GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OF HILLARY CLINTON & BARACK OBAMA

HILZOY, OBSIDIAN WINGS - I have been trying, off and on, to compare Clinton and Obama's legislative records. Various people have compared their voting records but it occurred to me that it would be interesting to see not just how they voted, but what legislation they had actually gotten passed, as a guide both to their priorities and to their effectiveness. . .

I haven't finished this yet: a serious examination of this question requires looking not just at the legislation each of them sponsored, but at the legislation they co-sponsored. Thus, for instance, I know that Obama had a big role in the legislation known as "Lugar/Obama", which was sponsored by Richard Lugar, and in a whole raft of ethics bills, many of which were sponsored either by Harry Reid or by Russ Feingold. I imagine the same is true of Clinton. But it's tricky trying to figure out which bills they co-sponsored because they actually worked on them, and which they co-sponsored just because they thought the bill was a good one. . .

However, I present for your delectation and edification (and uglification and distraction) a list of all the bills sponsored by either candidate that actually became law. (I omitted resolutions.) Short version: neither has passed anything this Congress, which seems to be because bills take a while to wend their way through committee. In the 109th Congress, Clinton's bills were all pretty insubstantial; Obama had one substantial bill, on the Congo. In the 107th and 108th Congresses, Obama wasn't there, so comparisons are not possible; nonetheless, Clinton's legislation seems pretty thin to me.

Bills Passed:

110th Congress, Clinton: no bills; Obama: no bills.

109th Congress, Clinton:

S.2376 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 80 Killian Road in Massapequa, New York, as the "Gerard A. Fiorenza Post Office Building". For further action, see H.R.3934, which became Public Law 109-255 on 8/1/2006.

S.2722 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 170 East Main Street in Patchogue, New York, as the "Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy Post Office Building". Note: For further action, see H.R.4101, which became Public Law 109-256 on 8/1/2006.

S.3613 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2951 New York Highway 43 in Averill Park, New York, as the "Major George Quamo Post Office Building". Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-311

S.3910 : A bill to direct the Joint Committee on the Library to accept the donation of a bust depicting Sojourner Truth and to display the bust in a suitable location in the Capitol. Note: For further action, see H.R.4510, which became Public Law 109-427 on 12/20/2006.

109th Congress, Obama:

S.2125 : A bill to promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. . .

S.3757 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 950 Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois, as the "Katherine Dunham Post Office Building. . .

108th Congress, Clinton:

S.1241 : A bill to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the State of New York, and for other purposes. . .

S.1266 : A bill to award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Dorothy Height, in recognition of her many contributions to the Nation. . .

S.1425 : A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the New York City Watershed Protection Program. . .

S.2838 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10 West Prospect Street in Nanuet, New York, as the "Anthony I. Lombardi Memorial Post Office Building. . .

S.2839 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 555 West 180th Street in New York, New York, as the "Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda Post Office. . .