Use the Mo! - Vote FOR Kerry

[sandnsea]

Trying this again. We've got the mo! Now it's time to be pumped up and excited about why we're voting FOR John Kerry! Here's some reasons, in case you didn't know.

Wrote Pre-Cursor Bill to S-CHIP, Providing Coverage for up to 5 Million Children. John Kerry's 1996 bill, the Healthy Children, Family Assistance Health Insurance Program, was the precursor to the successful State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) that became law in 1997. S-CHIP provides funding to cover 5 million children.

Improved Coverage and Care for America's Veterans. John Kerry has been a tireless champion of mandatory funding for veterans' health care. He fought vigorously for full funding of Veterans Administration (VA) health care and opposed the Bush administration's exclusion of Priority 8 veterans and its elimination of VA outreach efforts. He sought improved prescription drug benefits and authored legislation in 2003 to let veterans fill prescriptions written by non-VA doctors through the VA pharmacy.

Improved Post-Natal Care. John Kerry co-sponsored an amendment that successfully required health care plans to provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for a mother and child following the birth of the child.

Fought HIV/AIDS. John Kerry was among the earliest supporters of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, which today is the largest discretionary federal investment in treatment and support services for individuals and families living with HIV or AIDS. Today, 533,000 Americans with HIV/AIDS receive better treatment through this program.

Addressed America's Nursing Shortage. John Kerry wrote the Nurse Reinvestment Act to help relieve a nationwide, crisis-level shortage of registered nurses by encouraging more young people to choose a career in nursing. Today, enrollment rates at undergraduate nursing programs are up by 17 percent.

John Kerry was a leading advocate for democratic elections in the Philippines, serving as an elections monitor as part of a Senate delegation that uncovered the fraud that led to the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos. He was a strong proponent of U.S. participation in the NATO intervention that put an end to the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. He worked with the United Nations and Cambodian government officials to facilitate the creation of the genocide tribunal in Cambodia that will prosecute key members of the Khmer Rouge. He sponsored the Code of Conduct of Arms Transfers Act, which prohibited U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to nations that do not adequately protect the human rights of their citizens. And he co-sponsored bipartisan legislation which imposed sanctions on Burma's military regime for detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and repressing her National League for Democracy party.

Fought Global HIV/AIDS. John Kerry authored major elements of the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, legislation which at the time provided the most money ever for fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world. He sponsored the bipartisan U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2002, comprehensive legislation that was unanimously approved by the Senate and became the foundation of the global AIDS legislation that was passed by congress and signed by President Bush.

John Kerry chaired the landmark hearings that uncovered the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal - the largest banking corruption scandal in modern times. He led hearings which provided evidence that Haitian military officials were involved in drug trafficking to the United States. He also led hearings on corruption and drug trafficking by Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and introduced legislation requiring the Reagan administration to cut off foreign aid to Panama because of drug-related corruption within its government.

John Kerry went on a fact-finding mission to Nicaragua and presented his findings to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Based in part on John Kerry's groundbreaking findings, the committee reached a consensus decision to investigate the Contra guerillas and their connection to drug trafficking in the United States. The resulting investigation uncovered the Iran-Contra scandal, a scheme that diverted profits from illegal arms sales to Iran to support the Contra guerilla fighters in Nicaragua.

Took on the Task of Investigating POW/MIA Issues. John Kerry and John McCain "doggedly investigated" an important and volatile issue which some described as an "unglamorous task that nobody else wanted." Regarding the investigation, John McCain said, "John Kerry handled the chairmanship of that committee with tremendous skill." In 1994, John Kerry sponsored an amendment with McCain that urged the American government to lift its 25-year trade embargo with Vietnam. He then worked closely with McCain and President Clinton to facilitate full normalization of trade and diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

Beginning more than 15 years ago, John Kerry introduced legislation to assist veterans in receiving medical compensation after being exposed to the toxic chemical Agent Orange. John Kerry even testified before Congress to force the government to care for Vietnam veterans. John Kerry's bill, the Comprehensive Agent Orange Scientific Evidence Review Act, sought to require that the Veterans Administration(VA) look into the "health effects of exposure" to Agent Orange. John Kerry also voted to pass the Agent Orange Act of 1991 and the Veterans' Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1989.

John Kerry has been described by the League of Conservation Voters as an "environmental champion." He introduced legislation to improve standards for clean air and establish a fund to finance emissions reductions. He secured millions of dollars in funding to clean America's waterways, harbors, and drinking water, worked to strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act, and introduced legislation in 1996 to ensure "protection in the quality of our water." He sponsored legislation that extended and strengthened laws protecting marine mammals from commercial fishing. He helped protect America's National Parks and National Forests from pollution, excessive logging, and overdevelopment while ensuring that endangered species are preserved for all Americans to experience. He has opposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for over a decade, ensuring that future generations can experience this national treasure. He strongly advocated for U.S. participation in the Kyoto accords and other international environmental initiatives, and personally participated in many major world environmental summits, including conferences at Rio di Janiero, Kyoto and the Hague.

He introduced legislation to expand state and local early childhood development efforts, including education, child care and health care for children between birth and six years old. At the end of 2000, a version of this bipartisan legislation was signed into law. To address the needs of America's at-risk youth, John Kerry led the effort to establish the YouthBuild program, which provides young people with basic education toward a diploma and the skills training they need to get a good-paying job. YouthBuild also teaches leadership and civic engagement while providing students with adult mentors who help them overcome personal problems and participate in a supportive community with positive values.

As a member of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, John Kerry has a long record of fighting for affordable housing. He shaped the first significant rewrite of the public housing program in over 20 years and worked to craft and pass a bill that helped save the government billions of dollars in rental assistance payments, preserved thousands of affordable rental apartments, and helped finance the rehabilitation of those apartments. With Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), John Kerry sponsored the Affordable Housing Preservation Act to foster local partnerships between non-profits, state and local governments, and private landlords in order to keep existing housing projects available and affordable for low-income tenants. He worked to create and implement the "mark-up to market" program and he co-authored the Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act of 2000.

S.442 Internet Tax Moratorium 1997 was cosponsored by Senator Kerry of Massachusetts and was heard by the Senate Commerce Committee on May 23, 1997.

S. 918 1991 – cosponsor original `Military Reservists Small Business Relief Act' The MREIDL program was again introduced by Kerry in 1999 - and enacted under Public Law 106-50, the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act - to assist the thousands of small businesses that suffer when reservist employees are deployed.

S.2478 : Business Development Opportunity Act of 1994 Kerry sponsored a bill to amend the Small Business Act to enhance the business development opportunities of small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and for other purposes.

S.512 Small Business Credit Availability Act of 1993 - Establishes the Venture Enhancement and Loan Development Administration for Smaller Undercapitalized Enterprises (Velda Sue) as a Federal instrumentality to: (1) develop uniform underwriting, security appraisal, and repayment standards for qualified loans; (2) determine the eligibility of certified poolers to contract with Velda Sue for specific mortgage pool guarantees; and (3) provide timely repayment guarantees of the principal and interest on certain qualified obligations.

S. 1594 New Markets Venture Capital (NMVCs) Firms. NMVC firms will provide incentives to increase the availability of venture capital in low and moderate-income communities for small businesses. Expert guidance will be made available to small business entrepreneurs in inner city and rural areas through the program. Ten to twenty NMVC firms are planned. SBA will match the equity and technical assistance of private investors.

S.856 : A bill to reauthorize the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other purposes. The STTR program funds cooperative research and development (R & D) projects between small companies and research institutions such as universities or federally funded R & D laboratories.

The U.S. Senate late last night unanimously passed H.R. 774, the Women's Business Center Amendments Act of 1999. The legislation, that will substantially increase funding for the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Women's Business Centers program, is based on legislation introduced by Senators John F. Kerry (D-MA) and Max Cleland (D-GA) last year in the Senate.

Disaster Mitigation Coordination Act 1999 Working to enact a program that emphasizes prevention in dealing with natural disasters, the bill Senators John F. Kerry (D-MA) and Max Cleland (D-GA) first introduced in the 105th Congress has passed both the House and Senate and is on its way to the President for signature. This bill makes low-cost, long-term loans available to small businesses to take preventative measures before a natural disaster occurs.

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1. kick

Getting excited about Kerry and knowing why is the most important thing we need for the next week. So...

:kick:

[requiem99]

2. He's mentally stable and isn't Bush, thats enough for most people.

The rest is just icing on the cake, and while I agree Kerry is a great candidate, he is stuck in the stereotype of being a liberal from the northeast, and despite the fact that he isn't, few will ever believe it simply because the GOP attack machine has drilled it into their heads so hard and so often.

I'll settle for all the votes 'against Bush' we can get. If they actually like Kerry or not, I don't really care. He'll have time to bring them around during his first term.