McCain Claims He Voted For Every Katrina Investigation
The problem is that isn’t close to true. During a press conference today in Baton Rouge, John McCain (R-AZ) declared in strong terms that he’s voted for every investigation related to Hurricane Katrina. But there is a problem (as often is the case with McCain’s statements), he voted twice against Democratic proposals to investigate the levee failures (i.e., the Federal Flood).
After a local reporter at the press conference asked why he voted against forming a commission to investigate the levee failures in New Orleans, McCain said that he supported every investigation—and added that he was “not familiar” with what the reporter was talking about:
McCain voted against establishing a commission to investigate the levee failures, in a September 2005 party-line vote in which all Republicans voted against the Democratic proposal. He then repeated that party-line vote against a similar Democratic proposal in February 2006.
Update #1: McCain’s actual record on Katrina points to the fact he must have had another “senior moment”:
- McCain Voted Twice Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response To Hurricane Katrina. [9/14/2005 & 2/2/2006]
- McCain Opposed Granting Financial Relief To Those Affected By Hurricane Katrina. [9/15/2005]
- McCain Voted Against Five Months of Medicaid For Hurricane Katrina Victims. [11/3/2005]
- McCain Voted Against Emergency Funding Bill, Including $28 Billion for Hurricane Relief. [5/4/2006]
Update #2: McCain spokesman Brian Rogers has now said:
It doesn’t bode well for Senator Obama’s pledges to run a campaign of hope and change when on the first day of the general election he’s launching the same tired negative attacks that the American people are so sick and tired of. As Sen. McCain said, he wasn’t familiar with the specific votes the questioner was asking about. Instead he was speaking to his strong support for the Homeland Security Committee’s comprehensive, bipartisan investigation of Hurricane Katrina, which was already fully underway when these other proposals were suggested.
