Wednesday, July 26, 2000

Dick Cheney's Legislative Accomplishments

“Cheney’s voting record was slightly more conservative than mine. ”
-- Newt Gingrich, Washington Times, 7/25/2000


George Bush loves to attack John Kerry’s legislative record. But the fact is that 57 bills and
resolutions Kerry sponsored passed the Senate and countless others have been improved because of
his work, including the Clean Air Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the COPS
program. In addition, Kerry has taken on the special interests and won. He fought against Newt
Gingrich’s anti-labor and anti-environmental regulatory reform, he has fought to raise the minimum
wage, and he has worked to shut down wasteful corporate subsidies.


Congressman John Spratt (D-SC), ranking member on the House Budget Committee, made the following
remarks on a call today:


“Dick Cheney served in the Congress for 11 years. I served with him for most of these years. In
that time, he only passed two bills. One was to build a flood plain on the Colorado River and the
other was a bill to help a constituent. What’s even more telling about Dick Cheney’s record in the
House is not what he supported but what he opposed – things like Headstart and funding for
seniors. It seems pretty dishonest for Bush and Cheney to be attacking John Kerry - who passed 57
bills in the Senate – for his legislative accomplishments.”


Here, for comparison is a summary of the legislation sponsored and passed by Vice President Cheney
during his 11 year legislative career.


Cheney’s Legislative Career by the Numbers


96th Congress: 4 Sponsored; 0 became Law

97th Congress: 4 Sponsored: 0 became Law

98th Congress: 8 Sponsored: 0 became Law

99th Congress: 7 Sponsored: 1 became Law

(H.R.1246 : A bill to establish a federally declared floodway for the Colorado River below Davis
Dam.)


100th Congress: 7 Sponsored: 1 became Law

(H.R.712 : A bill for the relief of Lawrence K. Lunt.)


101st Congress: 1 Sponsored: 0 became Law


FACTS ON JOHN KERRY’S LEGISLATIVE RECORD


John Kerry has a distinguished legislative record. He and John McCain negotiated an agreement with
Vietnam to provide a full accounting for POW-MIAs. He wrote the first bill reducing acid rain. He
has repeatedly led the charge in protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. He
has passed legislation that shut down money laundering activities of terrorists and drug
traffickers.


Even Dr. Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader Says Kerry’s Global AIDS Legislation is a “Huge Step
Forward”: “’The Kerry-Frist bill is a huge step forward,” said [current Majority Leader Bill]
Frist. “It further validates U.S. leadership in the global effort to end devastation many
countries face in the fight against HIV/AIDS’.” [Office of Senator Frist, press release 7/12/02]


57 bills and resolutions John Kerry has sponsored over the years have passed the U.S. Senate.
Countless others have been improved because of his work, including the Clean Air Act, the
Children’s Health Insurance Program and the COPS program.




The number of bills that bear your name is a poor measure of legislative accomplishment. For
example, Ted Kennedy, who most would acknowledge as the most accomplished Democratic Senator in a
generation, has had just 9 bills signed into law in 10 years. Of the more than 400 bills Kennedy
sponsored in 108th, 105th and 104th Congresses none were signed into law. And Bill Frist, the
Republican Majority Leader, has sponsored 88 bills in the 108th Congress and zero have become law.
In the 107th Congress, Frist sponsored 52 bills and 1 became law. It was a bill to authorize and
urge the President to promote democracy in Zimbabwe.



http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0803c.html