What Federal legislation has Obama Sponsored that has become law?

Northstarmom · February 20, 2008, 12:28pm

I’ve looked for this on the Obama site, but can’t find it.
Looking for ammo as I see Clinton now is capitalizing on an Obama stand-in who couldn’t list anything Obama had accomplished.

missypie · February 20, 2008, 12:31pm

Yeah, good old Kirk Watson couldn’t list any legislation that Obama had sponsored. Deer in the headlights. He couldn’t even come up with an answer like “He wanted to do X but was thwarted by the Republicans…”

barrons · February 20, 2008, 12:40pm

Empty suit with charm. They made movies about guys like this.

1sokkermom · February 20, 2008, 12:41pm

I think that mini already did a good job at listing Hillary’s “accomplishments” on another thread.

I think it started out with. - 1. Voted for War in Iraq, etc. ;)

Might have mentioned failed Health Care Program too. I think she named a museum after someone though. I’m not sure.

momof2inca · February 20, 2008, 1:14pm

From wikipedia:

From the 109 Congress:

Obama took an active role in the Senate’s drive for improved border security and immigration reform. In 2005, he co-sponsored the “Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act” introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).[54] He later added three amendments to the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act”, which passed the Senate in May 2006, but failed to gain majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives.[55] In September 2006, Obama supported a related bill, the Secure Fence Act, authorizing construction of fencing and other security improvements along the MexicoUnited States border.[56] President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law in October 2006, calling it “an important step toward immigration reform.”[57]
Partnering first with Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), and then with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Obama successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. “Lugar-Obama” expands the Nunn-Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines.[58] The “Coburn-Obama Transparency Act” provides for the web site USAspending.gov, managed by the Office of Management and Budget. The site lists all organizations receiving Federal funds from 2007 onward and provides breakdowns by the agency allocating the funds, the dollar amount given, and the purpose of the grant or contract.[59] In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the “Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act,” marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.[60]

From the 110 Congress;

In the first month of the newly Democratic-controlled 110th Congress, Obama worked with Russ Feingold (DWI) to eliminate gifts of travel on corporate jets by lobbyists to members of Congress and require disclosure of bundled campaign contributions under the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act”, which was signed into law in September 2007.[65] He joined Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in sponsoring S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, including fraudulent flyers and automated phone calls, as witnessed in the 2006 midterm elections.[66] Obama’s energy initiatives scored pluses and minuses with environmentalists, who welcomed his sponsorship with John McCain (R-AZ) of a climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds by 2050, but were skeptical of his support for a bill promoting liquefied coal production.[67] Obama also introduced the “Iraq War De-Escalation Act”, a bill to cap troop levels in Iraq, begin phased redeployment, and remove all combat brigades from Iraq before April 2008.[68]
Later in 2007, Obama sponsored with Kit Bond (R-MO) an amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges, and calling for a review by the Government Accountability Office following reports that the procedure had been used inappropriately to reduce government costs.[69] He sponsored the “Iran Sanctions Enabling Act” supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran’s oil and gas industry,[70] and joined Chuck Hagel (R-NE) in introducing legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.[71] A provision from the Obama-Hagel bill was passed by Congress in December 2007 as an amendment to the State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill.[71] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.[72] After passing both houses of Congress with bipartisan majorities, SCHIP was vetoed by President Bush in early October 2007, a move Obama said “shows a callousness of priorities that is offensive to the ideals we hold as Americans.”[73]

momof2inca · February 20, 2008, 1:17pm

I’m not sure that I expect him to be able to sponsor and have passed new laws as a new Senator in a 100-member Senate. As President he will have a lot more influence in getting people to work together. I find him to be a very hard worker and, while confident enough to pursue the highest office, not so egotistical as to be a grandstander. He actively shied away from all media attention in his first year in the US Senate, with the sole purpose of learning from his colleagues and listening to his constituents. How refreshing.

mini · February 20, 2008, 2:09pm

He actually sponsored and passed much more substantive legislation in two years than Hillary did in eight. But what he didn’t do was not only support the initial Iraq invasion (without reading the intelligence report), but support the hostile, aggressive occupation with speeches delivered from the Pork Zone in 2005. And he didn’t raise almost $200 million for his campaigns.

xiggi · February 20, 2008, 2:37pm

Measuring the legislative prowess of a Senator in three years is silly, especially when considering the amazing record of the past frontrunners like John Kerry and the lady with 35 years of solid experience and dedication to serve her country.

NYMomof2 · February 20, 2008, 2:54pm

He actually has quite a good record of quietly working on important, but not newsworthy, legislation, often with Republican senators. A few examples:

<ul>
<li>with Lugar, legislation to secure Russian “loose nukes” as well as conventional weapons

<ul>
<li>avian-flu related bills, including pandemic preparedness</li>
<li>regulation/oversight of genetic testing</li>
<li>with Clinton, program for disclosure of medical errors (aimed at reducing malpractice claims)</li>
<li>chemical plant security</li>
<li>lead paint</li>
<li>several bills to help victims of Katrina</li>
<li>public database of federal spending and contracts (note theme of gov’t transparency)</li>
<li>raising CAFE standards</li>
<li>veterans’ health care</li>
<li>lobbying reform bill</li>
<li>bill to make certain forms of voter intimidation illegal</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

aggiemom39 · February 20, 2008, 3:29pm

when he took office. I am glad that this election cycle we appear to be nominating folks that have at least some national experience, rather than the practice of bringing in govenors with no national experience of late (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush II). We are in Texas, which is a state where the governor really wields little power. Bush appeared to do as well in office as he did, because of Bob Bullock, the Democrat who was LT Governor when Bush assumed office his first term. He actually had more power, but used it to make Bush look good. Kind of groomed him for the job because he thought the guy could work both sides of the aisle.

NYMomof2 · February 20, 2008, 3:37pm

Yes, I’d heard that in TX the governor actually has little power. The governors do well in presidential elections because they have executive experience and, also, no one can say, “He voted to raise taxes 558 times!”

NYMomof2 · February 20, 2008, 3:58pm

If you’d like information on any legislator’s work, a convenient source is GovTrack.us. Here is Obama’s page:

[GovTrack:</a> Barack Obama](<a href=“http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?tab=roles&id=400629]GovTrack:”>http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?tab=roles&id=400629)

You can read there that of the 129 bills that Obama has sponsored since entering the Senate in Jan, 2005, only one has become law. Clinton has sponsored 354 bills since Jan, 2001, and two have become law. McCain has sponsored 403 bills since Jan, 1997, and twelve have become law.

citygirlsmom · February 20, 2008, 4:01pm

seems when you have to take something his wife said, then cut out a very relavent word, then talk about it for days

as for law, the congress didn’t do a whole lot with bush as prez…the republicans wouldn’t allow anything to get done

mini · February 20, 2008, 4:01pm

“BAGHDAD (AP) 2/19/05 — As 55 people died in Iraq on Saturday, the holiest day on the Shiite Muslim religious calendar, Sen. Hillary Clinton said that much of Iraq was “functioning quite well” and that the rash of suicide attacks was a sign that the insurgency was failing.”

(from the Pork Zone with John (“My friends…100-Year-War”) McCain)

NYMomof2 · February 20, 2008, 9:36pm

I just read a very insightful comparative analysis of Obama’s and Clinton’s legislative records. I recommend it highly. It’s a blog, so I can’t link to it, but if you google “I refuse to buy into the Obama hype” it will come up. All the ammo you need is here, Northstarmom.

Northstarmom · February 20, 2008, 10:41pm

Does anyone know the name of the blog that NYMomof2 referred to? Lots of blogs came up when I googled the phrase, “I refuse to buy into the Obama hype,” but didn’t see a blog with the info about Obama and Clinton’s legislative records.

marite · February 20, 2008, 10:57pm

Hilzoy at Obsidianwings has done an analysis of Clinton’s and Obama’s voting record. Click on the link and scroll down to Feb. 15, 2008 entry. (disclaimer: Hilzoy is an Obama supporter).

[Obsidian</a> Wings](<a href=“http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/]Obsidian”>http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/)

NYMomof2 · February 20, 2008, 11:30pm

Northstarmom, the blog is dailykos, and this is a diary by Grassroots Mom, currently at the top of the recommended list (on the right).

LaxAttack09 · February 21, 2008, 12:01am

dailykos, a shining light of truth :rolleyes:

mathmom · February 21, 2008, 10:39am

Well, in this case the DailyKos blog led me to the Obsidian Wings blog where someone has taken the trouble to list all the bills that either Clinton and Obama have sponsored, co-sponsored or added amendments to. I have no reason to think the bills listed are made up. It’s an easy way to compare their accomplishments. I’m thankful someone did it.

(I never knew that naming post offices was a major activity of Senators, they both have bills and I’m sure McCain would too.) :)

What Federal legislation has Obama Sponsored that has become law?

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