The Real McCain
Senator John Sidney McCain, III of Arizona (shown), known for occasionally crossing the aisle and working with Senate Democrats on key legislative issues, has built a reputation as a “maverick Republican.” McCain was born in Panama to Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. (USN) and Roberta Wright on August 29, 1936. Graduating from the Annapolis Naval Academy in 1958, McCain served for 20 years as an aviator on ships including the USS Enterprise, USS Intrepid, and USS Forrestal. During the Vietnam War, he was captured by the enemy and spent five years as a prisoner of war in Communist North Vietnam.
First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and now in his fifth term, McCain has earned an unimpressive 63-percent score on The New American’s “Freedom Index,” which measures votes cast by congressmen according to their fidelity to the Constitution. Examining McCain’s record based on his actions, not just his rhetoric, on a few major issues underscores his poor performance in office.
Record in Congress on POW/MIA Issues
For example, in 1989 McCain derailed efforts to pass H.R. 3603, a simple one-page bill that would have made virtually all government records relating to POW/MIA personnel transparent. The only exception to transparency would be records containing information about intelligence-gathering methods or the names of individuals without the consent of the POW/MIA personnel’s living family. The key portion of H.R. 3603 reads:
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