McCain considers Secret Service protection

WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he plans to meet with the U.S. Secret Service soon about getting body guards.

The Arizona senator, who has won enough delegates to win the party's nomination, has gone without Secret Service protection. However, agency Director Mark Sullivan testified publicly before Congress this week that McCain had no security detail, prompting the candidate to say perhaps the time has come, the New York Daily News reported Saturday.

"I think that it's important, as we get more and more visibility, that we recognize the inevitable," McCain told Fox News. "And so we will be talking with them early (next week) to arrange for very soon some Secret Service protection."

The newspaper reported McCain's staff was upset that the Secret Service did not discuss the senator's security in a "closed session."

Federal law requires that only nominees have Secret Service protection unless there are other factors or if a candidate requests protection.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who could become his party's first black nominee, has had Secret Service protection since last May, and rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. has a security detail as a former first lady.