www.factcheck.org/article282.html
Printer Friendly Version Summary At the final presidential debate, Bush said Kerry had passed only five bi lls during his career, and Kerry said he had passed 56. Actually, we fou nd eleven measures authored by Kerry have been signed into law, includin g a save-the-dolphins law, a law naming a federal building, a law giving a posthumous award to Jackie Robinson last year, and laws declaring "wo rld population awareness weeks" in 1989 and 1991. Bush counted only measures technically defined as "bills," leaving out fo ur "joint resolutions" that also have the force of law, and he also omit ted two laws whose House versions were adopted in a form nearly identica l to Senate versions authored by Kerry. When Kerry said "I've actually passed 56 individual bills that I've perso nally written" he was counting everything that had passed the Senate, wh ether or not it cleared the House. He also counts 24 resolutions that ha ve no force of law. Both can't be right, so we asked each campaign for their list of specific bills, and we took a l ook. Bush: He introduced some 300 bills and he's passed five. I've actually pas sed 56 individual bills that I've personally written and, in addition to that, and not always under my name, there is (sic) amendments on certai n bills. Bush: "passed five" When Bush said Kerry "passed five" bills, he was counting five bills Kerr y authored that passed the Senate, the House, were signed by the preside nt, and became law. That's technically accurate but omits six other pieces of Kerry legislati on that have become law. The Bush campaign's backup lists five bills, which we verified: * S791: Authorizes $53 million over four years to provide grants to w oman-owned small businesses.
National Sea Grant College Program, which sup ports university-based research, public education, and other projects to promote better understanding, conservation and use of Americas coastal resources.
related article in January we quoted an Associated Press article that turned up only eight laws that bear Kerry's name. We've also included -- as did The AP -- four "joint resolutions" that are not technically "bills" but which have the same force when passed by bo th houses and are signed into law by the president. " (1992) Kerry: "passed 56" Kerry counted all measures he wrote that were approved by the Senate.
Senate resolutions that aren't even considered by the House. Kerry would have been more accurate to say he wrote 56 "meas ures" that passed the Senate, including 11 that became law. Bec ause there were 10 different vessels, Kerry introduced 10 separate bills . Sources "Civics 101: John Kerry's Thin Senate Record," press release, Bush-Cheney '04, 14 Oct 2004.
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