In the wake of last night’s vote by the House to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood — and its status as the birthplace of President Obama — the Florida Democrats have put out a statement challenging Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) to drop his proposed legislation to require birth certificates from presidential candidates.
The Florida Dems’ statement cites Posey’s own vote in favor of the Hawaii resolution, contrasting that with his being the lead sponsor of the widely-ridiculed “Birther Bill”:
Now that Rep. Bill Posey not only allowed the House of Representatives to certify the Presidential Election in January, but he also voted last night in Congress to declare President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, the question he needs to answer today is: Will Bill Posey withdraw his crazy bill questioning President Obama’s citizenship?
Because the people of Florida’s 15th District need a Congressman focused on creating jobs and fighting for NASA, hopefully last night’s vote shows that Posey has finally taken off his tinfoil hat and will finally get to work on the issues that matter.
Late Update: Posey spokesman George Cecala told me that Posey will not withdraw the bill, and it is not a personal slight against President Obama — citing Posey’s vote for the Hawaii resolution as evidence. Instead, it’s about ensuring transparency and disclosure as a general principle for an issue that has come up multiple times throughout American history for politicians like Chester Arthur, Charles Curtis, John McCain and others.
“Quite honestly, the bill was never about Barack Obama and Mr. Posey, and I think that’s true as to what our original statement was back when we introduced the bill,” said Cecala. “The bill is simply about implementing the Constitution through legislation, and Mr. Posey is not going to withdraw the bill.”
