Senate approves McCain's eligibility for the presidency

WASHINGTON (Winston-Salem Journal) - The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution yesterday endorsing John McCain's eligibility for the presidency even though he was born outside the United States on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone.

The Constitution requires that presidents be "natural-born citizens," a term that is not defined.

The Senate voted for a nonbinding resolution saying that McCain, whose father was in the Navy, was born to U.S. citizens on a military base in 1936 and is a "natural-born citizen" eligible for the office. McCain, 71, is an Arizona senator and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.