WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain said Thursday that he had no concerns about his meeting the constitutional qualifications for the presidency because of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone. A Democratic colleague said she wanted to remove even a trace of doubt. Skip to next paragraph Related McCain's Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out (February 28, 2008) Times Topics: John McCain Blog The Caucus The latest political news from around the nation. Join the discussion. Candidate Topic Pages More Politics News The Democrat, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, introduced legislation that would declare that any child born abroad to citizens serving in the United States military would meet the constitutional requirement that anyone serving as president be a "natural born" citizen.

"In America, so many parents say to their young children, `If you work hard and you play by the rules, in America someday you can be president of the United States,' " said Ms. McCaskill, a supporter of the presidential bid of Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois. "Our brave and respected military should never have to spend a minute worrying whether or not that saying is true for their child."

Traveling on his presidential campaign, Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, said that he was convinced he was eligible under the natural- born definition and that from his perspective the matter had been reviewed and settled in earlier campaigns. Mr. McCain was born in 1936 on a military base in the Canal Zone, where his father, a Navy officer, was stationed at the time.

"It's very clear," Mr. McCain said. "An American born in a territory of the United States whose father is serving in the military could not be eligible for presidency of the United States is certainly not something our founding fathers envisioned." Legal scholars who have explored the issue say that a conclusive legal finding on the clause has never been delivered and that there is the potential for some uncertainty about whether someone born outside the nation proper would qualify.

To date, no president has been born outside what would become one of the 50 states. A handful of serious candidates have been born elsewhere but none were elected and the citizenship question was not tested.

Senior members of Mr. McCain's campaign team have also said they are very comfortable that Mr. McCain meets the definition of natural born and that he could overcome any challenge should one be made. They have asked Theodore B. Olson, a veteran Supreme Court lawyer and McCain supporter, to prepare a legal analysis of the issue. A group of lawmakers made an unsuccessful effort four years ago to eliminate any lingering doubts about the meaning of the provision through legislation that would have said children born outside the country to American citizens are eligible for the presidency. Ms. McCaskill said that her legislation should be noncontroversial and that Congress should move rapidly to clear up any ambiguity. She acknowledged there could be some who believe the only route to resolve the confusion is through a constitutional amendment.

"We can at least make a legislative declaration that the definition of `natural born' includes children of the active military," she said. "This should be done quickly and easily."

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