While John Kerry’s been busy working for the people of Massachusetts, the MA GOP seems to have whiled away the hours attending Karl Rove seminars and cozying up to the usual pack of attack chihuahuas in the Republican Party in DC. Unfortunately, they didn’t spend that time actually doing any research about John Kerry’s record. Or they’re just lying now. Hard to tell.

I won’t link to it, but the National Republican Senatorial Campaign committee (NRSC) has decided that this YouTube thing may actually have a future (maybe George Allen told them) and decided to “get down with the kids” and put up an attack video on John Kerry with some lame pop culture references. Of course, it wouldn’t be a GOP attack without the standard mix of painfully transparent attempts to be “cool” and a pack of basic untruths. The fun thing about this one: it’s all one big lie!

The point (to save you having to Google it) is that they claim John Kerry hasn’t passed any legislation in 9 years. Of course, the discriminating viewer would probably think, “Well, most of that time was with a GOP Congress and a GOP President, so the opportunities would be limited for a Democratic Senator.” Problem is, the discriminating viewer would be giving the GOP too much credit by believing their central premise. It’s just not true at all. Kerry was recently named the “12th Most Powerful Senator” by Knowlegis because of his record as an effective advocate for Massachusetts. But, when your party has put the economy in the tank, driven gas prices toward $4 a gallon, and has a nominee that’s calling for 100 more years in Iraq … what’s a Republican to do?

Here’s just a sampling of the legislation John Kerry has authored and shepherded into law:

Passed Legislation to Combat Money Laundering: In 2001, Senator Kerry’s legislation, the International Counter-Money Laundering and Foreign Anticorruption Act, was enacted as Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. It provides the tools the U.S. needs to crack down on international money laundering havens and protects the integrity of the U.S. financial system from the influx of tainted money from abroad. The legislation gives the Secretary of Treasury the discretionary authority to take targeted action against specific international money laundering threats including restricting or prohibiting their access to the U.S. financial system. [PL 107-56]

Helping fishermen gain access to bankruptcy protections: In 2005, Senator Kerry successfully passed an amendment in the Bankruptcy Reform Act to make Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code – which originally applied only to family farmers – applicable to fishermen. The amendment helps ensure that fishermen have the flexibility under Chapter 12 of the bankruptcy code to wait out the rebuilding of our commercial fish stocks. [PL 109-8]

Stopping Child Exploitation: Senator Kerry’s child exploitation bill (S. 2155, introduced in the 109th Congress) – entitled Masha’s Law – became law in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Kerry legislation, inspired by the tragic story of a 13-year-old girl who was sexually-exploited by her adopted father, will help prevent child exploitation by increasing the civil statutory damages available to a victim of child exploitation and ensuring that victims of child pornography whose images remain in circulation after they have turned 18 can still recover when those images are downloaded. [PL 109-248]

Fighting for Massachusetts’ Fishermen: Senator Kerry secured $13.395 million in federal disaster assistance for Massachusetts fishermen as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed by the President in December 2007. This funding will provide assistance to the Massachusetts groundfishing fleet, which is struggling to survive in the face of significant cuts in fishing effort. [P.L. 110-161]

Assisting the Military and Our Veterans: In 2007, Senator Kerry’s legislation was included in the FY 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Conference Report to authorize the construction of a joint Department of Defense/Veterans Administration military eye injury center of excellence. This “center of excellence” will allow those that have suffered from one of the more common injuries from Operations’ Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, to receive seamless care and treatment. [PL 110-181] Also in 2007, Senator Kerry secured an additional $19 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs readjustment counseling services in the FY 2007 Supplemental Appropriations Conference Report. This funding provided for additional outreach efforts to those transitioning from military to civilian life from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom [PL 110-28].

Ethics Reform: Senator Kerry’s bill - the Congressional Pension Accountability Act - passed as part of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. The Kerry law denies pensions to any current or future Member of Congress who is convicted of serious ethics crimes such as bribery. This legislation is based on the 2005 case of Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham who kept his federal pension of approximately $40,000 per year after pleading guilty to bribery and tax evasion charges. [PL110-81]

Addressing the Humanitarian Crisis in Burma: In October 2007, the Senate passed S. Res. 339, a Kerry resolution regarding violence in Burma. As the military crackdown intensified in early October, the Senate resolution called on the Burmese authorities to bring an end to violence, release political prisoners, and open dialogue in order to solve the crisis. Passage of this resolution put Congress on the record in opposition to the atrocities occurring in Burma.

HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES:

Assisting Reservists Called to Active Duty: The Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999 included Kerry’s Military Reservists Small Business Relief Act (S. 918). The legislation created a program at the Small Business Administration to allow reservists who own businesses who are called to active duty, or business owners who have a key employee called to active duty, to access low-interest disaster loans in order to mitigate financial hardships or ruin, as happened to reservists during Desert Storm. [PL 106-50]

Boosting the Economy Following September 11th: The Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States Act of 2002 included provisions of Kerry’s American Small Business Emergency Relief and Recovery Act (S.1499). The provisions provided $75 million to lower fees on 7(a) loans in order to use the private sector to make loans to companies across the country that were adversely impacted by the terrorist attacks of 9-11. The legislation pumped approximately $3 billion into local economies. [PL 107-117]

Holding the TSA Accountable to Contracting Laws: In 2007, Kerry passed legislation to increase contracting transparency at the Transportation Security Administration by ending the exemption from Federal Acquisition Regulations it was granted in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. The legislation mandates that the TSA meet the government-wide 23 percent small business contracting goal. The bill was included in the Consolidated Appropriations bill that was signed into law on December 26, 2007. [PL 110-161]

Providing Aid to Small Business Owners Affected by Drought: Senator Kerry passed legislation to make non-agricultural small businesses hurt by drought eligible for SBA disaster loans, ending SBA’s practice of letting non-farm businesses fall through the cracks in years past, giving all small business-owners in drought-stricken areas access to low-interest disaster assistance through the SBA. The bill, the Small Business Drought Relief Act of 2005 (S.1463), passed as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill. [PL 109-163]

Working to Increase Small Business Energy Efficiency: In June 2007, Kerry passed two amendments to the CLEAN Energy Act to help small businesses (S.A. 1706). The provisions create loans for small firms to invest in renewable sources of energy, create incentives for greener business operations, and hold the Bush Administration accountable for implementing energy efficiency programs that Congress established in 2005. The provisions were based on legislation Kerry introduced in July 2007, the Small Business Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. The bill was signed into law on December 19. [PL 110-140]

Helping Veteran-owned Small Businesses: In February 2008, Senator Kerry’s bill - the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act, S. 1784 - was signed into law. The bill improves outreach and assistance programs for veteran-owned small businesses. This legislation increases the funding authorization for the Office of Veteran Business Development from $2 million today to $2.5 million over three years, creates an Interagency Task Force to improve coordination between agencies in administrating veteran small business programs, and permanently extends the SBA Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs. [Public Law 110-186]

– Brian Young