 |
| October 11, 2004 |
| Conservative Successes 108 |
|
| The democrats made it tough to adjourn for the elections -- shamelessly delaying issues such as hurricane
relief for Florida and funding our homeland security -- but we leave Washington to hit the campaign trail
full time until November 2. |
|
| Big picture: we had a tremendously successful 108th Congress. It’s rare in a single Congressional period
to pass even one major reform – we accomplished 2 huge reforms -- and we passed the third largest tax
relief in history for hard working Americans. |
|
| We passed the most far-reaching reform of Medicare (our second largest entitlement program) in its almost
40 year history. We passed the most comprehensive reform of our intelligence agencies in over 50 years. |
|
| In coming emails I will review many other successes, but this morning I want to focus on successes
highlighting our conservative agenda. I am proud that we made huge advances in furthering our conservative
causes. Just look at our successes: |
|
| Life Issues |
|
- Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act
- Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Laci and Connor bill)
- Banned patenting of humans at all stages of development
- Defeated Murray amendment to permit abortions at military facilities
- Stripped legislative provisions overturning Mexico City Policy and Kemp-Kasten
- Adoption Promotion Act
|
|
| Marriage |
|
- Elevated the debate to Congress by putting Senators on record on the Federal Marriage Amendment
|
|
| Judges |
|
- Approved 18 Circuit Court nominees and 82 District judges
- Forced unprecedented 20 cloture votes on Democrat filibusters of 10 circuit court judges
- Devoted over 150 hours to judicial nominations battle -- more than any previous Congress
- Proposed rules change to permit simple majority vote to stop filibuster of nominees
- Held 39-hour “Justice for Judges” marathon debate to highlight Democrat obstruction
|
|
| Education |
|
- DC Scholarships (vouchers) for children in troubled District of Columbia schools
- Provide schools greater authority to take disciplinary action against a child when that child’s
disability did not cause the bad behavior
|
|
| Budget and Taxes |
|
- Passed Working Families Tax Relief Act, extending tax relief for another 5 years
- Major tax relief for American manufacturers
- Passed robust Health Savings Act, to give Americans more control of their health care
- Increased the child tax credit to $1,000
- Accelerated all marginal income tax rate reduction
- Reduced the capital gains rate from 20% / 10% to 15% / 5%
- Reduction in the double taxation of dividends
- Passed the CARE Act, to encourage private donations to non-profits and faith-based charities
- Defeated amendments to increase spending by $1.7 trillion over 10 years!!!!!!
|
|
| Foreign Policy |
|
- Historic overhaul of intelligence programs
- Global HIV/AIDS bill with emphasis on abstinence and faithfulness (ABC)
- Passed amendment to ensure foreign aid does not support groups favoring legalizing prostitution
- Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act
- North Korea Human Rights Act
|
|
| Crime |
|
- Amber Alert to help immediately find kidnapped children
- PROTECT Act to strengthen laws against inappropriate content related to children
- Passed Crime Victim's Rights Act
|
|
| Other |
|
- SPAM Act to help curtail unsolicited inappropriate Internet content
- Passed the “do-not-call” registry bill to protect consumers from unwanted phone solicitations
|
|
| I know lists are not much fun to read, but as you can see we have moved America forward on this
conservative agenda, serving the cause of liberty. And that is our mission. I will be back with other
successes over the coming days. Have a great week. |
|
| Bill Frist |
| Reprinted from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's Email Update |
|
