Congressman to introduce birther bill

WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- A U.S. congressman says he will introduce a bill requiring each presidential candidate to file a birth certificate copy with the Federal Election Commission.

The bill's sponsor, U.S. Rep. Bill Posey R-Fla., said the proposed legislation isn't directed at President Obama, who has addressed charges made by several people he was not born in the United States, The Hill reported Friday.

"It's been about addressing something that's come up at least seven times before," Posey said. "With its passage, this won't be a distraction for anyone in the future."

Obama released a short form of his birth certificate in 2008, showing he was born in Honolulu Aug. 4, 1961, but so-called birthers -- one of them celebrity and possible Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whom Obama referred to as a "carnival barker" -- wouldn't believe the apparent truth.

The president released a long-form copy of his birth certificate Wednesday.

Posey introduced the bill in March 2009 to a Democratic-controlled House, but now that Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is speaker, pundits speculate he may have a better chance of moving it along, The Hill said.