The Senate on Wednesday unanimously resolved that presumptive Republican candidate John McCain is eligible to be US president even though he was born abroad, in the Panama Canal zone.
The bipartisan measure put an end to a controversy raised by the New York Times in February, and was supported by all senators, including the two Democrats vying to run for the White House in November, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
US SOIL
The Times called into question McCain?? eligibility to run for the office on the basis of the US Constitution?? requisite that a president be a ??atural born citizen,??meaning born on US soil.
McCain, 71, was born to a military father in the Panama Canal zone when it was under US jurisdiction.
Senate sources said the issue was analyzed by former solicitor general Theodore Olson and Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe, both of whom concluded that McCain is a natural born citizen within the meaning of the Constitution.
??he Senate was right to quickly pass this measure, and we can now put to rest any question of his eligibility,??said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-sponsor of the measure.
NATURAL BORN CITIZEN
??ohn McCain and his family have a proven record of public service and sacrifice and I am proud to support this bipartisan resolution recognizing the fact that John McCain is a natural born citizen,??Republican Senator Tome Coburn said.
The bipartisan resolution was introduced on April 10 by senators Leahy, Coburn and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat.
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