WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Senate unanimously resolved Wednesday that Republican presumptive 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.
The Times called into question McCain's eligibility to run for the high office on the basis of the US constitution's requisite that a president be a "natural 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.
"The Senate was right to quickly pass this measure, and we can now put to rest any question of his eligibility," said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and co-sponsor of the measure Patrick Leahy, a Democrat.
"John 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," said Senator Tome Coburn, a Republican and also co-sponsor of the measure.
The bipartisan resolution was introduced on April 10 by senators Leahy, Coburn and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat.
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