Obama, Clinton cosponsor measure saying McCain is eligible to be president By Klaus Marre
Posted: 04/10/08 06:42 PM [ET]
In order to counter the views of some pundits, a group of senators, including Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), on Thursday introduced a measure that clarifies that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is eligible to hold the office.
The effort, spearheaded by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), is meant to counter the views of some pundits, who had openly questioned whether McCain would qualify to be president because he was born on a U.S. naval base and not in the U.S.
“Because he was born to American citizens, there is no doubt in my mind that Senator McCain is a natural born citizen,” said Leahy. “I expect that this will be a unanimous resolution of the Senate.”
The resolution states that “there is no evidence of the intention of the Framers or any Congress to limit the constitutional rights of children born to American citizens serving in the military nor to prevent those children from serving as their country’s President.”
McCaskill stated that it would be “silly” to argue that McCain is ineligible to hold the office.
“I would hope that this is something we can all agree on, for goodness sakes,” McCaskill added.
Leahy had also raised the issue during a hearing earlier this month. At the time, he and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former federal judge, agreed that McCain would be eligible.