The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Jan. 6, that Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal has sent a letter to the White House formally requesting a copy of Obama's birth certificate. Deal is the first Congressman to take such a step. Earlier last year, Rep. Bill Posey of Florida introduced legislation requiring future Presidents to produce birth certificates as proof of eligibility. Deal and 6 other Republican Congressmen have signed on as co-sponsors.

Deal is currently a candidate for the Republican nomination for Georgia Governor. He is often identified with the Tea Party movement, and is a relatively high scorer on pro-taxpayer and libertarian voting indexes. (He's received 5 awards as a Taxpayer friend from NTU).

Deal told the AJC:

"I have looked at the documentation [birth certificate] that is publicly available and it leaves many things to be desired."

Additionally, AJC columnist Jim Galloway reports:

The White House on Thursday confirmed receipt of a letter from U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal that formally asks Barack Obama to address questions about his place of birth – and thus, whether he is qualified to be president.

The letter arrived Dec. 10. Beyond that, no one is willing to say much.

The Post & Email blog, which was one of the first to report on the story, comments:

Now, what does this mean? This is probably the first time in 233 years of American history that a sitting member of the House of Representatives has officially challenged the legitimacy of a sitting president….one full year into his term.

This forever changes the public discourse.