Kerry's votes on Patriot Act and NCLB

[duffer]

I was going to go GQ with this, but there will be spin, I suspect, making more worthy of GD.

Here goes. What is the actual vote by Sen Kerry on the PA and NCLB? IIRC, Bush and Kennedy co-sponsored the bill. (Or was that a different bill?) My sister, a liberal high school teacher, is certain that Bush is Satan due to NCLB. Forgetting the cosponsor. So anyone know what Kerry’s vote was?

Re: Patriot Act. More than a few dopers have called for Ashcroft’s head on a platter due to this. Any idea how Kerry voted?

(Hold the spin for one more GQ quality question)

Is there an easier way of finding out Congressional cotes than knowing offhand what a certain bill number is? Meaning, how best to find a full vote tally of either acts as well as others?

OK, spin away.

[stpauler]

Kerry on the NCLBA:

KERRY: No Child Left Behind Act, I voted for it. I support it. I support the goals. But the president has underfunded it by $28 billion.

Kerry on the Patriot Act:

Senator John Forbes Kerry voted YES.

Vote to pass a bill that would expand law enforcement’s power to investigate suspected terrorists.

HR 3162 Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001

Vote to pass a bill that would expand law enforcement’s power to investigate suspected terrorists. The bill would allow disclosure of wiretap information among certain government officials, authorize limited disclosure of secret grand jury information to certain government officials, and authorize the attorney general to detain foreigners he suspects are tied to terrorism. It also would make it easier for law enforcement to track voice and Internet communications using surveillance techniques and would strengthen laws to combat money laundering. Most of the bill’s intelligence-gathering provisions would sunset after four years.
(Bill sponsored by Sensenbrenner R-WI)
Bill passed (thus cleared for the president) 98-1: R 49-0; D 48-1; I 1-0 on 10/25/2001.

Bill Number: HR 3162-107th Congress (2001-2002)
House Passage Vote: 10/24/2001-Outcome:Passed
Senate Passage Vote: 10/25/2001-Outcome:Passed
Presidential Action: 10/26/2001-Outcome:Passed

[Captain_Amazing]

@duffer

IIRC, Bush and Kennedy co-sponsored the bill. (Or was that a different bill?) My sister, a liberal high school teacher, is certain that Bush is Satan due to NCLB. Forgetting the cosponsor.

No Child Left Behind was sponsored in the House by Rep. Boehner of Ohio, with 84 cosponsors. President Bush couldn’t cosponsor the bill because he’s not in Congress.

[duffer]

@Captain Amazing

No Child Left Behind was sponsored in the House by Rep. Boehner of Ohio, with 84 cosponsors. President Bush couldn’t cosponsor the bill because he’s not in Congress.

OK, thought I might have had that wrong. What was the education deal Bush got into with Kennedy?

[stpauler]

@duffer

OK, thought I might have had that wrong. What was the education deal Bush got into with Kennedy?

Snipping involved:
Kennedy

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Edward Kennedy, touted by President Bush as his partner in education, chided the president Saturday for not delivering the resources needed to back up his promises.

The Massachusetts senator, delivering the Democrats weekly radio address, said the bipartisan education legislation passed last year could be compromised under Bush’s budget proposal.

The president’s plan would cut funds to public schools and offer $4 billion to private schools and tax breaks to wealthy Americans, Kennedy said.

Bush’s plan still includes an overall increase for education spending, but Kennedy criticized the balance between public and private schools.

“Instead of diverting billions of dollars to private schools, we should invest those billions in our public schools as the president promised – for better teachers, smaller classes and safer schools,” the senator said.

[jshore]

As for the Patriot Act, all but one brave soul (Feingold, I believe) voted for it. Kerry, however, believes that it should be reauthorized only after making some changes to it to deal with the civil liberties issues that have been raised.

[Renob]

The issue about the NCLB Act being “underfunded” is pure political crap. Kennedy, Kerry, Edwards, et. al., claim that the bill was passed with certain funding levels and that it has not been funded at those levels. And from that they criticize the president and the Republican Congress, saying that he did not live up to his “commitment.”

That is completely false. There are no funding levels mandated in the bill. The bill authorizes certain funding levels, just like any other bill. Actual funding, though, must come from yearly appropriations. The authorization of funds is not a promise that funds will reach that level nor is it a mandate that money must be spent at that level. It is simply a level of funding that cannot be exceeded by Congressional appropriators. It is rare that any program is funded at its Congressionally authorized level. Everyone who works on these bills knows that. They know the authorized levels mean next to nothing.