McCain had to do no such thing.
The Senate gave a resolution saying that McCain’s birth in Panama to a Navy officer and his wife allowed him to run for President. Maybe McCain asked for it but there was a resolution.
WASHINGTON (Thursday, April 10, 2008) – Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) today introduced a resolution expressing the sense of the U.S. Senate that presidential candidate and current Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) is a ‘natural born Citizen,’ as specified in the Constitution and eligible to run for President.
In February, The New York Times published a report calling into question the legality of McCain’s presidential run. McCain was born to American citizens stationed on an American Naval base in the Panama Canal Zone. He has since served in the U.S. Navy, and, since 1983, has served in the U.S. Congress.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200804/041008c.html
My question is why didn't they certify Osama at the same time since it was a similar circumstance?
Senate says McCain can be president although born overseas
(AFP) – Apr 30, 2008
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.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifSTJL_4o_TImFbXu5mwOqRPYWpg