by: gradysdad
Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 15:43:10 PM EDT
I am as guilty as anyone in viewing the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination as a horse race. I am fascinated by polls, debates and the inside scoop. In my efforts to persuade undecided voters who I know, I have had to spend some time researching Senator Clinton's record on the substantive issues. In the course of that exercise, I have uncovered many legislative efforts and accomplishments of Hillary Clinton which I believe present a side of her that many of you might not know. This diary highlights three of those areas.
Women's Reproductive RightsHillary Clinton is without question a leading advocate for a woman's right to choose. She has led the fight nationally to support and to preserve the Roe v. Wade decision. Her efforts in this area are one reason the National Organization of Women has already enthusiastically endorsed Senator Clinton for President and she has been honored by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.
Senator Clinton has also spoken up publicly about how we need to promote comprehensive sex education, to support the access to contraceptive devices in an effort to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Clinton and anti-abortion Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cosponsored the Prevention First Act, which provided $100 million to increase access to contraception through Title X, mandated that insurers cover contraception, and increased access to emergency contraception. Senator Clinton has worked to block the nomination of the head of FDA over the agency's refusal to allow Plan B as an over the counter contraception.
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Taking Care of our VeteransAs we learned earlier this year with the Walter Reed scandal, as a nation, we do not always take care of our injured veterans as we should. Hillary Clinton has been a tireless activist for veterans during her time as a public figure, but especially now that she serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Her interest in this area started early. As First Lady, Mrs. Clinton in May 1995 convinced her husband to appoint the 12-member Presidential advisory committee on Gulf war illnesses. And when the panel supported the military's dubious findings that the illnesses were stress related, she successfully lobbied her spouse to extend the investigation. Ultimately, a Government Accounting Office Report determined that the illnesses were linked to nerve gas and exposure to other chemical weapons.
When Hillary Clinton became a senator, she introduced the Restoring Disability Benefits for Injured and Wounded Warriors Act of 2007, to restore disability benefits for wounded and injured members of the Armed Forces. Specifically, the legislation would direct reviews of disability claims, traumatic injury claims and the Physical Evaluation Board process, and re-open cases that warrant an increased disability benefit rating or traumatic injury payment.
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Fair, Accessible, and Credible ElectionsWe all lived through the nightmare of the 2000 post election and the continuing questions about verification of election results in 2004 and 2006. What have we as a nation accomplished legislatively to make sure that we have fair, accessible and credible elections? Hillary Clinton has consistently advocated election reform in order to promote the smooth functioning of our democracy and the integrity of the most precious right of any citizen, namely, the right to vote.
In an effort to achieve that goal, Senator Clinton joined Senators Bob Graham and Barbara Boxer in introducing the RECORD ACT to require all electronic voting systems to produce a voter-verified paper ballot for use in manual recounts. In addition, among other provisions, the legislation contained a number of requirements designed to significantly improve the security of voting systems. It also authorized funding to help states and local governments implement the paper trail requirement.
In the summer of 2004, Senator Clinton requested that the Government Accountability Office conduct a study of how the states were addressing a number of issues concerning our federal election systems, including provisional ballots, the purging of voters, voter registration, and identification. Before the November 2004 elections, she also sent a letter to President Bush, calling upon him to use his full authority to prevent voter intimidation and disenfranchisement of American citizens.
She introduced the Count Every Vote Act of 2005 (S. 450), considered the "gold standard" of election reform, which was crafted to address many of the problems Americans experienced in trying to vote and have their vote counted in both the 2000 and 2004 elections. Specifically, the Count Every Vote Act addresses a wide range of problems, including long wait times in which to vote, the erroneous purging of voters, voter suppression and intimidation, and unequal access to the voting process. The legislation also requires a paper trail for all voters, mandates national standards in a variety of areas, including the registration of voters and the counting of provisional ballots, provides for re-enfranchisement for those convicted of crimes but who have fully repaid their debt to society, and calls for election day registration and a national holiday to make it easier for many Americans to vote.
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ConclusionThese three areas of effort are only the tip of the iceberg for Senator Clinton's legislative accomplishments. Rather than being divisive and polarizing, she is instead considered a workhorse in the Senate and she is known for her capacity to work with others. Colleagues on both sides of aisle say that they appreciate her intelligence, energy, and attention to detail.
She's less ideologically rigid than her caricature, more obsessed with the details of policy than the media has the attention span for, and true to her faith in government as protector, instigator, and moral force.
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