"What about the Dingell-Norwood bill?"
Tonight, I suppose the moderator could ask what the candidates' position on the Kerry-Edwards bill might be, but, of course, that would have required Senators Kerry and Edwards to have actually sponsored any meaningful legislation at some point during their collective 26 years in the Senate.
According to the Daily Kos, here are some of the fifty most important pieces of legislation Senator Kerry sponsored that have been signed into law:
1. S.AMDT.112 to S.960 To express the sense of the Senate that Congress should encourage the revitalization of democracy in the Philippines.
2. S.AMDT.239 to S.1160 To establish a moratorium during the fiscal years 1985 and 1986 on the testing of anti-satellite weapons against objects in space.
3. S.AMDT.396 to H.R.2577 To provide that none of the monies appropriated in this Act can be used to fund directly, or indirectly, activities against the government of Nicaragua which have not been authorized by or pursuant to law, and for other purposes.
5. S.AMDT.1396 to H.J.RES.465 To prohibit the use of funds to conduct, in connection with the Strategic Defense Initiative program, development, test, or evaluation involving any explosive device which uses fissionable material.
10. S.AMDT.932 to S.1394 Urging the President to continue to make every effort to cooperate with the other nations of the United Nations to bring about an end to government-sponsored torture in Iranian prisons and to pressure Iran to permit inspection of Iranian prisons by an international delegation.
12. S.AMDT.2775 to H.R.4784 To provide funding for the farmers' market coupon demonstration project.
19. S.AMDT.3157 to H.R.3977 To strengthen environmental protection of Antarctica.
20. S.RES.144: A resolution to encourage the European Community to vote to ban driftnets for all European Community fishing fleets on July 8 and for other purposes.
25. S.RES.183: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the action taken by the Government of France against United States seafood products is a totally unwarranted action that is having severe repercussions on United States seafood producers and, in general, the United States fishing industry.
26. S.AMDT.1354 to S.1281 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should not restrict the exchange of humanitarian activities between the United States and any other country.
29. S.AMDT.1153 to S.CON.RES.13 To maintain public funding for Presidential campaigns.
33. S.AMDT.2695 to H.R.1976 To prohibit the use of appropriated funds for providing assistance to the United States Mink Export Development Council or a mink industry trade association.
34. S.AMDT.2745 to H.R.1868 To express the sense of the Senate concerning the provision of spare parts and other military equipment to Peru.
37. S.AMDT.5046 to H.R.3540 To promote the establishment of a permanent multilateral regime to govern the transfer of conventional arms.
38. S.469: A bill to designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
39. S.AMDT.279 to Treaty 105-5 To require a compliance report on Armenia and other States Parties in the Caucasus region.
47. S.AMDT.1882 to S.1650 To express the sense of the Senate regarding comprehensive education reform.
49. S.RES.264: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that small business participation is vital to the defense of our Nation, and that Federal, State, and local governments should aggressively seek out and purchase innovative technologies and services from American small businesses to help in homeland defense and the fight against terrorism.
And remember, this is how Senator Kerry's friends defend his legislative record. No shortage of "Sense of the Senate" resolutions for baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and mom in there.
I'd list some of the important legislation Senator Edwards has sponsored that became law, but here are the search results from the Library of Congress for the 108th Congress when looking for any legislation sponsored by Senator Edwards that had actually been signed into law by the President:
No items were found for the search.
Here are the search results of the same query from the 107th Congress:
No items were found for the search.
And here are the search results of the same query from the 106th Congress:
No items were found for the search.
Of course, prior to the 106th Congress, John Edwards was just another rich trial lawyer channeling the thoughts of the unborn for money.
Gravitas.