Ted Kennedy's Legislative Legacy

 FYI



1965: Two years after becoming a Senator at the tender age of 30, Kennedy scored his first major legislative accomplishment with the passing of the Hart-Celler Act, which abolished immigration quotas and lifted a 1924 ban on immigration from Asia.   1970: Kennedy supported the Voting Rights Act Extension, which essentially lowered the voting age to 18.

1971: Kennedy successfully helped pass the National Cancer Act, which quadrupled the amount spent on cancer research establishing the Federal Cancer Research Program.

1972: The Educational Amendments Act, with Title IX, a bill that required colleges and universities to provide equal funding for men’s and women's athletics

1974:  Kennedy spearheaded an overhaul of campaign ethics rules and election finance, amending the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act. The bill set limits for individual contributions and established the public financing program for Presidential elections.  

1978: He saw the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which made it illegal for employers to fire women for leave taken due to pregnancy. We still don't require employers to provide paid maternity leave.  

1978: Kennedy co-sponsored Civil Rights Commission Act Amendments, which expanded the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Commission to protect people from discrimination on the basis of disability.

1983: Working for years alongside civil rights leaders, Kennedy helped push Congress to establish the Martin Luther King Day holiday. President Reagan signed it into law in 1983.

1986: After President Reagan squashed a bill imposing sanctions on gold, coal and iron on South Africa’s Apartheid government, Kennedy led the Senate in an overwhelming override of the president’s veto to establish the Anti-Apartheid Act.

1986: The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act fifteen programs providing a range of services to homeless people , providing  

1989: National Military Child Care Act, which established the Department of Defense's child care program. This allowed working spouses of military members and women who were enlisted themselves to have access to high-quality, federally funded child care.   1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act, to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities.  

1990: The Ryan White AIDS Care Act sought funding to improve availability of care for low-income, uninsured and under-insured victims of AIDS and their families.   1990: The National Community Services Act, a renewed focus on encouraging volunteering in America  

1990: Kennedy sponsored The Family and Medical Leave Act, which required employers to give employees unpaid leave for the birth of a child or for family emergencies.  

1993: In response to concerns that students were getting bad deals from private lenders, Kennedy sponsored the Direct Loan Program in 1993 that allowed students to borrow directly from the federal government instead.  

1993: The NIH Revitalization Act, legislation that called for the inclusion of women and minorities in federally funded clinical research.  

1994: Kennedy has been the chief sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act since 1994, which would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in the workplace. The bill has yet to pass.  

1994: Violence Against Women Act, to protect women against domestic abuse. Since then, more women are reporting these crimes.  

1996: The Kennedy-Kassebaum Act let employees keep health insurance after leaving their jobs for a set period and prohibited insurance companies to deny renewal of care due to preexisting medical conditions.

1996: Kennedy helped raise minimum wagefrom $4.25 to $5.15. In 2009, an ailing Kennedy helped the minimum wage be raised again from $5.15 to $7.25.   2000: The Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act, which provided funding for research for how to reduce disparities in cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and other severe health problems that are found to be significantly higher in minority populations.

2001: Going against fellow Senate Democrats, Kennedy championed Pres. Bush's No Child Left Behind education legislation.    Current legislation that bears Kennedy’s imprimatur includes the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and of course the health care reform package that will be debated in the upcoming session of Congress.   

2006: Introduced the Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act, which would address inequalities in health care access and treatment if passed.  

2006: Family Opportunity Act, allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to children with special needs. That same year, he voted for expanding the enrollment period for Medicare, and would later support a bill that required pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prescription drug prices covered under the same plan.  

2006: National Competitiveness Investment Act,creating partnerships between National Laboratories and local high-need high schools to establish centers of excellence in math and science education  

2007: Worked on the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which would implement more severe penalties for crimes against women, gays, lesbians, and transgender persons. The bill was vetoed by President Bush in 2007, but the legislation has been reintroduced in the 110th Congress.  

2008 Mental Health Parity Act, which for the first time requires insurance companies to cover mental illness on a par with physical illness.

Thanks Sue.