John McCain

McCain has a longer record of government service than the other candidates - in fact, he's spent more time in national office than all of the other candidates combined. Because of this lengthy record, I summarized his first 18 years of service into two groups. Since he has not sponsored quite as many bills relating to the poor as some other candidates, I was still able to convey the extent to which he has worked for the poor in his service. I then detailed his most recent record in the same manner as the recent record of the other candidates.

I'll let his actions speak for themselves from there.

What does John McCain think about helping the poor?

Political History

John McCain was a U.S. Representative from Arizona from 1983-1986 and the U.S. Senator from Arizona from 1987 until present.

U.S. Representative 1983-1986

• Sponsored bills to create rehab programs for American Indian youth¹ and stimulate economic development for American Indians².

U.S. Senator 1987-2000

• Sponsored many bills related to American Indian issues, including bills to improve economic development^{3 4 5 6 7 8 9}, AIDS programs^{10 11}, mental health programs¹², housing programs^{13 14 15}, substance abuse programs^{16 17}, health services¹⁸, social service grants¹⁹, and many other types of assistance to American Indians.
• Also sponsored bills to extend states' ability to apply for aid for abused children²⁰, expand telecommunications for the deaf^{21 22}, encourage volunteer service²³, provide hospice care for veterans²⁴, increase funding for AIDS programs²⁵, remove barriers to interethnic adoptions²⁶, encourage economic development in depressed communities²⁷, increase the accessibility of Medicaid for children²⁸, increase the number of people who qualify as refugees^{29 30}, require that homeless shelters identify and provide specific services to veterans^{31 32}, and provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children^{33 34}.

U.S. Senator, 107^th Congress 2001-2002

• Sponsored bills that provided incentives for companies to expand health care coverage³⁵ and encouraged economic development for American Indians³⁶. Also sponsored a resolution to call for human rights in Central Asia³⁷. None of them became law.
• Also cosponsored bills to revise and extend the Indian Health Care Act³⁸, provide equal access for Indians to adoption and foster care services³⁹, expand immigrant families' access to health insurance⁴⁰, make generic drugs more available and affordable⁴¹, improve health care access for low-income women and children⁴², and continue housing assistance to American Indians⁴³. Only the bill continuing housing assistance became law.

U.S. Senator, 108^th Congress 2003-2004

• Sponsored a resolution to call for human rights in Central Asia⁴⁴. The resolution did not pass.
• Also cosponsored resolutions to condemn the government of Iran for its oppression of those of Baha'i faith⁴⁵, condemn the government of Sudan for its attacks on civilians and genocide in Darfur^{46 47}, and call on the UN Security Council to condemn and sanction Burma for its oppression⁴⁸. All of the resolutions except one to declare genocide in Sudan were passed by the Senate.
• Cosponsored bills to provide equal access to foster care and adoption for American Indian children⁴⁹, increase affordable housing and economic opportunity along the US/Mexico border⁵⁰, improve health care for American Indians^{51 52}, improve families' access to health care⁵³, improve immigrant families' access to health insurance⁵⁴, provide support for women and children in humanitarian emergencies⁵⁵, improve vision services for Medicare⁵⁶, accelerate an increase in the child tax credit⁵⁷, improve outreach to veterans who need benefits⁵⁸, improve availability and affordability of generic drugs⁵⁹, improve the health of low-income border residents⁶⁰, expand trade benefits to African nations^{61 62}, increase development aid in the Middle East and Central Asia⁶³, and provide assistance for the crisis in Darfur⁶⁴. The second bill concerning African trade and the bill providing assistance for Darfur became law.
• Also cosponsored amendments to improve the affordability of pharmaceuticals^{65 66}. The second amendment increasing affordable pharmaceuticals became law.
• In 2003, McCain signed a letter (along with 42 other senators) urging President Bush to fully fund AmeriCorps⁶⁷.

U.S. Senator, 109^th Congress 2005-2006

• Sponsored bills improving health care for Indians^{68 69}. Neither bill became law.
• Cosponsored resolutions to pledge continued support for international hunger-relief efforts and express need for US leverage in securing more food aid⁷⁰, express the need for humanitarian support for Northern Uganda⁷¹, condemn Burma for its oppression of minorities⁷², urge the president to appoint a special envoy to Sudan⁷³, and call on the president to do something about the violence in Darfur⁷⁴. The resolutions addressing Uganda and Burma and the second resolution addressing Sudan were passed.
• Cosponsored bills to extend trade preference to least-developed countries⁷⁵, provide American Indians with greater access to foster care and adoption⁷⁶, establish a Hurricane Katrina Recovery Chief Financial Officer⁷⁷, expand preferential trade with Haiti⁷⁸, address mental health and suicide for Indian youth⁷⁹, and reduce deaths among immigrants crossing the border⁸⁰. None of the bills became law.
• In 2005, voted against raising the minimum wage to $7.25⁸¹.

US Senator, 110^th Congress: 2007-present

The 110^th Congress only started a few months ago. So far, John McCain has:
• Cosponsored a resolution calling for support for a peace process in Uganda⁸² and bills to address mental health and suicide for Indian youth⁸³ and to provide better job opportunities for immigrants⁸⁴.

Statements About the Poor

"When I drive home at night, I pass people waiting at a bus stop, and imagine their lives. A woman of Hispanic heritage, maybe thirty five, with three kids, is waiting for a bus on a cold street in the middle of the night so she can start her job. While you and I are home relaxing with our families over dinner, she and thousands like her are working late into the night in the offices we left, emptying waste baskets, cleaning up kitchens, scrubbing bathroom floors. She – like first generation Americans before her – is sacrificing so her children can climb the ladder of American opportunity.
When we debate simplifying the tax code – which we must do -- I want us to remember that admirable woman, and ask ourselves have we done all we can to remove obstacles for her and millions like her to climb the next rung on the ladder."⁸⁵

"Mankind has advanced. Human progress is ceaseless. We can look at Bosnia or Zaire or Rwanda and conclude that building just societies is a fool's errand. We are always, despite our advances, only one sin away from slipping into the abyss of terror and ignorance.
But that is not so. Generations upon generations have driven the human race farther and farther from darkness. Past episodes of abominable human cruelty are kept vivid in the memories of succeeding generations. "Never again," is the admonition passed from the survivors of the Holocaust to their descendants and to us all. And although such an important reminder will not always prevent the occurrence of cruelty and violence even at levels approaching genocide, the civilized world is more inclined to organize opposition to such tragedies if not as early as we should, at least sooner than we once would have."⁸⁶

"Over the last two decades, because we have expanded free trade and open markets, the number of people living in extreme poverty dropped by more than 700 million in China and 200 million in India. As their economies grow, developing nations offer not just competition – but vast new consumer markets for American goods and services. And raising hundreds of millions of people from poverty is the best shield against the attraction of extremism."⁸⁷

"There are times when our principles and our values are so offended that we have to do what we can to resolve a terrible situation. If Rwanda again became a scene of horrible genocide, if there was a way that the United States could stop that and beneficially affect the situation... By the way, we couldn't in Haiti. We sent 20,000 troops and spent $2 billion, and Haiti is arguably worse off. Obviously, it's the last resort. But we can never say that a nation driven by Judeo-Christian principles will only intervene where our interests are threatened, because we also have values, and those values are very important."⁸⁸

[answering question about appropriating money to fight AIDS in Africa]:
"If I had confidence that that money would be well-spent, I would do it. But we have corrupt governments. We have organizations that don't treat the people. We have places where that medicine can't get to. So before I spent our taxpayers' money on that, I would have to make sure that it would go to the recipients and go to these poor people who are afflicted with this terrible disease. And very frankly, in a lot of parts of Africa today, I do not have that confidence."⁸⁹

"Another serious issue is 11 million children that are without health insurance, that we’ve got to expand the children’s health insurance program. There’s a variety of areas that we have to work on, because Medicare is probably the most difficult challenge that we face in the next century because it has a lot to do with other things besides money. And I’ll tell you what — I have the guts to take the money where it shouldn’t be spent in Washington and put it where it should be spent, including 10 percent of the surplus."⁹⁰

In responses to vote-smart.com, McCain stated that he supports maintaining current levels of welfare funding, greatly decreasing taxes on low-income people, slightly increasing the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, increasing funding of job-training programs, allowing immigrants access to welfare programs, requiring welfare recipients to work, giving states flexibility in administering welfare programs, using faith-based organizations, providing housing assistance for low-income families, and giving aid to other nations in emergencies. He does not support universal health care or an increase in the minimum wage.⁹¹

Private Life

• Has a net worth of around $30 million. Donated his $250,000 in book proceeds to charity last year, as he had done previously with income from book sales. At a 2000 Republican debate, McCain said that he donates his congressional pay raises to charity. He also contributes significantly to Food for the Hungry.⁹²
• John McCain's wife, Cindy, founded and ran the American Voluntary Medical Team and the Hensley Family Foundation and is on the board of HALO, Operation Smile, and CARE.
• The McCain family strongly supports adoption and adopted one of their children from Bangladesh.

One special difficulty that occurred was assessing McCain's record on health care. He has sponsored many bills throughout his tenure that dealt with health care. Unfortunately, for many of these bills I am not skilled enough to discern whether they help or hurt the poor. Some raise funding, some lower it. Some extend provisions, some delay them. Even the ones that would obviously decrease aid to the poor - is he trying to decrease aid, or is he trying to reach a compromise to avoid an even worse bill? It was hard for me to tell, so I ended up leaving out all of the health care bills that I was unsure of. But I would consider his record on that issue slightly suspect.

It is also significant that he has spent much more time in Congress than the other candidates. He has sponsored many bills, but the number of them that relate to the poor from year-to-year (other than those providing assistance to American Indians) is quite low. And how important is the special concern he has for American Indians? I think that these are issues to consider.

What do you think? Does John McCain hear the cry of the poor?


^[1]A bill to authorize programs for the treatment and prevention...
^[2]Indian Economic Development Act of 1985
^[3]Indian Economic Development Act of 1987
^[4]Indian Economic Development Act of 1989
^[5]Indian Economic Development Act of 1991
^[6]Indian Employment and Investment Act of 1992
^[7]Indian Employment and Investment Act of 1993
^[8]Indian Reservation Jobs and Investment Act of 1995
^[9]Indian Reservation Jobs and Investment Act of 1997
^[10]To provide for the development and implementation of...
^[11]To amend Title II of the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990 to ensure that Native Americans...
^[12]To provide an Indian mental health demonstration grant program.
^[13]To increase housing opportunities for Indians.
^[14]Indian Housing Development Act of 1992
^[15]Indian Housing Development and Reform Act of 1994
^[16]To reauthorize certain provisions relating to Indian alcohol and substance abuse...
^[17]Indian Anti-Drug Abuse Amendments of 1991
^[18]Innovative Indian Health Facilities and Delivery System Demonstration Project Act
^[19]To grant authority to provide social services block grants directly to Indian...
^[20]A bill to extend the period for waivers of State eligibility requirements...
^[21]A bill to expand our national telecommunications system...
^[22]COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED AND SPEECH-IMPAIRED INDIVIDUALS
^[23]To establish a foundation to operate a program of voluntary part-time national service...
^[24]Veterans Hospice Benefit Act of 1991
^[25]MCCAIN AMENDMENT NO. 2461
^[26]Adoption Antidiscrimination Act of 1995
^[27]Community Renewal and Economic Opportunity Act
^[28]Children's Health Assurance through the Medicaid Program (CHAMP) Act
^[29]MCCAIN AMENDMENT NO. 409
^[30]MCCAIN (AND KERRY) AMENDMENT NO. 461
^[3l]MCCAIN AMENDMENT NO. 3196
^[32]To require certain entities that operate homeless shelters to identify...
^[33]To provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children...
^[34]To provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children...
^[35]Bipartisan Patient Protection Act of 2001
^[36]Indian Reservation Economic Investment Act of 2001
^[37]Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to human rights in Central Asia.
^[38]Indian Health Care Improvement Act Reauthorization of 2001
^[39]Indian and Alaska Native Foster Care and Adoption Services Amendments of 2001
^[40]Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2001
^[41]Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2002
^[42]Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Act of 2001
^[43]Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2001
^[44]Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to human rights in Central Asia.
^[45]Condemning the repression of the Iranian Bahai community...
^[46]Condemning the Government of the Republic of the Sudan...
^[47]Whereas Article 1 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and...
^[48]Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United Nations Security Council...
^[49]Indian and Alaska Native Foster Care and Adoption Services Amendments of 2003
^[50]Colonias Gateway Initiative Act
^[51]Native American Health and Wellness Foundation Act of 2003
^[52]Indian Health Care Improvement Act Reauthorization of 2003
^[53]Dylan Lee James Act
^[54]Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2003
^[55]Women and Children in Conflict Protection Act of 2003
^[56]Medicare Vision Rehabilitation Services Act of 2003
^[57]Working Taxpayer Fairness Restoration Act
^[58]Veterans Outreach Improvement Act of 2003
^[59]Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act
^[60]Border Health Security Act of 2003
^[61]United States-Africa Partnership Act of 2003
^[62]AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004
^[63]Greater Middle East and Central Asia Development Act of 2004
^[64]Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004
^[65]To provide for the procurement of certain pharmaceuticals at the lowest possible price...
^[66]To ensure that there is competition in the pharmaceutical industry and increased access...
^[67]Letter from 43 senators to the President on June 17, 2003
^[68]Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2005
^[69]Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2006
^[70]Whereas although there is enough food to feed all of the people in the world...
^[71]Whereas Joseph Kony has led the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) since 1987...
^[72]Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the military junta in Burma...
^[73]To urge the President to appoint a Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan.
^[74]Calling on the President to take immediate steps to help stop the violence in Darfur
^[75]TRADE Act of 2005
^[76]Indian and Alaska Native Foster Care and Adoption Services Amendments of 2005
^[77]Oversight of Vital Emergency Recovery Spending Enhancement and Enforcement Act of 2005
^[78]Haiti Economic Recovery Opportunity Act
^[79]Indian Youth Telemental Health Demonstration Project Act of 2006
^[80]Border Death Reduction Act of 2006
^[81]Vote to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage.
^[82]Whereas for nearly two decades, the Government of Uganda has been engaged...
^[83]Indian Youth Telemental Health Demonstration Project Act of 2007
^[84]AgJOBS Act of 2007
^[85]Remarks at GOPAC dinner., Nov. 16, 2006.
^[86]Address at Ohio Wesleyan University, May 11, 1996.
^[87]Remarks at GOPAC dinner., Nov. 16, 2006.
^[88]GOP Debate, Feb. 16, 2000.
^[89]GOP Debate, Jan. 10, 2000.
^[90]GOP Debate, Dec. 13, 1999.
^[91]Project Vote Smart - Senator McCain
^[92]2000 Presidential Candidates' Positions on Charity, GuideStar.org