[Emphasis mine, not underlined in the Congressional record]
RESOLUTION
Recognizing that John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural born citizen.
Whereas the Constitution of the United States requires that, to be eligible for the Office of the President, a person must be a natural born Citizen of the United States;
Whereas the term natural born Citizen, as that term appears in Article II, Section 1, is not defined in the Constitution of the United States;
Whereas 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 countrys President;
Whereas such limitations would be inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the natural born Citizen clause of the Constitution of the United States, as evidenced by the First Congresss own statute defining the term natural born Citizen;
Whereas the well-being of all citizens of the United States is preserved and enhanced by the men and women who are assigned to serve our country outside of our national borders;
Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President; and
Whereas John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural born Citizen under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States.
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Committee On The Judiciary,
On The Introduction Of A Senate Resolution
April 10, 2008
Today I join Senator Claire McCaskill in introducing a resolution to express the common sense of everyone here that Senator McCain is a natural born Citizen, as the term is used in the Constitution of the United States. Our Constitution contains three requirements for a person to be eligible to be President the person must have reached the age of 35; must have resided in America for 14 years; and must be a natural born Citizen of the United States. Certainly there is no doubt that Senator McCain is of sufficient years on this earth and in this country given that he has been serving in Washington for over 25 years. However, some pundits have raised the question of whether he is a natural born Citizen because he was born outside of the official borders of the United States.
John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American Naval base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936. [For those paying attention, this is precisely fit to the Vattel definition, so leaky went further, to try and undermine the very definition from the founders!] Numerous legal scholars have looked into the purpose and intent of the natural born Citizen requirement. As far as I am aware, no one has unearthed any reason to think that the Framers would have wanted to limit the rights of children born to military families stationed abroad or that such a limited view would serve any noble purpose enshrined in our founding document. Based on the understanding of the pertinent sources of constitutional meaning, it is widely believed that if someone is born to American citizens anywhere in the world they are natural born citizens.
It is interesting to note that another previous presidential candidate, George Romney, was also born outside of the United States. He was widely understood to be eligible to be President. Senator Barry Goldwater was born in a U.S territory that later became the State of Arizona so some even questioned his eligibility. Certainly the millions of Americans who voted for these two Republican candidates believed that they were eligible to assume the office of the President. The same is true today.
Because he was born to American citizens, there is no doubt in my mind that Senator McCain is a natural born citizen. I recently asked Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, a former Federal judge, if he had any doubts in his mind. He did not. I ask unanimous consent that the relevant excerpt from the Judiciary Committee hearing where Secretary Chertoff testified be made a part of the record.
And do you know how minor what you quoted is? It appears in the Congressional Record directly inbetween the submission of "SENATE RESOLUTION 510SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL CYSTIC FIBROSIS AWARENESS MONTH" and "SENATE RESOLUTION 512HONORING THE LIFE OF CHARLTON HESTON." I'm sure hearings were held on both.
Heck, the text you've cited doesn't appear to have even been read aloud in the Senate; it was just submitted into the record as written, along with all the other resolutions. Watch the video for yourself. In other words: no hearings.
Hey, LorenC, your "hearing" may be challenged, but how is your "seeing".
You see, it was called a "hearing" and it was real and it took place, and it determined that McCain was a natural born citizen because he had American citizens [plural] for parents -- something that Obama lacks no matter how you Obamanoids want to slice and dice it.