Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today released the following statement regarding the Fiscal Cliff agreement that passed in the Senate 89 to 8 early this morning:

"Despite my disappointment with many aspects of this agreement, I cannot in good conscience stand by and watch taxes go up on all Americans. I hope that in the coming months we continue to work toward a long term solution to our fiscal problems but in an effort to address the current crisis, I support the legislation worked out by Senate leadership and commend them for their efforts.

"However, it should be embarrassing to all of us that it took until the last hours of the last day of the year to address an issue we should have dealt with months ago. This marks another sad chapter in what has been the least productive Congress since 1947. Moreover, the fact that we're again kicking the can down the road with a short-term measure rather than moving forward with the fundamental tax and entitlement reform we all know our nation needs is yet another signal of the lack of leadership at all levels in Washington today.

"Critical issues remain to be resolved, particularly the $500 billion in defense budget cuts looming over our nation's military. I hope that President Obama will make good on his pledge that defense sequestration 'will not happen,' particularly since our Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have made clear that these cuts will be 'devastating' to our armed forces and America's national security."