Is John McCain a US Natural Born citizen?

There is no video for this, but I am posting it because there is a lot of noise online about whether or not McCain is eligible to be president. The election is now only 10 days away.

Mccain was born in Panama in 1936 but he was NOT made a US citizen until congress passed a law in 1937. (a military base is NOT US soil).

the 1937 law is here (PDF)
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86757.pdf

BUT that same law did NOT make him (or any other person) a "natural born citizen" as the Constitution requires. That is why Mccain is NOT eligible to be president.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050103224.html
The washington post explains the details.

Another article in the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?pagewanted=print

So guess what happened in April this year?
Congress passed a resolution.
S.RES.511 Title: A resolution recognizing that John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural born citizen. Latest Major Action: 4/30/2008 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

If Congress has to make it legal - then he was not a natural born citizen in the first place - so he is NOT eligible.

One other thing - about Military bases -
"7 FAM 1116.1-4 Not Included in the Meaning of "In the United States" (TL:CON-64; 11-30-95)

...c. Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does NOT acquire U.S. citizenship."

US military bases, consulates and embassies are NOT US soil. How interesting.
Therefore any child born in one of the above facilities is ONLY a US citizen if his parents are US citizens.
The law says nothing about being a natural born citizen.

It's an interesting question as to whether the 1790 law still applies in light of the fact that U.S. nationality law is now solely within the purview of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C) Act of June 27, 1952, As Amended.
This is the 1790 act.
http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=227

Unfortunately, the 1790 "law" is not law today. The USC 1401 defines a "citizen . . . at birth." As far as I can tell, the old 1790 statute is just that, an old statute, no longer law. The current statute does not define "natural born citizen." Congress may not have the power to define that term.

The requirements for the Presidency are that the candidate be a "Natural Born" citizen. The grey area for McCain is that he was born of two American parents, which makes him automatically an American citizen, but he was born outside the United States, so his citizenzhip is technical, not Natural Born.
Congress did pass a law making births in the Canal Zone legally equivelant to being born inside the United States (1937), but that law was passed after McCain's birth, therefore it does not apply. The Senate, via a "Sense of the Senate" bill (see S.RES.511 above) declared McCain a natural born citizen by fiat. Just how much weight that would have if McCain's citizenship ever wound up before the US Supreme Court is open to debate, but if McCain loses the election and tries to challenge on the basis of claims that Obama is not a natural-born citizen, then McCain's own grey birth will come back to haunt him and we might wind up with Ron Paul after all! :)
Michael Rivero, WRH

One last thing.
Here is John McCain's birth certificate - and an article stating why he is NOT eligible to be President.
http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/birthcertificatelanding.htm

Obamas birth certificate is here.
http://www.politifact.com/media/img/graphics/birthCertObama.jpg