Fact Check: 5 claims by Kelli Ward against John McCai
WHO SAID IT: Kelli Ward
TITLE: State senator
PARTY: Republican
THE RACE: U.S. Senate
THE FORUM: Fundraising e-mail sent to constituents Nov. 11.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING AT: Whether Ward’s claims match Sen. John McCain’s voting record.
ANALYSIS: In the fundraising e-mail, Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, who is running against McCain, R-Ariz., in the 2016 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, blasts McCain’s conservative record, citing his legislative history on topics from immigration to spending and Planned Parenthood. Ward’s e-mail was prompted by a statement by presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who said McCain was a Republican he could work with during MSNBC’s First in the South Democratic Candidates Forum Nov. 6.
AZ Fact Check will look at each claim individually and assign different ratings for each. Both the McCain and Ward campaigns responded to our requests for comment and provided background information that was used to check the statements. Neither provided official comment on the statements or the findings.
“McCain authored the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bills for illegal immigrants.”
Ward correctly points out that McCain co-authored a bill with former Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., that offered a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
It is worth noting that while the bill did provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, they would have had to meet specific requirements and pay a fine, something that may not mean true amnesty to all people. However, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 had similar provisions and many refer to that as amnesty.
McCain was also part of the “Gang of Eight” congressmen that drafted a 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill that featured many of the same components.
THE FINDING: Four stars: True
“McCain voted for the bailouts, and voted to raise the debt ceiling for 30 years.”
Ward makes two claims here: one, that McCain voted for the bailouts during the Great Recession, and another, that he has voted to raise the debt ceiling for 30 years.
The first claim is fairly easy to check. Based on ProPublica’s list of government bailouts, there were two that required congressional approval: the first auto industry bailout ($25 billion and part of a larger spending bill) and the Troubled Asset Relief Program ($700 billion), which funded the larger auto industry bailout.
McCain didn’t vote on the first auto industry bailout and voted for TARP, according to GovTrack, a government-transparency website.
McCain’s voting record on raising the debt ceiling is slightly more complicated. Congress must raise the country’s debt ceiling to allow it to pay the debts the federal government has already accrued.
Using a list of debt ceiling votes published by the Congressional Research Service and voting records from GovTrack, AZ Fact Check determined that during his time in Congress, McCain has voted to raise the debt ceiling 15 of the 42 times it has been raised and against it 10 times. The other 17 votes McCain either did not cast a vote or there is no official record of individual votes. While he was in the Senate, he voted to raise the debt ceiling nine times and against it nine times as well.
The picture doesn’t change much when removing votes in which raising the debt ceiling were part of a larger spending bill. In instances when raising the debt ceiling was stand-alone legislation, McCain voted for an increase in the debt ceiling eight times, against it seven times and didn’t vote one time. When raising the debt ceiling was part of a larger spending bill, McCain voted for the bill seven times, against it three times and didn’t vote once.
So while Ward got it right that McCain voted for the biggest bailout during the financial crisis, she misses the mark on the debt ceiling. McCain’s voting record on the debt ceiling isn’t complete, and based on official vote counts he has a fairly mixed history on the issue.
THE FINDING: Two stars: Somewhat true, somewhat false
“McCain voted to fund ‘Obamacare.’ “
Ward mostly misses the mark on this one. McCain has voted for spending bills that have funded portions of the Affordable Care Act. However, he has a long and well-established record opposing the legislation and voted for legislation to repeal the law as recently as July. Furthermore, McCain has co-sponsored four bills to repeal the act.
“I will never waiver in my dedication to cutting wasteful government spending or in my opposition to Obamacare, an economic disaster that is already beginning to collapse under its own weight,” McCain wrote in a 2013 op-ed for The Arizona Republic. “But shutting down the federal government was a worthless strategy from the start.”
THE FINDING: One star: Mostly false
“McCain refuses to stand up for the sanctity of human life by defunding Planned Parenthood.”
This is the most inaccurate claim that Ward makes in her fundraising e-mail. Not only has McCain voiced his support for defunding Planned Parenthood, including a vote to move a spending bill that defunded Planned Parenthood earlier this year, but he also has a long-established record of supporting pro-life positions.
“It is long past time we stop sending American tax dollars to this scandal-plagued group and start doing more to protect the health and well-being of women, mothers, and their families,” McCain said in a statement released in July.
THE FINDING: Zero starts: False
“McCain was censured by the Arizona Republican Party for being too liberal.”
Arizona and Maricopa County Republicans both voted to censure McCain in 2014.
The vote, while having no practical impact, did serve to show that a portion of the state’s Republican Party doesn’t think he’s conservative enough.
THE FINDING: Four stars: True
Sources: “Bill Summary & Status, 109th Congress (2005 - 2006), S.1033,” Library of Congress; “S. 1033 (109th): Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act,” GovTrack.us; “History of U.S. Gov’t Bailouts,” ProPublica; “H.R. 2638 (110th): Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009,” GovTrack.us; “H.R. 1424 (110th): Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007,” GovTrack.us; “Votes on Measures to Adjust the Statutory Debt Limit, 1978 to Present,” Justin Murray, Congressional Research Service; “Votes on debt ceiling increases compiled by AZ Fact Check,” GovTrack.us; “All Bill Information (Except Text) for S.3152, S.192, S. 177 and S. 336,” Congress.gov; “Shutdown succeeded — in hurting Americans,” John McCain, azcentral.com; “SENATOR JOHN McCAIN COSPONSORS BILL TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD, SAFEGUARD WOMEN’S HEALTH FUNDING,” United States Senator John McCain; “U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 114th Congress - 1st Session,” United States Senate; “Arizona GOP censures McCain for ‘disastrous’ record,” Yvonne Winget Sanchez, azcentral.com.