The Obama campaign gives Sen. Obama credit for every bill he introduced or signed on as a co-sponsor, whether or not they became law.
In her time in the Senate, Hillary has sponsored 21 bills that have become law including:
— a bill that extended the availability of unemployment assistance.
— a bill which established a program to assist family caregivers.
— a bill that provided benefits to public safety officers who were killed or injured during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
But Hillary’s accomplishments in the Senate are not limited to bill sponsorships. Among her many other legislative accomplishments:
— Hillary worked with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to expand access to health care for the National Guard and Reserve.
— Hillary passed an amendment that created a national program for teacher and principal training and recruitment.
— Hillary used Senate rules to force the Bush administration to make emergency contraception, also known as Plan B, available
The reality is, since Sen. Obama joined the Senate (applying the same standard the Obama campaign applies to Hillary) he has sponsored two bills that have become law:
— a bill that sought to promote democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
— a bill that named a post office.
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Sen. Obama and Hillary have almost identical voting records on Iraq:
In fact, Obama’s Senate voting record on Iraq is nearly identical to Clinton’s. Over the two years Obama has been in the Senate, the only Iraq-related vote on which they differed was the confirmation earlier this year of General George Casey to be Chief of Staff of the Army, which Obama voted for and Clinton voted against.
As a Senate candidate in November 2003, Sen. Obama said he would have ‘unequivocally’ voted against war funding because it was the only way to oppose Bush on Iraq:
“Just this week, when I was asked, would I have voted for the $87 billion dollars, I said ‘no.’ I said no unequivocally because, at a certain point, we have to say no to George Bush. If we keep on getting steamrolled, we are not going to stand a chance.”
But until he ran for president, Sen. Obama supported every funding bill for Iraq. <2005 Vote # 117, HR1268, 5/10/05; 2005 Vote # 326, S1042, 11/15/05; 2006 Vote # 112, HR4939, 5/4/06; 2006 Vote # 239; 2006 Vote # 186, S2766, 6/22/06, HR5631, 9/7/06>
Obama campaign advisor Susan Rice falsely claimed that Sen. Obama and Hillary have voted differently on Iraq since joining the Senate. Rice claimed these vote differences reflected Sen. Obama’s “different position” on the war:
JANSING: Bill Clinton made the point that in the senate Barack Obama voted exactly the same way that senator Hillary Clinton has on Iraq, and is there a vote where they took different positions?
RICE: Yes, they have taken different positions from the beginning…Since coming to the senate, he has been very clear in pushing every year 2005, 2006, and 2007 for a withdrawal of our forces. Senator Clinton took the view for a good part of that period that it would be premature and unwise to signal that the U.S. was prepared to withdraw, to set a timeline or a deadline.
Actually, with the exception of Sen. Obama’s vote to promote Gen. Casey, one of the chief architects of the war, his voting record is exactly the same as Hillary. Hillary and Sen. Obama have never voted differently on troop withdrawals, timelines or deadlines.
Full list of votes available here.
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Sen. Obama blasted the energy policy developed in secret by Vice President Cheney:
Washington’s failure is the failure of a president who spent most of his time in office denying the very existence of global warming – of a Vice President who developed America’s energy policy with a secret task force that opened the door to oil lobbyists and then shut it to every other point of view.
Sen. Obama failed to mention that he voted for Dick Cheney’s energy policy, the 2005 Energy Bill.
~~~~~~
Sen. Obama claimed he voted against the amendment on the 2005 Bankruptcy bill because he thought that a ceiling of 30 percent interest for loans on credit cards was too high:
Absolutely. It is a fact because I thought 30% potentially was too high of a ceiling. So we had no hearings on that bill, it had not gone through the banking committee.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Sen. Obama was planning on voting for the measure until a colleague noted, ‘thirty percent is sort of a random number’:
To some liberals, the proposal was a no-brainer: a ceiling of 30 percent on interest rates for credit cards and other consumer debt. And as he left his office to vote on it, Obama planned to support the measure, which was being considered as an amendment to a major overhaul of the nation’s bankruptcy laws. But when the amendment came up for a vote, Obama was standing next to Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), the senior Democrat on the banking committee and the leader of those opposing the landmark bill, which would make it harder for Americans to get rid of debt. ‘You know, this is probably not a smart amendment for us to vote for,’ Obama recalled Sarbanes telling him. ‘Thirty percent is sort of a random number.’ Obama joined Sarbanes in voting against the amendment, but they lost the larger battle when the new bankruptcy law passed by a lopsided 74-25. There remains no federal ceiling on credit card interest rates. Obama’s deferral to Sarbanes was just one example of the freshman senator learning to navigate a chamber famous for its egos.
Sen. Obama did end up voting against a ceiling of 30 percent interest for loans or credit cards:
Obama voted against and Hillary voted for a Dayton, D-Minn., amendment that would set a 30 percent ceiling on interest rates for loans or credit cards.
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In 2003, Sen. Obama said that he would support a repeal of the U.S. PATRIOT Act:
Q4. Would you vote to repeal the U.S. Patriot Act?” A. “Yes, I would vote to repeal the U.S. Patriot Act, although I would consider replacing that shoddy and dangerous law with a new, carefully crafted proposal…
In 2006, Sen. Obama to extend the PATRIOT Act:
The Washington Post said of the reauthorization, “he Patriot Act fight started with promises of major changes and ended largely with the status quo.” Obama himself said the bill only “modestly” improved the PATRIOT Act and failed to do enough to protect civil liberties.
~~~~~~
Sen. Obama suggested he made his opposition to Kyl-Lieberman clear ‘at the time of the vote.’ From the debate:
Blitzer : This was an important vote you missed the, you weren’t present in the senate when that vote occurred.
Obama: This is true and it was a mistake - one of the hazards of running for president. What I have consistently said and what I said at the time of the vote was that we should not take steps that would increase two presences inside Iraq with an eye towards blunting the impact of Iran. I always think that’s a mistake.
Sen. Obama missed the vote and said nothing at the time the vote occurred. His campaign didn’t release a statement until 9 hours after the vote. The vote occurred at 12:44PM. Sen. Obama didn’t issue a statement until after 10PM.
The issue also came up at a presidential debate that night, and Sen. Obama didn’t mention it.
Sen. Obama voted present 129 times on a wide array of issues, including choice, privacy for victims of sexual assault, and school violence. In fact, the Obama campaign claimed that Sen. Obama’s present votes were part of a legislative strategy but failed to mention that Sen. Obama was the lone present vote on a number of key issues.
~~~~~~
THE ABUNDANCE OF NON-VOTES:
Sen. Obama’s Present Votes By The Numbers
Sen. Obama voted ‘present’ 129 times while in the State Senate.
In 1999, Sen. Obama voted ‘present’ more often than he voted ‘no’: According to state records, Obama voted ‘present’ 43 times in 1999, while voting ‘no’ just 29 times.
At least 36 times, Sen. Obama was either the only State Senator to vote present or was part of a group of six or fewer to vote that way.
Other Present Votes of Interest:
Sen. Obama was the only State Senator to vote ‘present’ on a bill that sought to protect the privacy of sex-abuse victims, and the only state senator to not support the bill.
Sen. Obama was the only State Senator to vote ‘present’ on an adoption bill that imposed stricter requirements for parental fitness, and the only State Senator to not support the bill.
Sen. Obama voted ‘present’ on a bill that would increase penalties for the use of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. The bill called for the mandatory adult persecution of a minor at least 15 years of age being tried for using a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.
Sen. Obama voted ‘present’ on a bill to prohibit the presence of adult sex shops near schools, places of worship, and day care facilities; bill allows local governments to regulate the presence of adult sex shops.
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