Here ya go Phil...
Service in the U.S. Senate (1985-date)
Meeting with Ortega
On April 18, 1985, a few months after taking his Senate seat, Kerry got his first taste of the Washington spotlight as a politician as he and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa traveled to Nicaragua and met the country's president, Daniel Ortega [7] (http://a1636.g.akamai.net/7/1636/797/ea9d85183a0bf2/graphics.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/images/day6/body1.jpg). Though Ortega was democratically elected, the trip was criticized because Ortega and his leftist Sandinista government had strong ties to Cuba and the USSR. The Sandinista government was opposed by the right-wing CIA-backed rebels known as the Contras. While in Nicaragua, Kerry and Harkin talked to people on both sides of the conflict. Through the senators, Ortega offered a cease-fire agreement in exchange for the US dropping support of the Contras. This offer was part of the reason that Senator Kerry's trip was controversial, in that Senators, as a matter of traditional practice, do not directly negotiate for the United States in the area of foreign relations. The offer was denounced by the Reagan administration as a "propaganda initiative" designed to influence a House vote on a $14 million Contra aid package, but Kerry said "I am willing...to take the risk in the effort to put to test the good faith of the Sandinistas." The House voted down the Contra aid, but Ortega flew to Moscow to accept a $200 million loan the next day, an act which in part prompted the House to pass a larger $27 million aid package six weeks later.
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Iran-Contra hearings
In April 1986, Kerry and Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, proposed that hearings be conducted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding charges of Contra involvement in cocaine and marijuana trafficking. Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the Republican chairman of the committee, agreed to conduct the hearings.
Meanwhile, Kerry's staff began their own investigations, and on October 14 issued a report which exposed illegal activities on the part of Lt. Col. Oliver North, who they contended set up a private network involving the National Security Council and the CIA to deliver military equipment to right-wing Nicaraguan rebels (Contras). In effect, North and certain members of the President's administration were accused by Kerry's report of illegally funding and supplying armed militants without the authorization of Congress.
These parties were said to be involved in shipping cocaine and marijuana to the United States, with the profits from the sales going to pay for the Contra weaponry. The investigation, Kerry's report said, raised "serious questions about whether the United States has abided by the law in its handling of the contras over the past three years." The Kerry report generated a firestorm of controversy and marked the beginning of years of investigations, hearings, and televised proceedings, which altogether, were referred to by some as the Iran-Contra affair. On May 4, 1989, North was convicted of charges relating to the Iran/Contra controversy, including three felonies. On September 16, 1991, however, North's convictions were overturned on appeal because North's testimony before Congress under immunity may have affected testimony in the trial. [8] (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/991224onthisday_big.html)[9] (http://www.snopes.com/rumors/north.htm)
Kerry's inquiry eventually widened, expanding its focus from the Contras to U.S. involvement in Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, Panama, and Honduras. In 1989, he released a report that slammed the Reagan administration for neglecting and undermining anti-drug efforts while pursuing other objectives in foreign policy. The report contended that the U.S. government "turned a blind eye" in the 1980s to the corruption and drug dealings of CIA-backed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who had assisted the Contras. Kerry's report concluded that the CIA and the State Department had known that "individuals who provided support for the contras were involved in drug trafficking...and elements of the contras themselves knowingly received financial and material assistance from drug traffickers." While some critics attacked him as being a "conspiracy theorist," the CIA inspector general released a pair of reports that confirmed Kerry's findings ten years later.
During their investigation of Noriega, Kerry's staff found reason to believe that the Pakistan-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) had facilitated Noriega's drug trafficking and money laundering. This led to a separate inquiry into BCCI, and as a result, banking regulators shut down BCCI in 1991. In December 1992, Kerry and Sen. Hank Brown, a Republican from Colorado, released The BCCI Affair, a report on the BCCI scandal. The report showed that the bank was crooked and was working with terrorists, including Abu Nidal. It blasted the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, the Customs Service, the Federal Reserve Bank, as well as influential lobbyists and the CIA.
One of the Bush administration figures criticized for his handling of BCCI was Robert Mueller who, in his then role as deputy attorney general, was critized about slow performance regarding the investigation. Kerry himself was criticized in some circles for not pressing harder against certain Democrats and he was also criticized by some Democrats for pursuing his own party members, including former defense secretary Clark Clifford. The BCCI scandal was later turned over to the Manhattan DA's office.
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Kerry performs Heimlich maneuver on choking Senator
On July 12, 1988, then-Senator Jacob "Chic" Hecht, a Republican from Nevada, was leaving a Republican weekly policy lunch when he began to choke on an apple slice from his lunch of fruit salad and cottage cheese. Unable to talk to his colleagues, he ran into the hallway, where Senator Kit Bond, a Republican of Missouri, unsuccessfully tried to help Hecht. Kerry, stepping off an elevator at the time, recognized what was happening and quickly performed the Heimlich maneuver, saving Hecht’s life.
To this day Hecht calls Kerry on December 25 each year to thank him. Though a conservative Republican, who has contributed the maximum amount to the Bush campaign, Hecht has said that he would appear in support of Kerry if asked. [10] (http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2004/feb/06/516309920.html)[11] (http://www.rollcall.com/pub/49_73/news/4231-1.html)
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Sponsorship of Legislation
Main article: Sponsorship of legislation by John Kerry
Kerry has sponsored or cosponsored hundreds of bills during his time as a Senator. Areas of concern in the bills include small business concerns, education, terrorism, veterans' and POW-MIA issues, and marine resource protection.
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Political chairmanship and presidential nomination
Kerry was the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 1987 to 1989. He was reelected to the Senate in 1990, 1996 (after winning re-election against the then Governor of Massachusetts, Republican William Weld), and 2002. His current term will end on January 3, 2009.
John Kerry and former Swift boat crewmates from Vietnam arrive at the 2004 Democratic National Convention from Boston Harbor.
In 2003 and 2004, the Presidential campaign of John Kerry defeated several Democratic rivals, including Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark. Kerry thus won the Democratic nomination to run for President of the United States against incumbent George W. Bush. On July 6, 2004, he announced his selection of John Edwards as his running mate.
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Committee assignments
In the Senate, Kerry serves on several committees:
* Committee on Foreign Relations
* Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
* Committee on Finance
Kerry was the chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship from 2001 to 2003, but lost the position when Republicans regained control of the Senate. He remains the ranking member.
Kerry also serves on several Senate subcommittees:
* Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries and the Environment (ranking member)
* Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs. (ranking member)
* Subcommittee on Communications
* Subcommittee on Transportation
* Subcommittee on Health Care
* Subcommittee on International Trade
* Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy
* Subcommittee on European Affairs
* Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps & Narcotics Affairs
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Issues and voting record
For information on Kerry's political views and voting record, see John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004. |
