Accomplishments
John Kerry compiled an impressive record of accomplishment during his career in the United States Senate. During his two decades of service, he fought for fiscal discipline, expanded children's health care, fought to put 100,000 more cops on America's streets, and worked with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to investigate the fate of American POW/MIAs and help soldiers suffering from exposure to Agent Orange.
A 22 year veteran of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship where he now serves as Chairman, John Kerry stood up for Americans who own and work for small businesses and fought for a level playing field in today's competitive global economy. In 19 years of service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - including a term as chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations - John Kerry distinguished himself as one of our nation's most respected experts on national security issues and a leader in fighting terrorism and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
Putting principle ahead of partisanship, John Kerry worked with his Republican colleagues on important issues like balancing the budget and keeping government spending under control. And with a firm dedication to expanding and strengthening the middle class, he fought for an America that fulfills its great promise - that gives hard-working Americans the opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families.
Crossed Party Lines to Support a Balanced Budget and Cast the
Decisive Vote to Create 23 Million New Jobs. Shortly after
joining the Senate, John Kerry crossed party lines to bring fiscal
discipline back to Washington.
- Fought for Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, Deficit Reduction Act,
Balanced Budget Act. John Kerry cosponsored and voted for
the landmark Gramm-Rudman-Hollings balanced budget and deficit
reduction bill to end runaway deficits. In 1993, John Kerry
supported the Deficit Reduction Act, which put America back
on track toward a balanced budget and fiscal discipline. John
Kerry's vote reduced the deficit and resulted in the creation
of 23 million new jobs. John Kerry also voted for the historic
1997 Balanced Budget Act, which dramatically reduced spending
and balanced the budget for the first time in a generation.
Helped Increase the Minimum Wage. John Kerry was instrumental
in passing the most recent increase in the minimum wage - to $5.15
per hour in 1997.
Fought for the Child Tax Credit. John Kerry led a successful
fight for an amendment he introduced to make sure that all working
families receive a child tax credit.
Stood Up for Small Business. As the current Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, John Kerry promoted policies to increase access to capital, open international markets, foster innovative technology companies, reduce red tape and increase federal contracting opportunities for women, veteran, and minority-owned small firms. He also created and improved the Microloan program which proportionally serves more women and minorities than other programs, worked to increase access to working capital from $15 billion in 1998 to $24.5 billion in 2006 for small businesses, strengthened the successful nationwide Women's Business Centers (WBC) through his sustainability legislation, and created a loan program to help reservist entrepreneurs keep their small businesses afloat while they are on active duty.
Fought For 100,000 Additional Cops on the Street. As a
former prosecutor, John Kerry understands the importance of strong
law enforcement. That's why he led the fight to add police on our
streets through his amendment to the 1993 Crime Control bill. John
Kerry's amendment provided for $150 million to hire 100,000 new
police officers - a measure widely regarded as having helped to
lower the crime rate across the country.
Fought to Modernize and Strengthen America's Military. John
Kerry has supported over $4 trillion in defense funding and has
supported virtually every successful weapons system in use by today's
military. In 2002, John Kerry voted for the largest increase in
defense spending since the 1980's. And because John Kerry understands
that our national security begins with the men and women who risk
their lives to protect it, he has supported pay increases, benefit
increases, and quality-of-life improvements for America's men and
women in uniform throughout his career.
Fought Global Terrorism. John Kerry introduced critical
legislation for cracking down on international laundering of terrorist
funds. He was one of the key architects of anti-money-laundering
provisions in the Patriot Act designed to deny financing for terrorists,
and he has consistently used these provisions to press the Bush
administration to crack down on terrorist financing activities
by Syria and Saudi Arabia. He introduced a bill to ban arms exports
to countries that provide support for acts of international terrorism,
a proposal that was incorporated into the final 1990 State Department
Authorization Bill.
Made the Homeland More Secure. John Kerry was an original
co-sponsor of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001,
which improved our nation's airline security after September 11th.
He also helped pass legislation in response to September 11th that
placed armed Coast Guard personnel on high-risk vehicles such as
oil and gas tankers as they enter port.
Worked to Prevent the Spread of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical
Weapons. John Kerry has made preventing the spread of nuclear
weapons a top priority. He fought for ratification of the Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, fought against withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty, and has been a strong and persistent advocate
of programs that help secure nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons stockpiles and materials in the former Soviet Union so
they do not fall into the hands of hostile states or terrorists.
A Leader in Expanding Access and Lowering the Cost of Health
Care for America's Children. John Kerry was there at the
beginning of the fight to provide the largest investment in children's
health care since the creation of Medicaid.
- Wrote Pre-Cursor Bill to S-CHIP, Providing Coverage for
up to 5 Million Children. John Kerry's 1996 bill, the Healthy
Children, Family Assistance Health Insurance Program, was the
precursor to the successful State Children's Health Insurance
Program (S-CHIP) that became law in 1997. S-CHIP provides funding
to cover 5 million children.
Improved Coverage and Care for America's Veterans. John
Kerry has been a tireless champion of mandatory funding for veterans'
health care. He fought vigorously for full funding of Veterans
Administration (VA) health care and opposed the Bush administration's
exclusion of Priority 8 veterans and its elimination of VA outreach
efforts. He sought improved prescription drug benefits and authored
legislation in 2003 to let veterans fill prescriptions written
by non-VA doctors through the VA pharmacy.
Improved Post-Natal Care. John Kerry co-sponsored an amendment
that successfully required health care plans to provide coverage
for a minimum hospital stay for a mother and child following the
birth of the child.
Fought HIV/AIDS. John Kerry was among the earliest supporters
of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE)
Act, which today is the largest discretionary federal investment
in treatment and support services for individuals and families
living with HIV or AIDS. Today, 533,000 Americans with HIV/AIDS
receive better treatment through this program.
Addressed America's Nursing Shortage. John Kerry wrote
the Nurse Reinvestment Act to help relieve a nationwide, crisis-level
shortage of registered nurses by encouraging more young people
to choose a career in nursing. Today, enrollment rates at undergraduate
nursing programs are up by 17 percent.
Helped Spread Democracy and Human Rights Throughout the World. John
Kerry was a leading advocate for democratic elections in the Philippines,
serving as an elections monitor as part of a Senate delegation
that uncovered the fraud that led to the ouster of President Ferdinand
Marcos. He was a strong proponent of U.S. participation in the
NATO intervention that put an end to the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
He worked with the United Nations and Cambodian government officials
to facilitate the creation of the genocide tribunal in Cambodia
that will prosecute key members of the Khmer Rouge. He sponsored
the Code of Conduct of Arms Transfers Act, which prohibited U.S.
military assistance and arms transfers to nations that do not adequately
protect the human rights of their citizens. And he co-sponsored
bipartisan legislation which imposed sanctions on Burma's military
regime for detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and repressing her National
League for Democracy party.
Fought Global HIV/AIDS. John Kerry authored major elements
of the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, legislation
which at the time provided the most money ever for fighting AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis around the world. He sponsored the bipartisan
U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act
of 2002, comprehensive legislation that was unanimously approved
by the Senate and became the foundation of the global AIDS legislation
that was passed by congress and signed by President Bush.
Fought International Crime, Corruption and Drug Trafficking. John
Kerry chaired the landmark hearings that uncovered the Bank of
Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal - the largest
banking corruption scandal in modern times. He led hearings which
provided evidence that Haitian military officials were involved
in drug trafficking to the United States. He also led hearings
on corruption and drug trafficking by Panamanian dictator Manuel
Noriega, and introduced legislation requiring the Reagan administration
to cut off foreign aid to Panama because of drug-related corruption
within its government.
Uncovered Government Corruption. John Kerry went on a fact-finding
mission to Nicaragua and presented his findings to the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. Based in part on John Kerry's groundbreaking
findings, the committee reached a consensus decision to investigate
the Contra guerillas and their connection to drug trafficking in
the United States. The resulting investigation uncovered the Iran-Contra
scandal, a scheme that diverted profits from illegal arms sales
to Iran to support the Contra guerilla fighters in Nicaragua.
Took on the Task of Investigating POW/MIA Issues. John
Kerry and John McCain "doggedly investigated" an important and
volatile issue which some described as an "unglamorous task that
nobody else wanted." Regarding the investigation, John McCain said, "John
Kerry handled the chairmanship of that committee with tremendous
skill." In 1994, John Kerry sponsored an amendment with McCain
that urged the American government to lift its 25-year trade embargo
with Vietnam. He then worked closely with McCain and President
Clinton to facilitate full normalization of trade and diplomatic
relations with Vietnam.
Fought to Help Victims of Agent Orange. Beginning more
than 15 years ago, John Kerry introduced legislation to assist
veterans in receiving medical compensation after being exposed
to the toxic chemical Agent Orange. John Kerry even testified before
Congress to force the government to care for Vietnam veterans.
John Kerry's bill, the Comprehensive Agent Orange Scientific Evidence
Review Act, sought to require that the Veterans Administration(VA)
look into the "health effects of exposure" to Agent Orange. John
Kerry also voted to pass the Agent Orange Act of 1991 and the Veterans'
Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1989.
Fought to Protect America's Environment. John Kerry has
been described by the League of Conservation Voters as an "environmental
champion." He introduced legislation to improve standards for clean
air and establish a fund to finance emissions reductions. He secured
millions of dollars in funding to clean America's waterways, harbors,
and drinking water, worked to strengthen the Safe Drinking Water
Act, and introduced legislation in 1996 to ensure "protection in
the quality of our water." He sponsored legislation that extended
and strengthened laws protecting marine mammals from commercial
fishing. He helped protect America's National Parks and National
Forests from pollution, excessive logging, and overdevelopment
while ensuring that endangered species are preserved for all Americans
to experience. He has opposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to drilling for over a decade, ensuring that future generations
can experience this national treasure. He strongly advocated for
U.S. participation in the Kyoto accords and other international
environmental initiatives, and personally participated in many
major world environmental summits, including conferences at Rio
di Janiero, Kyoto and the Hague.
Fought for America's Veterans. John Kerry has been a tireless
champion of mandatory funding for veterans' health care. He fought
vigorously for full funding of VA health care and opposed the Bush
administration's exclusion of Priority 8 veterans and its elimination
of VA outreach efforts. He sought improved prescription drug benefits
and authored legislation in 2003 to let veterans fill prescriptions
written by non-VA doctors through the VA pharmacy. As chairman
of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, John Kerry investigated
the fate of missing American soldiers in Vietnam and brought about
the resolution of this difficult issue for their families and for
the governments of both countries. In 1994, he sponsored an amendment
with Senator McCain that urged the American government to lift
its 25-year trade embargo with Vietnam. He then worked closely
with Senator McCain and President Clinton to facilitate full normalization
of trade and diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
Stood Up for America's Children. John Kerry wrote the bill
that became the foundation for the 1997 State Children's Health
Insurance Program (S-CHIP), which provided states with federal
funding to help extend health insurance coverage to children whose
families do not qualify for Medicaid. He introduced legislation
to expand state and local early childhood development efforts,
including education, child care and health care for children between
birth and six years old. At the end of 2000, a version of this
bipartisan legislation was signed into law. To address the needs
of America's at-risk youth, John Kerry led the effort to establish
the YouthBuild program, which provides young people with basic
education toward a diploma and the skills training they need to
get a good-paying job. YouthBuild also teaches leadership and civic
engagement while providing students with adult mentors who help
them overcome personal problems and participate in a supportive
community with positive values.
Fought for Affordable Housing. As a member of the Senate
Housing Subcommittee, John Kerry has a long record of fighting
for affordable housing. He shaped the first significant rewrite
of the public housing program in over 20 years and worked to craft
and pass a bill that helped save the government billions of dollars
in rental assistance payments, preserved thousands of affordable
rental apartments, and helped finance the rehabilitation of those
apartments. With Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), John Kerry sponsored
the Affordable Housing Preservation Act to foster local partnerships
between non-profits, state and local governments, and private landlords
in order to keep existing housing projects available and affordable
for low-income tenants. He worked to create and implement the "mark-up
to market" program and he co-authored the Affordable Housing for
Seniors and Families Act of 2000.
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