Members of the U.S. Army Old Guard place a flag at each of the over 220,000 graves of fallen U.S. military service members buried at Arlington National Cemetery, May 24, 2012. Memorial Day will be commemorated this weekend across the United States.    REUTERS/Jason Reed  (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY)

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan as part of the 25th annual Fleet Week celebration in New York, May 23, 2012.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY ANNIVERSARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Fleet Week

The U.S. Navy takes Manhattan for a week.  Slideshow 

Students show emotions at the 2012 Joplin High School commencement ceremony inside the Leggett and Plant Athletic Center at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri, May 21, 2012.           REUTERS/Larry Downing    (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION)

The Class of 2012

Scenes from this year's commencement ceremonies.  Slideshow 

McCain backs Bush move on lifting offshore oil ban

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PHOENIX | Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:43pm EDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Monday he backed President George W. Bush's lifting of a ban on offshore oil drilling.

"I think it's a very important signal to lift the ban on offshore drilling. I know that (Democratic) Sen. (Barack) Obama is opposed to lifting the ban on offshore drilling. I think the states should continue to decide."

He urged Obama to shift his position.

"I hope that, as he has on several other issues, that Sen. Obama will change his position and now support offshore oil drilling, because ... in the short term, it's important for us to have our own reserves as we transition to different kinds of energy. We need to have sufficient oil reserves off our coast to either reduce or at least cushion the increased costs of oil," McCain said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland)

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