The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a resolution Thursday afternoon affirming the right of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, to run for president.

The resolution confirms that McCain constitutionally is eligible to run for president despite the fact that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone overseas. McCain was born to American parents living on a U.S. military base in 1936.

“The Senate should adopt this resolution and put to rest any question of Sen. McCain’s status as a natural-born citizen,” Senate Judiciary Chairman and bill sponsor Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is eligible to run for president of the United States.”

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Democratic presidential hopefuls and Senate colleagues Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) signed on to the measure.

— Rachel Van Dongen