior to his birth his parents claimed Hawaii as their residence. That’s it. Nothing more. This document is NOT proof that Obama was born in Hawaii and it is certainly NOT proof that he is qualified under the constitution to be President. Until and unless Mr Obama produces an official “Certificate of Live Birth” issued by the State of Hawaii, there is serious doubt about his status as a natural born citizen of this county, and, therefore, of his eligibility to be President of the United States. Every U.S. citizen should be alarmed at these facts and should demand that Mr. Obama immediately clarify these matters. Thus far he has refused to do so. For something so simple to do, his refusal to do so is most alarming.

The real problem is that the document to which you link is a CERTIFICATION OF LIVE BIRTH and not a CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH. Let me explain the difference.

When the question of Senator Obama’s status as a natural born citizen was first raised, his campaign responded by posting on their website a scanned image of a “Certification of Live Birth” issued by the State of Hawaii, the state in which the Senator claims he was born. On the web site it was claimed that this document proves that Senator Obama is a natural born citizen. This claim is totally false. Under Hawaii Revised Statute (HRS) § 338-17.8, it is possible for anyone, including someone born in a foreign country, to have a “Certification of Live Birth” on file in the Hawaiian Department of Health. HRS 338-17.8 reads, in its entirety, as follows:

§338-17.8 Certificates for children born out of State.

(a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child.
(b) Proof of legal residency shall be submitted to the director of health in any manner that the director shall deem appropriate. The director of health may also adopt any rules pursuant to chapter 91 that he or she may deem necessary or proper to prevent fraudulent applications for birth certificates and to require any further information or proof of events necessary for completion of a birth certificate.
(c) The fee for each application for registration shall be established by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 91.

Doing away with the legalese, what this statute says in plain English is that the parents of any minor child can apply to the Hawaiian director of health and the director will issue their child a Hawaiian “birth certificate” if the parents can show that during the year before the child was born the parents considered Hawaii to be their legal residence. Now notice that under this statutory scheme there is NO REQUIREMENT that the parents be US citizens or that the child actually have been born in Hawaii or in any other state or possession of the United States. All the certification verifies is that for at least a period of one year prior to the child’s birth the child’s parents considered Hawaii their home and that this is their child who was live-born. Nothing more.

Remember that under HRS 388-17.8 you are issued only a CERTIFICATION of Live Birth, NOT a CERTIFICATE of Live Birth. Unfortunately, both of these documents have been referred to in the media (and in the Hawaiian statutes) as a “birth certificate,” thus causing unnecessary confusion. The difference between these two documents has been explained briefly by Hawaii’s Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). On its web site we read,

“In order to process your application, DHHL utilizes information that is found only on the original Certificate of Live Birth, which is either black or green. This is a more complete record of your birth than the Certification of Live Birth (a computer-generated printout). Submitting the original Certificate of Live Birth will save you time and money since the computer-generated Certification requires additional verification by DHHL” (http://hawaii.gov/dhhl/applicants/appforms/appl…).

In other words, Hawaii does not accept its own “Certification of Live Birth” as proof of natural born status. If you try to qualify for the Hawaiian Home Lands program by providing your “Certification of Live Birth” issued by the State of Hawaii itself, you will be denied until you can provide proof that you were actually born in Hawaii, something the “Certification of Live Birth” clearly does NOT do. Instead, you must produce a “Certificate of Live Birth” in order to be accepted by Hawaii as a natural born citizen.

Now, look at the document Senator Obama has provided on his web site (to which you provide a link) and which he claims proves he was born in Hawaii. Notice that it is a “Certification of Live Birth.” It is NOT a “Certificate of Live Birth.” Therefore, under the Hawaiian law quoted above, the document Obama has posted on his web site proves absolutely nothing at all about WHERE he was born. All it proves is that he was born and that for the year prior to his birth his parents claimed Hawaii as their residence. That’s it. Nothing more. This document is NOT proof that Obama was born in Hawaii and it is certainly NOT proof that he is qualified under the constitution to be President. Until and unless Mr Obama produces an official “Certificate of Live Birth” issued by the State of Hawaii, there is serious doubt about his status as a natural born citizen of this county, and, therefore, of his eligibility to be President of the United States. Every U.S. citizen should be alarmed at these facts and should demand that Mr. Obama immediately clarify these matters. Thus far he has refused to do so. For something so simple to do, his refusal to do so is most alarming.