John McCain: An Essay, by John Karaagac: on Environment

John McCain: 1980s: 1st House committee was water rights, crucial to AZ

McCain got a seat on a committee dealing with aging issues, crucial in a state that, because of its dry, temperate climate, had absorbed many retirees from other parts of the country.

By 1984, he got on the choice Armed Services Committee which was crucial in a state that had many high-tech defense-related industries. In a larger sense, however, being on the Armed Services Committee also played to McCain's political strength in national-security affairs and foreshadowed a wider, perhaps less parochial focus in the upcoming Senate race, which he surely must have been contemplating after winning an easy reelection to the House in 1984.