Since this is an election year. It's very important that we elect somebody who has a track record of getting things done. I am familiar with President Bush's many accomplishments, so I would like some help from you. I know Kerry served in Vietnam for 4 months 3 decades ago, so we don't need to go over that.

Please list all of the accomplishments that John Kerry has done, since Vietnam, such as bills passed, etc.

Thank you.

Well, his webpage lists these.

http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/ab...lishments.html
2002
1. Massachusetts Telecommunications Council "Policy Maker of the Year"
2. NAM Vets of Cape Cod and Islands Award For Significant and Exemplary Support Rendered To Veterans of This Country and of the Cape and Islands
3. John W. McCormick Award for Public Service

2001
1. June 21, 2002
Parents for Residential Reform, Mass Families Organizing for Change and the Federation for Children with Special Needs presented The Powerful Friend Recognition Award to Senator Kerry "for his outstanding leadership and national voice on behalf of children with disabilities and their families".
2. Visiting Nurse Association of America's "Legislator of the Year"
3. Gerry Studds Stewardship Award from the Boston Harbor Island Alliance for his work to preserve the Boston Harbor Islands
4. Institute of International Education's "Steven P. Duggan Award for International Understanding" for lifetime achievement in public service and leadership in the U.S. Senate

2000
1. Massachusetts Association of Home Health Care's "Legislator of the Year"
2. American Jewish Committee's "Congressional Leadership Award" for efforts on religious freedom in the workplace

1999
1. Friends of the Public Garden's "Henry Lee Award" for efforts to preserve Boston's green spaces

1998
1. "Zero to Three" Association's "Achievement Award" for work on early childhood development issues
2. Association for Enterprise's "Leadership Award" for leadership on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
3. Assumption College's "Presidential Medal"


1997
1. National Health Association's "Legislator of the Year Award" for support of expanded child care and attention for at-risk children. Sponsored 1997 Early Childhood Development Act

1996
1. Armenian Assembly of America's Award for service and commitment to the Armenian people. John Kerry was co-sponsor of Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, providing aid to Armenia and other nations
2. Time Magazine's "Honest Man in Politics Award" for being only Senator up for reelection in 1996 to vote against Defense of Marriage Act

1995
1. Environmental Business Council Paul Keogh Award June 9, 1995 for distinguished commitment to environmental industries

1993
1. Tri-Community Chamber of Commerce George B. Wells Award December 7, 1993 for leadership in tourism

1990
1. Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense Fund "Minority Business Development Trendsetter of the Year" June 17, 1990
2. SMU Labor Education Center Arnold M. Dubin Award November 15, 1990 for outstanding contributions to the causes of labor and social justice

1998
1. League of Conservation Voters Award honored for having one of the best For environmental voting record over previous 5 years

1988
1. Commencement speaker for Umass/Boston 20th Commencement UMass Boston Honorary Degree
2. Brockton Little League's "Appreciation Award" March 7, 1988 for work with special needs division

1986
1. B'nai Brith Council of Greater Boston's "Man of the Year"

1985
1. National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy Award honored JK at a reception at the Boston Center for Adult Education

http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/is...islation.html# - bills sponsored and co-sponsored

http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/about/committee.html - Committee Assignments

I'm sorry, but those are awards. I asked for "Accomplishments".


What has he actually done?

Well lets see...is it a accomplishment to win a gold medal or is it just an award?


Ah, what you really mean to ask is "Can people talk about John Kerry in a positive way so I can shoot them down just because he`s a Democrat?".

An award is something you're given for doing something.
An accomplishment is when you do something.

I'm asking what legislation has he passed, etc., not what garden club gave him a plaque.

Hasn't he done anything?

The difference is staggering, isnt it?

No, an award is something that is given to you. An accomplishment is something that you actually do.

This thread is about accomplishments, not awards.

What has Kerry actually done?

Can you think of anything?

I'm the one asking the question, so I want to know what he has actually done.


Surely somebody can think of something, right?

You could always look it up. The last paragraph is interesting.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRe...d=126-07302004
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.

President Clinton Praised Kerry for Putting 100,000 COPS on the Street -- "When we tried to get past six years of talking tough on crime but nothing happening, rhetoric and rhetoric and rhetoric and no action, to put 100,000 police on the street, to ban deadly assault weapons to pass the Brady bill, the other side, (the Republicans) led the fight against it. But John Kerry helped us pass the toughest, smartest, best crime bill this country has seen in many a day, and the crime rate has gone down for four years in a row. John Kerry was on the right side of history." (Public Papers of the President: Fall River, MA; 8/28/96)

Democratic Leader Tom Daschle Says Kerry Knows How to Get the Legislative Job Done in the Senate -- Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had kind words for John Kerry's work on Campaign Finance Reform when he asked Kerry to chair the Democratic Steering Committee: "From our teen-smoking bill to HMO reform and Campaign Finance Reform, John Kerry has demonstrated that he clearly knows how to get the job done. He is a valued and trusted member of our leadership team, and I am pleased he has accepted another term as Chairman of the Steering and Coordination Committee." (Daschle Press Release, 11/19/98)

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)

58 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.

John 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. He has worked to shut down wasteful corporate subsidies. And John Kerry played an important role in the effort to reach a settlement with the tobacco companies that ended marketing to children and teenagers.

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.

Reading through the puff, I see lots of phrases like "led the charge" and "taken on", but I don't see a detailed list of things that actually got done.


Here is what Howard Dean had to say:

Quote:

AP: More Investigator than Legislator Kerry's campaign website contains a long list of bills Kerry has either sponsored or co-sponored over the years. But in July 2003 The Associated Press reviewed Kerry's legislative record and concluded that he "is known for using his investigative powers to shine a light on problems and corruption, but not as someone steeped in the process of making bills into law." The AP story said: Kerry has been the lead sponsor of eight bills that have become law. Two are related to his work on the Senate panel on oceans and fisheries - a 1994 law to protect marine mammals from being taken during commercial fishing and a 1991 measure for the National Sea Grant College Program Act, which finances marine research. In 1999, President Clinton signed his bill providing grants to support small businesses owned by women. The rest of the laws he saw passed were ceremonial - renaming a federal building, designating Vietnam Veterans Memorial 10th Anniversary Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day and World Population Awareness Week in two separate years.

So that's .4% things accomplished per year, even if you give him the fish bills that he passed.



Can anybody think of anything important that he has passed in 20 years?

Liberal Magazine Slate also quoted a study by Time Magazine.




http://slate.msn.com/id/2096408/
The hints in Kerry's senatorial résumé aren't encouraging. Legislating is an almost pathologically collaborative effort, and Kerry has been a conspicuous non-performer in the legislation department. Time magazine found exactly "three substantive bills passed with Kerry's name on them." Two of these "had to do with marine research and protecting fisheries." (The other was "designed to provide grants for women starting small businesses.") Kerry's record as a senator for two decades would be embarrassing were it not for his investigations into drug commerce and his initial digging into illegal aid for the Nicaraguan Contras.

Great analysis of what a weak candidate John Kerry really is.

What an interesting amount of stuff he has done, and a lot of it has been overtly helpful.
I do believe that Kerry has acquired a multitude of accomplishments AND awards.

Can we say the same of Bush?

Yes.

Bush has passed more legislation in 3 years than Kerry did in 20, and has far more achievements.

Kerry did help the fish though. You have to give him that.

Funny. If "accomplishments" mean "something someone did that got passed into law" then...very funny. Consider: Bush has been president for almost 4 years now, with a Republican controlled congress (except for that one guy who went independent in the Senate) and is the one who must sign off on all the bills. Kerry, who is not yet, nor has ever been president, can support something but has a much lesser chance of things getting done about it because he isn't the president and his party hasn't controlled Congress for quite some time now.

Did you ever think about how many bills go through the house and senate that are voted down? That's an overwhelming amount of bills. I'd like to see the success rates of every senator, past and present, on getting their bills voted into law, and then maybe you can start making a case. Until that point (have fun compiling the list) you're just blowing hot air.

Bush's primary accomplishment before his 'governorship'? Running businesses into the ground.

Now he's been able to do the same with the US Economy.