by Hannah Abelbeck

In a Harris Poll online survey of 2,320 adults conducted in March 2010, 25 percent of the respondents said they believed that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president."

Our U.S. Representative, Glenn “GT” Thompson, won’t say that President Barack Obama is ineligible, but he has concerns.

“There are no certificates that can be produced, and that concerns people,” Thompson told Voices. “The constitution says, ‘Only natural born citizens.’”

Voices asked why the fact that Hawaii has produced his birth certificate isn’t enough to address these concerns. Thompson replied, “I’ve not seen any evidence of that.”

Thompson said he has asked a supreme court justice about the issue. Thompson said that the question of eligibility is “pretty much a settled issue because it’s been to the Supreme Court.” The birth announcement about the birth of “Barry Obama” in a Hawaiian newspaper had also eased some of his concerns, but he said “I’m not sure why [Obama] has not [produced his birth certificate].”

Before he became our representative, Thompson was the Chairman of the Centre County Republican Party.

The Centre County Republican Party promotes local “Featured Activism Organizations” on its website. One is the 9-12 Project of Central PA, an outgrowth of FOX News personality Glenn Beck’s “We Surround Them” television specials. The Centre GOP’s page directs constituents to the local group’s webpage and Glenn Beck’s site. While they have chosen to feature the group, they have also posted the disclaimer, “Featured organizations are not affiliated with the Centre County Republican Committee. The CCRC is not responsible for their content and does not necessarily endorse views expressed by these organizations.”

Thompson told Voices that 9-12 activists are “fulfilling what our founders had hoped” and that he’s attended their events “from time to time,” including events in Elk and Bradford County. Then he added, “I’m invited to a lot of different events.”

Last year Thompson presented a petition to congress, created by Centre County activists at their 2009 Tea Party on April 15. In his speech on the House floor, Thompson said, “I agree with their message.” When asked about this event, Thompson said “I had [the petition] on the house floor and spoke regarding their concerns. That scroll is in my office in Washington.”

“I don’t think they are [extremists],” said Thompson. “Some of the people in the media are trying to discredit people in these groups. Within any group, and any group that comes to see me, every day, there are people who believe, you name it. Most [tea party goers] are normal citizens.”

9-12 members are supposed to support at least seven of Beck’s “Nine Principles,” which include “America is good,” “I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life,” and “The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.”

Thompson believes that the activism of these citizens is good for America. “I think we’ve run into problems over the years when citizens fell asleep at the wheel,” Thompson said. “Founders expected citizens would be active within the governmental process.”

“They are exercising their freedom of speech,” Thompson said. It is one of “the freedoms we enjoy being citizens of the United States of America”

Concerns that Thompson said he shares with these groups include concerns about direction of the country, the responsiveness of elected officials to their constituents, and the national debt.

Last year, Thompson was a co-sponsor of Michelle Bachman’s constitutional amendment to forbid the use of a foreign or global currency as the legal tender of the United States.

“I think that our sovereignty is the first and foremost responsibility of my role. I think the US dollar is a great currency,” said Thompson.

When asked whether this amendment was a priority, Thompson replied, “We have seen where this has happened with the European Union. There’s been discussion of whether the US would be following this direction. This legislation sends a message that this is not a road we want to go down. It’s more proactive than reactive.”

The 9-12 Project of Central PA is also working with The Articles of Freedom, which designers claim is a new Constitutional Congress held in 2009. Like are similarly interested in both the direction of U.S. political parties and monetary policy. They also have concerns about Obama’s citizenship.

They presented a petition to Thompson’s Bellefonte office on April 19 based on documents from the Articles of Freedom website, which Thompson had not seen at the time of our interview.

One of their grievances includes a statement that Obama “refuses every request to provide evidence that he is a Natural Born Citizen, as Article II requires.”

They believe the constitution relies on “the common belief that the leader of the executive branch of our Federal government have the breath of life bestowed in the womb of a mother, by a father, both citizens of the United States of America owing no allegiance to any foreign sovereignty, and born on sovereign American soil.”

In other words, a parent’s biological connection to another country could prevent a U.S. citizen from being “true and faithful, unfettered by foreign ties, attachments and allegiance.”