John McCain On the Issues

• Experience has taught me: the US military must not fail. (Sep 2008)
• Clinton & Bush missed opportunities to get bin Laden. (Sep 2008)
• Bush administration's waterboarding was torture. (Aug 2008)
• Disagrees with Bush often; but credits no attacks since 9/11. (Aug 2008)
• Applying habeas to Guantanamo let 30 terrorists attack US. (Jun 2008)
• GovWatch: Only 13 Gitmo recidivists & none attacked US. (Jun 2008)
• Improve human intelligence to get Osama bin Laden. (Jan 2008)
• Surveillance of overseas communications is ok. (Dec 2007)
• Ok to hold even US citizens as enemy combatants. (Dec 2007)
• Consult lawyers on war decisions; no half-cocked war basis. (Oct 2007)
• Ran the largest squadron in the US Navy. (Oct 2007)
• After 9/11, ask Americans to join military or AmeriCorps. (Oct 2007)
• Let loose smart, tough spies to catch Bin Laden. (Oct 2007)
• His Military Commissions Act ended up denying habeas corpus. (Oct 2007)
• 1973: Spokesperson for Operation Homecoming. (Oct 2007)
• 1977:Appointed as Navy liaison to Congress. (Oct 2007)
• Cited 245 pork projects, or $3.5M waste in defense bill. (Oct 2007)
• I've spent my life leading on national security issues. (Sep 2007)
• Radical Islamic extremism is a hydra-headed challenge. (Aug 2007)
• I support the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war. (Jan 2006)
• We must provide our children a strong, better country. (Aug 2004)
• A lack of complacency shouldn't provoke a lack of confidence. (Aug 2004)
• We don't have as much to fear as we had in the past. (Apr 2004)
• Those who gave their lives deserve to be remembered. (Apr 2004)
• First reaction to Sept 11: "This is war". (May 2002)
• Argued for base closings even in the wake of 9/11. (May 2002)
• Channel fear into productive missions and activities. (May 2002)
• “Rogue state rollback” avoids use of US troops. (Mar 2000)
• Disagrees with Perot: No more POWs in Vietnam. (Feb 2000)
• Accepts gays in military under current policy. (Jan 2000)
• Military’s political leaders need military backgrounds. (Jan 2000)
• Women have proven themselves in combat-no restrictions. (Dec 1999)
• Bombing useless targets in Vietnam destroyed US morale. (Nov 1999)
• Vietnam was a worthy cause despite losing. (Nov 1999)
• Pres. needs experience more than briefing books. (Sep 1999)
• Discard ABM Treaty and develop a missile defense. (Apr 1999)
• Use force, with US control, only for vital interests. (Apr 1999)

Defense Spending

• Make all defense contracts fixed-cost; costs out of control. (Sep 2008)
• Clean up waste in defense acquisition. (May 2007)
• Eliminate defense pork, but increase most other defense. (Nov 2004)
• Terminate C-130, B-2, and Seawolf; use funds to modernize. (Dec 1999)
• Politicians keep unneeded bases open for political purposes. (Dec 1999)
• Keep health care promises to aging veterans. (Nov 1999)
• $6.4B of military spending waste is a disgrace. (Oct 1999)
• Raise military pay to avoid military draft. (Aug 1999)
• Military personnel on food stamps is a national disgrace. (Aug 1999)
• Europeans should spend more on defense, within NATO. (Apr 1999)

Torture

• Hiding torture is wrong, and harms US credibility abroad. (Dec 2007)
• Waterboarding is torture; we're not going to torture people. (Nov 2007)
• Waterboarding is torture; & as A.G., Mukasey will declare it. (Nov 2007)
• Torture supported only by people without military experience. (Sep 2007)
• Torture is ineffective as interrogation & for world opinion. (May 2007)
• Close Guantanamo Bay prison; announce no-torture policy. (Apr 2007)
• Torture has never worked throughout history. (Apr 2007)

Vietnam

• Vietnam generation still haunted by specter of Vietnam. (Oct 2007)
• Casualty of Vietnam was loss of America's faith in herself. (Oct 2007)
• Worked with John Kerry on Vietnam POWs. (Oct 2007)
• Immutable principle of war: luck is unreliable. (Aug 2007)
• Vietnam not wrong, but how it was fought and led was. (Sep 2002)

Voting Record

• Keep "Don’t ask, don’t tell" policy - it works. (Jan 2000)
• Voted NO on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months. (Jul 2007)
• Voted NO on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. (Sep 2006)
• Voted NO on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. (Sep 2006)
• Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)
• Voted YES on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. (Dec 2005)
• Voted NO on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism. (Jul 2005)
• Voted NO on restoring $565M for states' and ports' first responders. (Mar 2005)
• Voted NO on adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. (Oct 1999)
• Voted YES on allowing another round of military base closures. (May 1999)
• Voted YES on cutting nuclear weapons below START levels. (May 1999)
• Voted YES on deploying National Missile Defense ASAP. (Mar 1999)
• Voted YES on military pay raise of 4.8%. (Feb 1999)
• Voted NO on prohibiting same-sex basic training. (Jun 1998)
• Voted NO on favoring 36 vetoed military projects. (Oct 1997)
• Voted YES on banning chemical weapons. (Apr 1997)
• Voted YES on considering deploying NMD, and amending ABM Treaty. (Jun 1996)
• Voted NO on 1996 Defense Appropriations. (Sep 1995)
• Federalize aviation security. (Nov 2001)
• Rated 0% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record. (Dec 2003)
• Sponsored bill giving higher priority to rail security. (Jul 2005)
• Sponsored bill banning torture of terrorists in US custody. (Jul 2005)
• Innovate intelligence-gathering for future hard targets. (Mar 2005)
• Assessments of al Qaida in Afghanistan in 2001 were accurate. (Mar 2005)
• CIA needs more focus on counterterrorism. (Mar 2005)
• So-called Legal Issues are myths; not real CIA hindrances. (Mar 2005)
• Intelligence community shares information poorly. (Mar 2005)
• CIA should work more with scientists to understand WMDs. (Mar 2005)
• Sponsored bill for Iraq budget to be part of defense budget. (Jun 2006)
• Improve educational assistance for veterans. (Apr 2008)

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