Class E School Child Care Program Provider Agreement: Fill & Download for Free

My first thought about this was: “Escape? Not the word that we were using to describe it back then... but not entirely wrong in retrospect.”And my second thought about this was: “Why haven’t I ever written this whole thing down? This is my life story, there are a million more like it, but this one is mine.”So here, I’ll write it. Thank you for posting this question.Jews in Russia were barely distinguishable from Russians. We spoke the same language, we ate the same food, we read the same books and newspapers, we watched the same television shows and movies, we studied in the same schools. Most of us didn’t care about any religion, or ever visited a synagogue.The closest that most Jews ever got to Judaism was eating matza, however it was not a part of a proper Passover seder, but simply “Jewish biscuits”. Some Russians ate it, too. We never had it at our home, but I remember occasionally eating it when we visited my father’s sister. Neither us nor her family kept kosher; we ate pork and lard like all Russians without ever giving it any thought.What was Jewish in us, then? For most people, it was the non-Russian last name and the “Ethnicity” field in the passport (национальность). It was a weird thing to bear. It’s not like there was violent antisemitism and discrimination everywhere, but some cultural antisemitism was constantly around. People would say a little “hmm” about your last name or about your passport. I was too young to experience it first-hand, but Jews complained about being denied certain jobs and admission to universities. I did suffer direct physical, verbal and psychological violence as a child. Much of it was just usual bullying, the kind of which nerds like me suffer all over the world; it’s a horrible, horrible thing, but not all of it was antisemitic. However, enough of it clearly was. (For more on that see my answer to Why did the Jews leave Russia in the 90s?)In 1985 my father decided to stop being overweight and started dieting and getting into shape. He loved it so much that he wrote a letter about it to the USSR’s biggest sports newspaper, and it was published. A few years after that he found out that by law, people whose letters were published by a newspaper are entitled for some payment. So on a nice spring day in 1990 he went to the newspaper office to collect it and took me along. And so it happened that Moscow’s synagogue was on the same street. He never visited a synagogue before, so he went in out of curiosity. It was open, but mostly empty, except a guy who sold some calendars, yarmulkas and booklets about Judaism in a tiny store. After some time a young woman came in, and my father talked to her a bit. Immigration to Israel came up, and she told that it’s fairly easy to submit the request to the Israeli consulate. That was the first time it ever came up.A few months later I went to a summer camp in Crimea. A bully there kicked me so hard that I landed in a hospital. My father flew to me from Moscow a day later. After a few hours he casually told me: “Oh by the way, remember that woman from the synagogue? I submitted the immigration papers to the consulate like she suggested”.I don’t remember whether we ever mentioned it in our conversations back then, but it was clear that we all had enough of this bullying, enough of which was antisemitic. We can’t change our ethnicity, and Russia can’t change the way it treats people who aren’t Russian in the foreseeable future. It was time to leave for a place that we could really call a “home”.Like everything else in the Soviet Union, emigration out of it was insanely bureaucratic. The amount of paperwork for getting a visa that allows one to leave the USSR is incredible: You had to submit letters, forms and reports to the police, the education offices, the labor organization authorities (in communism, all labor is controlled by the state), notaries, the bank (there was only one), and so on and so forth. I was a curious child, and I followed it. It took many months.Probably the funniest piece of it all was an “Invitation letter”. You are supposed to have a reason to leave the Soviet Union—after all, who would want to leave the most wonderful country on Earth? A legitimate reason is an invitation from a relative, but we had no direct relatives in Israel. The government of Israel knew about this nonsense, and had an easy way of providing sham invitation letters from “relatives” to Jews who wanted to immigrate. I’m pretty sure that the Soviet authorities knew that it’s a sham, and I guess that running this bureaucratic freak show was more important to them than actually running the country. I remember the day when this “invitation letter” arrived. In an unusual foreign air mail envelope, the kind of which is rarely seen in the USSR; with a big menorah in the background—it was the first time I saw how the coat of arms of Israel looks like; with a very dry and legalese text; and with the very important words “immigration for permanent residence in Israel”. I was full of joy and wonder. I still remember the name and the address of the “relative”.The months it took to prepare for leaving the Soviet Union were useful for studying Hebrew. Luckily, language is the thing that I am most curious about, so it didn’t feel boring or difficult at all. A thing that gave me even more motivation is the short article about the truly incredible and inspiring life story of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, which appeared in the beginning of one of the first textbooks from which I learned.I started taking Hebrew classes in December 1990, and by the summer I already knew the basics. My father took these classes, too, but it’s harder for older people in general, and he was busy with other things, so I quickly became more advanced. (For more on that see my answer to How much time did it take till you learned the Hebrew language?)In June 1991 it was time to move. We packed. My father’s friends from work were outstandingly nice—they organized a little good-bye party and a little bus to help us get to the airport.There were no direct flights from USSR to Israel back then. We took the Hungarian MALEV airline to Budapest, paid by the Jewish Agency. In Budapest there was a long wait, but everybody on the plane was going to Israel and people waited patiently. We took our dog with us, and I remember that the Hungarian flight attendants were very nice and let us carry our dog on board and brought her food and water.I thought you’d like to know that I’m crying as I’m preparing to write the next paragraph. For real. This is my life story.The flight was rather uneventful. But when the plane was approaching the destination, and the coastline of Tel-Aviv became visible, the whole plane went ecstatic. People were screaming with joy, applauding, hugging. People who never met before or after that day, but who were connected through this common thing called Aliyah, or, as it was often said in Russian, Repatriation. Somebody shouted “I congratulate you all upon arrival!”, and somebody else corrected him: “Upon the return to our historical homeland!”This may sound like too much drama, but it was real.In the airport, nice Russian-speaking people from the Jewish Agency helped us with the initial immigration paperwork. It took a few hours.From the airport we were supposed to go to some actual, but very distant relatives whom we never met, for the first few days until we would get our own place to live. We only had their address in Jerusalem. We gave it to the lady from the Jewish Agency, and she booked a taxi for us. While we were waiting outside for the taxi, she ran to us and said that they called her and told her that they can’t actually host us, and that she organized a hotel room for us in Haifa. We didn’t have a choice, so we went to Haifa. We never met these people. I’m not angry at them, though from time to time I do wonder who they are.Here’s the complete list of the possessions with which we came:Suitcases with some clothes and bed sheets.A box of soap. For some strange reason my parents thought it would be hard to get soap in Israel. They were wrong, of course.A collection of Soviet special-issue coins that my father very meticulously put together over many years.A collection of stamps that I very meticulously put together as a child.A crate of Russian books.300 U.S. dollars in cash.A dog.Knowing that Jews are coming from Russia with very little, the Jewish Agency provided us with a few thousands of shekels to start out the life in the new country. I am deeply grateful for this.We spent the first few days in that cheap rundown hotel. I remember the first things we bought in a grocery store: a Lahit soft drink (similar to cola), cottage cheese and sliced bread. I particularly recall how proud I was when I managed to read the “cottage” label in Hebrew—half a year of ulpan studies in Moscow did pay off.We desperately needed every penny, and after getting my agreement, my father sold my stamps collection to somebody for a few hundreds of shekels. I was never actually into proper philately—I just liked looking at the foreign languages on the stamps, and now I had more than enough texts in a new language to read, so I agreed easily.After a few days in the hotel, we went to look for an apartment. Somebody offered us to live in a very bad, cheap one-room apartment for free to see whether we want it. It was awful, but cheaper than the hotel. We stayed there for a couple of weeks, until my father managed to get us into a program that lets new immigrants live very cheaply in a kibbutz, and in July we moved to Hahotrim, a kibbutz near Haifa. We stayed there in a mobile home, which was clearly very cheap, but surprisingly suitable for living.In the first few weeks, while my Hebrew was still far from perfect, I sometimes resorted to English, which I knew better—I had learned it in a good school in Moscow (see ‎Amir E. Aharoni's answer to What was the best thing about living in the Soviet Union?). Kind people in the kibbutz helped me with some private Hebrew language lessons for free. (I am deeply grateful for that, too. Some day I should return there and say thank you in person.) By the time I went to school in September, I was fluent enough. My parents went to study Hebrew in an ulpan: My mother came to Israel without knowing a single word of Hebrew, but in the ulpan lessons she started catching up quickly, and my father found a job at a factory in the kibbutz, and his Hebrew studies became patchy after some time, but eventually he caught up as well by watching football and reading a lot of newspapers, and somewhat surprisingly, a bilingual Bible.In any case, my Hebrew was much more advanced than my parents’, so I helped them a lot with chores and paperwork, especially when it required language knowledge. We also got a TV, and I interpreted films and news for them. (Many years later I learned that children helping adults is a very common pattern in immigrant families.)After a few months, we settled in. And after two years we took a large mortgage and bought an apartment. Even though I was only fourteen, I did most of the mortgage paperwork.Getting integrated into Israeli life, or as they say here, absorbed, was not without challenges.My parents struggled with shitty jobs for several years until they found decent careers.I was still a nerd, so I suffered bullying in Israel too, but at least it wasn’t antisemitic. Very rarely it was anti-Russian. There’s one time I remember, when somebody called me “a stinking Russian”. I got very angry and replied: “I may be stinky, but I’m not Russian.” I have nothing against Russians, even though some of them have something against me; but I am not Russian.In 1998, soon after I started my military service, my ID card was stolen, and I used the opportunity to change my name from Alexei Aharonson to Amir Elisha Aharoni. “Amir” comes from Amir Kertesz, an Israeli musician that I love; “Elisha” comes from “Alyosha”, the diminutive version of my Russian name Alexei; and “Aharoni” is a more Hebrew-sounding version of Aharonson. By that time I was fully fluent in Hebrew and absorbed, and I had some fun with my friends in the army as they were getting used to the new name.In 2002, I started dating a young woman who was born in Israel to parents who immigrated from Iraq in the 1950s. We got married in 2006, our son was born in 2014. I speak Russian to him, she speaks Hebrew. He calls her “máma”, which is the Russian word for “mom”, and he calls me “ába”, which is the Hebrew word for “dad”.Because I loved languages for as long as I remember, I studied General Linguistics and Hebrew language in the university. I now know the Hebrew grammar better than an average Israeli. Thanks to this and to some experience with programming that I acquired in the army, I eventually found a job developing language-related software for Wikipedia. Given Wikipedia’s general multilingual and multinational nature, and my position’s particular multilingual focus, I made a lot of friends around the world, some of them from Russia. My family members still call me Alyosha, but Russian friends that I made since then call me Amir.I follow Russian news every day. Though I am not Russian, I still care about that country very much. Amusingly enough, thanks to the Internet I learned much more information about Russia since I left it than I did when I was living there, but the feeling of living there cannot be learned from Wikipedia or Quora, so occasionally I find myself being a sort of cultural ambassador of Russia, hopefully a good one. I make software to improve Russian language support in Wikipedia despite the complicated history of Jews in Russia. I make software to improve the Hebrew language support in Wikipedia despite not having Hebrew as my mother tongue. Quite often I think about these curious cultural conundrums, but really it’s about the decisions you make in your life; to immigrate from one troubled country to another troubled country, to study a language, to pick a new identity without discarding your old one, to choose a less-than-obvious career path, to do something that you care about even if people don’t expect it.I get to travel abroad quite a lot in the last few years for work, and I still get emotional every time the plane approaches the coast of Tel-Aviv.This is my life story. There are a million more like it, but this one is mine. In all honesty, I don’t think that it’s particularly more interesting than any of the others.

Hello!I know this one for you…Unsurprisingly, Trump’s way off, again! Republicans have concocted a message of their own that they repeat endlessly: Do-nothing congressional Democrats have failed to work across the aisle or to generate any useful legislation since Trump arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.This flat-out fabrication is no surprise coming from the man of 15,000 lies and his evil, Republican toadies. And, as disinformation specialists know so well, repeat a lie often enough and a certain portion of the populace will believe it’s true. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and that obviously can be enough to achieve whatever scheme you have in mind. Saying Democrats have not done anything can act like an ad jingle, permanently engraving BS on the brain of fooled people.But as always, I’ll provide you the facts and figures. Below is a linked list of bills the House had passed as of Dec. 5, 283 of which Democrats call “bipartisan.” To get that label, a bill only requires a single vote from across the aisle, and a few of these bills only received one. But some received overwhelming Republican support in the House. This makes no difference to McConnell.Of the 383 bills that have been passed by the House, 82% are still bottled up in the Senate. This list does not include House resolutions. If you click here, you can see bills and resolutions that have passed the House and the Senate and become law, bills that have passed the House and the Senate and are awaiting action by the White House, and bills that have passed the House and are awaiting action in the Senate.LIST OF BILLS PASSED BY THE HOUSE AND AWAITING ACTION IN THE SENATESource: Search Bills in CongressExamples of Bipartisan House Bills Stalled in the Senate Include:H.R.5, Equality ActH.R.6, The American Dream and Promise ActH.R.7, Paycheck Fairness ActH.R.8, Bipartisan Background Checks ActH.R.9, Climate Action Now ActH.R.987, Protecting People With Pre-Existing Conditions/Lowering Drug CostsH.R.582, Raise The Wage ActH.R.397, Rehabilitation For Multiemployer Pensions Act (The Butch Lewis Act)H.R.1585, Violence Against Women Reauthorization ActH.R.1644, Save The Internet ActH.R 2722, Securing America’s Federal Elections (SAFE) ActH.R.2513, The Corporate Transparency ActH.R.1112, Enhanced Background ChecksH.R.1994, Secure Act/Gold Star Family Tax Relief ActH.R.205, 1146, 1941 – Banning Offshore Drilling on Atlantic, Pacific, Eastern Gulf & ANWR CoastsH.R.1423, Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) ActMore than 30 bills to support veteransOther Examples of Bills Stalled in the Senate that Democrats Support:H.R.1, For The People ActH.R.4617, Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) ActH.R.1500, Consumers First ActThe first 283 are “bipartisan.” The final 32 were supported by Democrats only.H.R. 648: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (10 Republican Votes)H.R. 21: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (7 Republican Votes)H.R. 2440: Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act (79 Republican votes)H.R. 693: U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 2019 (100 Republican Votes)H.R. 1654: Federal Register Modernization Act (195 Republican Votes)H.R. 116: Investing in Main Street Act of 2019 (180 Republican votes)H.R. 2114: Enhancing State Energy Security Planning and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2019 (Republican cosponsor, voice vote)H.R. 987: Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act (5 Republican votes)H.R. 2083: Homeland Procurement Reform Act (Republican cosponsor, voice vote)H.R. 1759: BRIDGE for Workers Act (167 Republican Votes)H.R. 266: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 (10 Republican votes)H.R. 267: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 (12 Republican votes)H.R. 265: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 (10 Republican votes)H.R. 264: Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2019 (8 Republican Votes)H.R. 2528: STEM Opportunities Act of 2019 (4 Republican Cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 4477: Reducing High Risk to Veterans and Veterans Services Act (Republican Cosponsor, voice voted)H.R. 539: Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act of 2019 (171 Republican votes)H.R. 583: Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act (5 Republican Cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 728: Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 (21 Republican cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 1781: Payment Commission Data Act of 2019 (6 Republican cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 226: Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management Act of 2019 (183 Republican votes)H.R. 823: Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act (5 R Votes)H.R. 2578: National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2019 (R Cosponsor, voice vote)H.R. 3153: EFFORT Act (9 R Cosponsors, voice vote)H.R. 2486: FUTURE Act (8 R cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 986: Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019 (4 R votes)H.R. 2781: Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness for Health Act of 2019 (4 R cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 647: Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (101 R Cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 1837: United States-Israel Cooperation Enhancement and Regional Security Act (149 R cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 1582: Electronic Message Preservation Act (R Cosponsor, voice voted)H.R. 1503: Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019 (191 R votes)H.R. 1520: Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019 (192 R votes)H.R. 550: Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 (101 R cosponsors, voice voted)H.R. 3624: Outsourcing Accountability Act of 2019 (2 R votes)H.R. 3352: Department of State Authorization Act of 2019 (R cosponsor, voice voted)H.R. 1912: DHS Acquisition Documentation Integrity Act of 2019 (R cosponsor, voice vote)H.R. 424: Department of Homeland Security Clearance Management and Administration Act (R cosponsor, voice vote)H.R. 3702: Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 (71 R votes)H.R. 397: Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act of 2019 (29 R votes)H.R. 3207: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 114 Mill Street in Hookstown, Pennsylvania, as the “Staff Sergeant Dylan Elchin Post Office Building”. (9 R cosponsors, voice vote)H.R. 3152: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 456 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, as the “Richard G. Lugar Post Office”. (7 R cosponsors, voice vote)H.R. 806: Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2019 (10 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3619: Appraisal Fee Transparency Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2035: Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act of 2019 (4 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3375: Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (195 R Votes)H.R. 1365: To make technical corrections to the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act. (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2359: Whole Veteran Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1404: Vladimir Putin Transparency Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1271: Vet HP Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 246: Stimulating Innovation through Procurement Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 227: Incentivizing Fairness in Subcontracting Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted )H.R. 3460: End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1446: Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Reauthorization Act of 2019 (14 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2115: Public Disclosure of Drug Discounts and Real-Time Beneficiary Drug Cost Act (184 R Votes)H.R. 1618: Nicholas and Zachary Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1420: Energy Efficient Government Technology Act (164 R Votes)H.R. 1768: Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2019 (76 R Votes)H.R. 526: Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019 (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2507: Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2019 (16 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1359: Digital GAP Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 375: To amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, and for other purposes. (101 R Votes)H.R. 2409: Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act (185 R Votes)H.R. 1328: ACCESS BROADBAND Act (11 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1585: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 (33 R Votes)H.R. 762: Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 501: Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 502: FIND Trafficking Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1952: Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019 (182 R Votes)H.R. 1616: European Energy Security and Diversification Act of 2019 (167 R Votes)H.R. 525: Strengthening the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 4803: Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act (6 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 4018: To provide that the amount of time that an elderly offender must serve before being eligible for placement in home detention is to be reduced by the amount of good time credits earned by the prisoner, and for other purposes. (5 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 4634: Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019 (167 R Votes)H.R. 1773: Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 (64 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3734: Successful Entrepreneurship for Reservists and Veterans Act (193 R Votes)H.R. 4842: Expositions Provide Opportunities Act of 2019 (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4695: Protect Against Conflict by Turkey Act (176 R Votes)H.R. 3942: Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act (16 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2426: Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (185 R Votes)H.R. 95: Homeless Veteran Families Act (192 R Votes)H.R. 3190: Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2019 (170 R Votes)H.R. 3589: Greg LeMond Congressional Gold Medal Act (75 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1984: DISASTER Act (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3409: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1665: Building Blocks of STEM Act (3 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 34: Energy and Water Research Integration Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 736: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (9 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2331: SBA Cyber Awareness Act (4 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2615: United States-Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act (14 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1044: Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (140 R Votes)H.R. 951: United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1994: Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (187 R Votes)H.R. 2326: Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William “Bill” Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvement Act of 2019 (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2116: Global Fragility Act (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2480: Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (19 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 624: Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act (189 R Votes)H.R. 31: Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (21 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 115: Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through Consumer Devices Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 133: United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2181: Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2019 (17 R Votes)H.R. 4344: Investor Protection and Capital Markets Fairness Act (93 R Votes)H.R. 4360: VA Overpayment Accountability Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 4771: VA Tele-Hearing Modernization Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 4356: Protecting Families of Fallen Servicemembers Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 3526: Counter Terrorist Network Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 3691: TRANSLATE Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2852: Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2019 (192 R Votes)H.R. 542: Supporting Research and Development for First Responders Act (179 R Votes)H.R. 1892: Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Technical Corrections Act of 2019 (186 R Votes)H.R. 1414: FinCEN Improvement Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 995: Settlement Agreement Information Database Act of 2019 (195 R Votes)H.R. 1063: Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 449: Pathways to Improving Homeland Security at the Local Level Act (183 R Votes)H.R. 1617: KREMLIN Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1381: Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act (187 R Votes)H.R. 1309: Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (32 R Votes)H.R. 1632: Southeast Asia Strategy Act (5 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 835: Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 (7 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 7: Paycheck Fairness Act (7 R Votes)H.R. 758: Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019 (186 R Votes)H.R. 1830: National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act (88 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 36: Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019 (7 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 277: ASCEND Act of 2019 (7 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4162: GI Bill Planning Act of 2019 (187 R Votes)H.R. 3246: Traveling Parents Screening Consistency Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2229: First Responders Passport Act of 2019 (7 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 748: Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019 (189 R Votes)H.R. 1649: Small Business Development Center Cyber Training Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1876: Senior Security Act of 2019 (172 R Votes)H.R. 450: Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2019 (191 R Votes)H.R. 221: Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act (185 R Votes)H.R. 2385: To permit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant program to conduct cemetery research and produce educational materials for the Veterans Legacy Program. (192 R Votes)H.R. 425: Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act (4 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 113: All-American Flag Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 263: To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge. (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 925: North American Wetlands Conservation Extension Act (12 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 737: Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019 (89 R Votes)H.R. 4029: Tribal Access to Homeless Assistance Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4300: Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3661: Patriotic Employer Protection Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3224: Deborah Sampson Act (177 R Votes)H.R. 4334: Dignity in Aging Act of 2019 (14 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4067: Financial Inclusion in Banking Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2514: Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating Technology, and Examiner Reform Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 777: Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2019 (178 R Votes)H.R. 598: Georgia Support Act (19 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4406: Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2019 (157 R Votes)H.R. 4405: Women’s Business Centers Improvements Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4387: To establish Growth Accelerator Fund Competition within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3329: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 5186 Benito Street in Montclair, California, as the “Paul Eaton Post Office Building”. (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1833: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 35 Tulip Avenue in Floral Park, New York, as the “Lieutenant Michael R. Davidson Post Office Building”. (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 4270: Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong Act (7 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3722: Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act of 2019 (184 R Votes)H.R. 1595: Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (91 R Votes)H.R. 2327: Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1423: Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (2 R Votes)H.R. 2134: Helen Keller National Center Reauthorization Act of 2019 (5 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1941: Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act (12 R Votes)H.R. 3670: Short-Term Detention Standards Act (5 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 549: Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 (39 R Votes)H.R. 434: Emancipation National Historic Trail Study Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2397: American Manufacturing Leadership Act (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3196: Vera C. Rubin Observatory Designation Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2037: Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability Act of 2019 (178 R Votes)H.R. 2142: To amend the Small Business Act to require the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman to create a centralized website for compliance guides, and for other purposes. (5 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 677: 21st Century President Act (40 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1988: Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2019 (5 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2515: Whistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019 (181 R Votes)H.R. 2109: BRAVE Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2476: Securing American Nonprofit Organizations Against Terrorism Act of 2019 (18 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1237: COAST Research Act of 2019 (7 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2333: Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act (6 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2340: FIGHT Veteran Suicides Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 753: Global Electoral Exchange Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1437: Securing Department of Homeland Security Firearms Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1594: First Responder Access to Innovative Technologies Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 920: Venezuela Arms Restriction Act (5 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1477: Russian-Venezuelan Threat Mitigation Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1112: Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 (3 R Votes)H.R. 8: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (8 R Votes)H.R. 507: Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2019 (189 R Votes)H.R. 66: Route 66 Centennial Commission Act (171 R Votes)H.R. 428: Homeland Security Assessment of Terrorists’ Use of Virtual Currencies Act (191 R Votes)H.R. 56: Financial Technology Protection Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 676: NATO Support Act (149 R Votes)H.R. 328: Hack Your State Department Act (170 R Votes)H.R. 247: Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 136: Federal Intern Protection Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 135: Federal Employee Antidiscrimination Act of 2019 (193 R Votes)H.R. 1615: Verification Alignment and Service-disabled Business Adjustment Act (19 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3504: Ryan Kules Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1850: Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act of 2019 (34 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 617: Department of Energy Veterans’ Health Initiative Act (25 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2140: Preventing Child Marriage in Displaced Populations Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2045: To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish in the Department the Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration, and for other purposes. (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1812: Vet Center Eligibility Expansion Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 353: To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes. (4 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1847: Inspector General Protection Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2066: DHS Intelligence Rotational Assignment Program Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1589: CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 1122: Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act of 2019 (168 R Votes)H.R. 974: Federal Reserve Supervision Testimony Clarification Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1064: To amend title 5, United States Code, to allow whistleblowers to disclose information to certain recipients. (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1065: Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act of 2019 (168 R Votes)H.R. 389: Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1306: Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 205: Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019 (22 R Votes)H.R. 759: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Settlement Act (12 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1307: Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 335: South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 988: NEAR Act of 2019 (4 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1704: Championing American Business Through Diplomacy Act of 2019 (177 R Votes)H.R. 1199: VA Website Accessibility Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 565: AMIGOS Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 3537: Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Act of 2019 (196 R Votes)H.R. 886: Veteran Treatment Court Coordination Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2513: Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (25 R Votes)H.R. 1146: Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act (4 R Votes)H.R. 281: Ensuring Diverse Leadership Act of 2019 (3 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1331: Local Water Protection Act (117 R Votes)H.R. 1716: Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2019 (6 R Votes)H.R. 1921: Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019 (168 R Votes)H.R. 615: Refugee Sanitation Facility Safety Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 5: Equality Act (8 R Votes)H.R. 312: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act (47 R Votes)H.R. 2502: Transparency in Federal Buildings Projects Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 596: Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act (195 R Votes)H.R. 1472: To rename the Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska, as the Homestead National Historical Park. (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 499: Service-Disabled Veterans Small Business Continuation Act (194 R Votes)H.R. 1424: Fallen Warrior Battlefield Cross Memorial Act (22 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1775: Notice to Airmen Improvement Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 4407: SCORE for Small Business Act of 2019 (171 R Votes)H.R. 3694: Helping Families Fly Act of 2019 (8 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2613: Advancing Innovation to Assist Law Enforcement Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 97: Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 2744: USAID Branding Modernization Act (186 R Votes)H.R. 3050: Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act of 2019 (189 R Votes)H.R. 2002: Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019 (20 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1235: MSPB Temporary Term Extension Act (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 769: Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2019 (186 R Votes)H.R. 192: Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 2162: Housing Financial Literacy Act of 2019 (1 R cosponsor, Voice Voted)H.R. 752: Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 202: Inspector General Access Act of 2019 (2 R cosponsors, Voice Voted)H.R. 1760: Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Act (R sponsor, voice voted)H.R. 347: Responsible Disposal Reauthorization Act of 2019 (R sponsor, voice voted)H.R. 3494: Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020 (171 R votes)H.R. 2539: Strengthening Local Transportation Security Capabilities Act of 2019 (167 R votes)H.R. 1037: Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2019 (1 R sponsor, voice voted)H.R. 1388: Lytton Rancheria Homelands Act of 2019 (173 R votes)H.R. 498: Clean Up the Code Act of 2019 (R sponsor)H.R. 9: Climate Action Now Act (3 R votes)H.R. 1644: Save the Internet Act of 2019 (1 R vote)H.R. 1060: BUILD Act (1 R sponsor, voice voted)H.R. 91: Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act (171 R votes)H.R. 582: Raise the Wage Act (3 R votes)H.R. 1088: FIRST Act (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 255: Big Bear Land Exchange Act (R sponsor voice vote)H.R. 1663: Foundation of the Federal Bar Association Charter Amendments Act of 2019 (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 3996: VA Design-Build Construction Enhancement Act of 2019 (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 1496: Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2019 (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 2589: Unifying DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 241: Bank Service Company Examination Coordination Act of 2019 (R sponsor)H.R. 2609: DHS Acquisition Review Board Act of 2019 (191 R votes)H.R. 2590: DHS Overseas Personnel Enhancement Act of 2019 (179 R votes)H.R. 1947: To amend title 38, United States Code, to exempt transfers of funds from Federal agencies to the Department of Veterans Affairs for nonprofit corporations established under subchapter IV of chapter 73 of such title from certain provisions of t (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 1313: Transit Security Grant Program Flexibility Act (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 317: Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act of 2019 (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 297: Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Restoration Act of 2019 (173 R votes)H.R. 190: Expanding Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019 (188 R votes)H.R. 4863: United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019 (13 R votes)H.R. 1373: Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act (9 R votes)H.R. 3525: U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act (2 R votes)H.R. 3239: Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody Act (1 R vote)H.R. 2722: SAFE Act (1 R vote)H.R. 6: American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (7 R votes)H.R. 840: Veterans’ Access to Child Care Act (178 R votes)H.R. 790: Federal Civilian Workforce Pay Raise Fairness Act of 2019 (29 R votes)H.R. 4860: Crowdfunding Amendments Act (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 5084: Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act of 2019 (55 R votes)H.R. 1593: CLASS Act of 2019 (168 R votes)H.R. 3675: Trusted Traveler Reconsideration and Restoration Act of 2019 (R sponsor, voice vote)H.R. 2345: Clarifying the Small Business Runway Extension Act (R sponsor, voice vote)Passed with Democratic votes only:H.R. 1608: Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019H.R. 3351: Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2020H.R. 2211: STURDY ActH.R. 182: To extend the authorization for the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission.H.R. 4625: Protect the GI Bill ActH.R. 1623: Help America Run ActH.R. 1815: SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing ActH.R. 3625: PCAOB Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019H.R. 2290: Shutdown Guidance for Financial Institutions ActH.R. 3299: Promoting Respect for Individuals’ Dignity and Equality Act of 2019H.R. 2943: Providing Benefits Information in Spanish and Tagalog for Veterans and Families ActH.R. 2919: Improving Investment Research for Small and Emerging Issuers ActH.R. 2372: Veterans’ Care Quality Transparency ActH.R. 495: FIRST State and Local Law Enforcement ActH.R. 206: Encouraging Small Business Innovation ActH.R. 128: Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act of 2019H.R. 1487: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study ActH.R. 876: Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2019 (Voice vote no R cosponsor)H.R. 4617: SHIELD ActH.R. 3710: Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation ActH.R. 3106: Domestic and International Terrorism DATA ActH.R. 2203: Homeland Security Improvement ActH.R. 1690: Carbon Monoxide Alarms Leading Every Resident To Safety Act of 2019H.R. 3620: Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2019H.R. 2942: HEALTH ActH.R. 1261: National Landslide Preparedness ActH.R. 1433: Department of Homeland Security Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engagement Act of 2019H.R. 854: Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019H.R. 1: For the People Act of 2019H.R. 494: Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2019H.R. 543: To require the Federal Railroad Administration to provide appropriate congressional notice of comprehensive safety assessments conducted with respect to intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation.H.R. 1500: Consumers First ActI made it!! So I dare you Trump fans to refute this and make the false claim again that the House of Representatives isn’t looking out for the well-being of the American people. INCLUDING YOURSELVES!!!Sources: Search Bills in Congress and You know that trainload of hundreds of bills Senate Republicans have blocked? Here's a linked list

Bill did a ton of positive stuff. The energy this guy had was amazing. I regret never meeting him but my girlfriend and an employee did. Right on the street. Just walked up and said hi, I’m Bill, nice city you’ve got here.Most of this stuff was good. Bad? Maybe didn’t intervene in Rwanda where the mass killings took place.The Clinton Presidency:1993January 22Abolished Restrictions on Medical Research and the Right to ChooseAs his first executive actions, President Clinton revoked the Gag Rule, which prohibited abortion counseling in clinics that receive federal funding to serve low-income patients. He also revoked restrictions on a woman's legal right to privately funded abortion services in military hospitals, restrictions on the import of RU-486, and restrictions on the award of international family planning grants (the "Mexico City Policy"). The President also lifted the moratorium on federal funding for research involving fetal tissue, allowing progress on research into treatments for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes and leukemia. (Executive Memoranda, 1/22/93)February 1Helped States Take the First Steps Toward Welfare ReformPresident Clinton ordered the Federal Government to make it easier for states to receive waivers from government regulations in order to implement innovative welfare reform projects. Between 1993 and the signing of the Welfare Reform bill in 1996, the Administration granted waivers to a record 43 states. Those waivers laid the foundation of the new welfare reform law by strengthening work requirements, time-limiting assistance and demanding parental responsibility. (Presidential Directives 2/1/93)February 5Family and Medical Leave ActThe Family & Medical Leave Act — the first piece of legislation the President signed into law — has enabled millions of workers to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave to care for a new baby or ailing family member without jeopardizing their job. The previous administration vetoed the bill twice. (PL 103-3, signed 2/5/93)March 3"Reinventing Government" Initiative LaunchedPresident Clinton asked Vice President Gore to head the National Performance Review aimed at making government work better for less. The Vice President's Reinventing Government Initiative has resulted in 377,000 fewer civilian employees in the federal government — the lowest level since the Kennedy Administration — and reduced federal spending as a share of the economy from 22.2 percent in 1992 to a projected 18.5 percent in 2000, the lowest since 1966.April 1Childhood ImmunizationsThe President launched a major childhood immunization effort to increase the number of children who were being immunized. Since 1993, childhood immunization rates have reached all-time highs, with 90 percent or more of America's toddlers receiving critical vaccines for children by age 2. Vaccination levels are nearly the same for preschool children of all racial and ethnic groups, narrowing a gap estimated to be as wide as 26 percentage points a generation ago.May 20Motor Voter Registration SignedThe Clinton Administration made it easier for millions of Americans to register to vote by allowing registration at the same time they get a driver's license. The Motor Voter law led to the registration of more than 28 million new voters, more registered voters than the passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 years. (PL 103-31, signed 5/20/93).August 10Clinton-Gore Deficit Reduction Plan EnactedPassed without a single Republican vote, the Clinton-Gore Administration's economic plan established fiscal discipline by slashing the deficit in half — the largest deficit reduction plan in history — while making important investments in our economic future, including education, health care, and science and technology research. This legislation also extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by three years. Fiscal discipline established by the Clinton-Gore Administration has turned the largest deficits in our country's history into the largest surplus. (PL 103-66, signed 8/10/93)Earned Income Tax Credit Expansion/Working Family Tax CutPresident Clinton succeeded in passing an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, giving a tax cut to 15 million of the hardest-pressed American workers. In 1999, the EITC lifted 4.1 million people out of poverty — nearly double the number lifted out of poverty by the EITC in 1993. (PL 103-66, signed 8/10/93).Student Loan ReformThe Clinton-Gore Administration created the Direct Student Loan Program, which cut red tape and administrative costs by eliminating subsidies and bureaucracy in the Student Loan Program. The program has saved taxpayers $4 billion since 1993 and allowed interest rate reductions for students. (PL 103-66, signed 8/10/93)Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities ProgramCreated nine Empowerment Zones and 95 Enterprise Communities with tax incentives and $100 million per EZ in discretionary investment dollars to spur local community planning and economic growth in distressed communities. At the President's request, Congress expanded the program in 1994, 1997, and again in 2000. To date, the EZ program has leveraged over $10 million in additional private investment into EZs. The EZ program represents the most ambitious incentives program ever offered by the federal government to promote private sector investment in distressed areas in America.Childhood Immunization InitiativeIn 1992, less than 60 percent of two-year-olds were fully immunized — the third lowest rate in the Western Hemisphere. The Clinton-Gore Economic Plan contained investments to guarantee the health of children and prevent the easily avoidable costs of preventable childhood diseases. Today, the nation's overall immunization rate for preschool children is the highest ever recorded.September 21AmeriCorps Community Service Initiative EnactedAmeriCorps allows individuals to serve communities across the country while earning money for college or skills training programs. Since its inception, 150,000 volunteers have participated in AmeriCorps; that means that more people have enrolled in this Clinton Administration initiative in its first five years than did in the Peace Corps' first 20 years. (PL 103-82, signed 9/21/93)November 30Brady Act SignedAfter seven years of debate under previous administrations, the President signed legislation requiring a background check before the purchase of a handgun and establishing a National Instant Check System. Since its enactment, the Brady Law has helped to prevent a total of more than 600,000 felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, and other prohibited purchasers from buying guns. Since 1992, the gun-related crime rate has declined by 40 percent. (PL 103-159, signed 11/30/93)December 8NAFTA RatifiedPresident Clinton worked to pass bipartisan legislation implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest free trade zone. Since passage of NAFTA, the U.S. manufacturing sector has created 400,000 jobs, and exports to Canada and Mexico support 600,000 more jobs today than in 1993. (Signed 12/8/93)1994March 31Goals 2000 Education Standards EnactedThis legislation provided assistance to states to implement high standards and challenging curricula to help all children succeed. Today, 49 states require students to meet tough standards in core subjects, and 48 states test reading and mathematics skills in elementary, middle and high school to ensure students are meeting those standards. (PL 103-227, signed 3/31/94)May 18Head Start Reform and Creation of Early Head StartPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore advocated for legislation increasing Head Start participation and quality. The new bill established minimum performance standards, strong accountability and created the Early Head Start program for children aged 0 to 3. The Administration has increased funding for Head Start by more than 90 percent since 1993. Head Start and Early Head Start will reach approximately 935,000 in 2001. (PL 103-252, signed 5/18/94)September 13Crime Bill SignedEnacted the Clinton-Gore Administration's tough and smart crime fighting strategy. The Bill contained tougher penalties, including "three strikes and you're out" legislation, helped states build more prisons and increased prevention and victims rights. As a result, the overall crime rate has dropped for 8 years in a row — the longest continuous drop on record — and is now at a 26 year low. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)Assault Weapons BanPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore overcame intense opposition by the gun lobby to ban 19 of the most dangerous assault weapons. Thanks in part to the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to take these dangerous guns off the streets, overall gun violence has declined by 40 percent since 1992. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)100,000 Community Police OfficersThe Clinton-Gore Administration succeeded in passing a bill authorizing local governments funding to hire and redeploy 100,000 community police officers. COPS helped contribute to a decline that brought the overall crime rate to the lowest level in 26 years. In 1999, crime fell for the eighth consecutive year nationwide. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)Violence Against Women ActThe Clinton-Gore Administration fought for and signed this bill, which contains new penalties, resources to prosecute more domestic violence offenders, and quadrupled funding for battered women's shelters. The Administration also established a nationwide 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline. This initiative represents the first federal effort to address domestic violence and violence against women. Today, the number of victims of domestic violence has fallen from 1.1 million in 1993 to 876,340 in 1998. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)September 23Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund CreatedMeeting an early campaign commitment, the President signed legislation creating the CDFI Fund to support both specialized financial institutions and traditional banks that serve lower-income communities. As of late 2000, the CDFI Fund had certified over 400 community development banks, community development credit unions, housing and business loan funds and venture capital firms as CDFIs. The CDFI Fund has provided over $427 million in funding to institutions that provide capital and financial services to underserved markets.October 20Improving America's Schools ActThis reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act ended the era of lower expectations for disadvantaged children by insisting that all students be held to the same high academic standards. The bill also strengthened accountability for student performance and required states to turn around low-performing schools.October 31California Desert Protection Act SignedThe largest land protection bill since 1980 protected nearly 8 million acres of wilderness and created three new national parks. (PL 103-433, signed 10/31/94)December 8GATT RatifiedThe Clinton-Gore Administration worked with a bipartisan majority in the Senate to pass legislation implementing the General Agreement on Tariffs and trade (GATT). This agreement allows American workers and businesses to compete in a freer, fairer, and more effective global trading system. (PL 103-465, signed 12/8/94)1995January 25Called for National Campaign to Prevent Teen PregnancyIn his State of the Union address, the President challenged Americans to join together in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. Both teen birth rates and teen pregnancy rates are now at the lowest level on record.January 31Loans Preventing Economic Collapse in Mexico IssuedAfter Congress refused to act, President Clinton issued $20 billion in emergency loans to Mexico to stabilize the country's financial markets. Loans from the United States and the International Monetary Fund stopped the collapse of the peso, prevented economic crisis, and helped the country return to solid economic growth. Mexico repaid the loans with interest three years ahead of schedule. U.S. taxpayers made a net gain of nearly $580 million from the loan.February 27Federal Child Support Enforcement ExpandedThe President issued an executive order stepping up federal efforts to collect child support payments. The Clinton Administration's strategy of encouraging parental responsibility and increasing child support enforcement efforts has doubled collections of child support from $8 billion in 1992 to $16 billion in 1999. (Exec. Order 12953)March 8Executive Order Preventing Permanent Striker Replacement IssuedIn order to maintain fairness and balance between workers and management, President Clinton issued an executive order preventing the federal government from contracting with businesses that hire permanent replacements for employees engaging in lawful strikes. (Exec. Order 12954)July 12Religious Freedom in Schools ProtectedIn order to protect religious expression in public schools while preserving the separation of church and state, President Clinton issued an executive memorandum outlining several principles of religious expression in schools. This directive clarified that under our Constitution students are free to express their religious views, pray and discuss religion at school in a non-disruptive and non-coercive manner and that teachers may teach about the importance of religion in art, literature and history. At the same time, schools and teachers may not endorse religious activity or doctrine, nor may they coerce participation in religious activity. (Exec. Memorandum 7/12/95)August 10First-Ever Comprehensive Plan to Reduce Youth Smoking ProposedThe Clinton-Gore Administration proposed the first-ever comprehensive plan to reduce youth smoking. The proposal required young people to prove their age to buy cigarettes, banned vending machines in places where minors can go, ended the marketing of cigarettes and tobacco to minors, and required the tobacco industry to fund an education campaign to prevent kids from smoking. The proposal took effect when new FDA regulations were announced on August 23, 1996.December 14Dayton Peace Accords SignedLeaders of the rival factions in the Bosnian civil war signed a treaty to end the nearly four-year-old conflict, formally approving the pact they had initialed in November in Dayton, Ohio after three weeks of U.S.-sponsored talks.1996January 23National Campaign to Prevent Teen PregnancyThe National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was formed in response to the President's 1995 State of the Union. Since President Clinton took office, teen birth rates have dropped 18 percent, to the lowest level on record.February 8Telecommunications Reform SignedPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore achieved the first major overhaul of the telecommunications laws in 60 years. Reforms of the 1934 Telecommunications Act opened up competition between local telephone companies, long distance providers and cable companies; and required the use of new V-chip technology to enable families to exercise greater control over the television programming that comes into their homes. The Act also contained the Vice President's E-Rate proposal, which provides low-cost Internet connections for schools, libraries, rural health clinics and hospitals. (PL 104-104, signed 2/8/96)February 24Encouraged the Adoption of School UniformsPresident Clinton took steps to offer support and make it easier for schools to voluntarily adopt school uniform policies. Schools across the nation have demonstrated that school uniforms can lead to safer schools, more disciplined and orderly classrooms, and free teachers to focus on teaching and students to focus on learning.April 24Antiterrorism LawThe President signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act into law at a ceremony at the White House. President Clinton first sent this legislation to Congress in February 1995 and called for additional antiterrorism measures and actions after the devastation of the federal building in Oklahoma City. The 1996 law included measures to combat terrorism at home and abroad including provisions to provide broad Federal jurisdiction to prosecute terrorist acts, bar terrorists from entering the United States in the first place, toughen penalties over a range of terrorist crimes and increase controls over biological and chemical weapons.May 17Megan's LawThe President signed Megan's law to require states to notify communities when a dangerous sexual predator resides or moves to the community. The passage of Megan's Law built on provisions contained in the 1994 Crime Bill, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, which promoted the establishment of state sex offender registration systems for child molesters and other sexually violent offenders.July 16Moving Welfare Recipients to WorkPresident Clinton took the first national steps to require welfare recipients to move to work. An executive memorandum issued by the President required participants in federal training programs for welfare recipients to work to agree to go to work within two years or face the prospect of losing their federal assistance. (Exec. Memorandum 7/16/96)August 3Food Quality Protection Act SignedThis Act established the toughest standards for pesticide residues in food ever, and for the first times required that the standards take into account special risks to children. (PL 104-170, signed 8/3/96)August 6Safe Drinking Water ActAmendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act required the strongest standards of safety and purity in America's drinking water while establishing a revolving loan fund to help communities upgrade their water treatment facilities. (PL 104-182, signed 8/6/96)August 20Minimum Wage IncreasedPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore fought for and won a 90-cent per hour increase in the minimum wage — increasing wages for 10 million workers. This increase was the first in 6 years and in 1996 it was the largest single-year increase ever. (PL 104-134, signed 8/20/96)August 21Kennedy-Kassebaum Health Insurance Reform (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)This bipartisan health insurance reform bill prevents individuals from being denied coverage because they have a preexisting medical condition. It requires insurance companies to sell coverage to small employer groups and to individuals who lose group coverage without regard to their health risk status. It also prohibits discrimination in enrollment and premiums against employees and their dependents based on health status. Finally, it requires insurers to renew the policies they sell to groups and individuals. As many as 25 million people have benefited from the greater flexibility that this law ensures. (PL 104-191, signed 8/21/96)Requiring Mental Health Parity for Annual and Lifetime Insurance LimitsTo help eliminate discrimination against individuals with mental illnesses, the President enacted legislation containing provisions prohibiting health plans from establishing separate lifetime and annual limits for mental health coverage.New Protections for Mothers and NewbornsThe President signed into law common sense legislation that requires health plans to allow new mothers to remain in the hospital for at least 48 hours following most normal deliveries and 96 hours after a Cesarean section.Eliminating the Discriminatory Tax Treatment of the Self- EmployedHIPAA increased the tax deduction from 30 percent to 80 percent for the approximately 10 million Americans who are self-employed. The President also signed into law a provision to phase it in to 100 percent in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.Fighting Fraud and Waste in MedicareThe Kennedy-Kassenbaum legislation created a new stable source of funding to fight fraud and abuse that is coordinated by the HHS Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Justice. Since its passage, nearly $1.6 billion in fraud and abuse savings has been returned to the Medicare Trust Fund. Since 1993, the Clinton Administration has assigned more federal prosecutors and FBI agents to fight health care fraud than ever before. As a result, convictions have gone up a full 410 percent saving more than $50 billion in health care claims.August 22Welfare Reform EnactedPresident Clinton kept his promise to end welfare as we know it by requiring welfare recipients to work, limiting the time they can stay on welfare, and providing child care and health care to help them make the move from welfare to work. The landmark bipartisan welfare reform law signed by the President also enacted tough new child support enforcement measures proposed by the President. Since January 1993, the number of people on welfare has fallen by nearly 60 percent, from 14.1 million to 5.8 million, the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years, and millions of parents have joined the workforce. (PL 104-193, signed 8/22/96)September 5Designated Commission to Design Patients' Bill of RightsPresident Clinton created the National Commission on Health Care Quality and charged it with studying the need for consumer protections and ways to guarantee the quality of care. Commission members represented government, consumers, health care providers, insurers, and businesses. The recommendations of the Commission formed the basis for the Patients' Bill of Rights. (Exec. Order 13017)September 18Created Grand Staircase-Escalante National MonumentThe creation of this National Monument preserved unspoiled remote canyons and extensive geologic and world-class paleontological sites. President Clinton was the first President to designate a National Monument since 1978 and throughout his term the President has protected more land as national monuments in the lower 48 states — over 4.6 million acres — than any president in history. (Presidential Proclamation, 9/18/96)1997February 19Launched Youth Anti-Drug Media CampaignThe President unveiled his National Drug Control Strategy that set forth a long-term national effort to reduce illicit drug use and its consequences. Highlights of the Strategy included: a new $175 million national media campaign targeting illegal drug use by youth; 500 additional border patrol agents to stem the flow of illegal drugs across the Southwest Border; and $40 million for counter-drug programs in Peru — the primary cocaine source country.March 4Banned Federal Research on Human CloningBecause of the profound ethical issues raised by advances in cloning technology, the President issued a memorandum prohibiting the use of federal funds to clone human beings and urged the entire scientific and medical community to adopt a voluntary moratorium on the cloning of human beings. (Exec. Memorandum, 3/4/97)April 24Chemical Weapons Convention RatifiedThe Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, which makes the production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons illegal. (Ratified 4/24/97)May 20Created the Welfare to Work PartnershipThe Welfare to Work Partnership was launched at the President's urging to lead the national business effort to hire people from the welfare rolls. Now 20,000 businesses strong, the Partnership has helped an estimated 1.1 million welfare recipients move to employment. Under Vice President Gore's leadership, the Administration has also done its fair share, hiring 50,000 welfare recipients, and has fostered partnerships between employers and community and faith-based organizations that help families move from welfare to work.June 4Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ReauthorizedThe expanded IDEA applies the same high academic standards for all children, ensuring that children with disabilities learn the same things with the same curricula and the same assessments as all other children. It also ensures that more children with disabilities can be in regular classrooms and take part in all school functions including field trips and extracurricular activities. (Signed 6/4/97)June 12Established the Initiative for One AmericaTo help facilitate a national dialogue aimed at narrowing America's racial divide, the President appointed a seven-member Advisory Board on Race. Over the next 15 months, Board members, individually and in teams, held hundreds of meetings involving thousands of people in every region of the country. They submitted several policy proposals that have guided the Administration in its effort to close the racial gaps that still exist in America. These include increased civil rights enforcement, increased early childhood education and undertaking efforts to make sure all Americans benefit from our country's prosperity. The work of the Advisory Board also led to the creation of the One America Office in the White House to promote the President's goals of educating the American public about race, encourage racial reconciliation through national dialogue on race, identify policies that can expand opportunities for racial and ethnic minorities, and coordinate the work of the White House and federal agencies to carry out the President's vision of One America.July 16Stronger Air Quality Regulations ReleasedThe President approved the strongest air quality standards in history to control pollution from smog and soot. The standards could prevent 15,000 premature deaths every year and will improve the lives of millions of Americans suffering from respiratory illness. Enforcement of the new standards has been delayed by court action. (7/16/97)August 5Balanced Budget Agreement ReachedIn February, the President submitted the first plan to finish the job of eliminating the deficit and the balanced budget in 27 years. On August 5th, he signed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which finished the job of eliminating the $290 billion budget deficit. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)$500 per Child Tax CreditAs part of the Balanced Budget Agreement, the President secured a $500 per child tax credit for approximately 27 million families with children under 17, including thirteen million children from families with incomes below $30,000. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Children's Health Insurance Program CreatedAt the urging of the Clinton-Gore Administration, Congress invested $48 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program — the single largest investment in health care for children since the enactment of Medicaid in 1965. This new program, together with Medicaid, will provide meaningful health care coverage for up to five million previously uninsured children — including prescription drugs, vision, hearing, and mental health services. Within three years of enactment, all 50 states have implemented S-CHIP programs, and over 2 million children have been covered. In addition, the number of states covering children up to 200 percent of poverty increased by more than sevenfold — to 30 states — during that time. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Strengthening the Medicare Trust FundWhen the President came into office, Medicare was projected to become insolvent in 1999. The Balanced Budget Act extended the life of the Trust Fund by an additional 10 years resulting in the longest Medicare Trust Fund solvency in a quarter century, extending the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by a total of 26 years and offering premiums that are nearly 20 percent lower today than projected in 1993.Modernizing the Medicare Benefit PackageThe BBA included a series of structural reforms which modernize the program, bringing it in line with the private sector and preparing it for the baby boom generation. These reforms: waived cost-sharing for mammography services and provided annual screening mammograms for beneficiaries age 40 and older to help detect breast cancer; established a diabetes self-management benefit; ensured Medicare coverage of colorectal screening and cervical cancer screening; ensured coverage of bone mass measurement tests to help women detect osteoporosis, and increased reimbursement rates for certain immunizations to protect seniors from pneumonia, influenza, and hepatitis.HOPE Scholarships/Lifetime Learning Tax CreditsPresident Clinton proposed and passed the largest increase in college opportunity since the GI bill. The HOPE Scholarship provides a tax credit of up to $1,500 for tuition and fees for the first two years of college. When fully phased-in, the Lifetime Learning tax credit will provide a 20 percent tax credit on the first $10,000 of tuition and fees for students beyond the first two years of college, or taking classes part-time. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Welfare-to-Work GrantsDue to President Clinton's leadership, the Balanced Budget Act included $3 billion over two years for Welfare-to-Work grants to help states and local communities move long-term welfare recipients and certain non-custodial parent in lasting, unsubsidized jobs. This funding, used for job creation, placement and retention efforts, has helped the hardest-to-serve welfare recipients and promotes parental responsibility among non-custodial parents who need to find work to honor their responsibilities to their children.Landmark Education Investments: America Reads, Charter Schools, Education TechnologyThe President succeeded in doubling investments in education technology, increasing charter school funding, expanding Head Start to reach more than 800,000 children, and increasing the maximum Pell Grant by 63 percent, to the largest maximum award ever. The Budget also provided $300 million for the President's America Reads Challenge. Together, these programs are the most significant increase in education funding at the national level in 30 years. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Created 20 more Empowerment Zones and 20 more rural Enterprise CommunitiesFollowing Congress' 1994 designation of Cleveland and Los Angeles as EZs, the President requested a Round 2 of 20 new EZs and 20 new rural Enterprise Communities. The Round 2 EZs received expanded tax-exempt bonding authority to increase their ability to stimulate private-sector job creation for low-income residents.August 9Created Smoke-Free Federal WorkplacesPresident Clinton issued an Executive Order protecting Federal Government employees and members of the public from exposure to tobacco smoke in the Federal workplace and encouraged Federal agencies to establish programs to help employees stop smoking. The Clinton-Gore Administration has also made our nation's health a priority by developing the first-ever plan to protect our children from tobacco, raising the federal tobacco tax, and by giving the American people their day in court against the tobacco manufacturers who engaged in decades of deception about the dangers of tobacco.August 13Required Drug Companies Provide Adequate Testing for ChildrenPresident Clinton directed an important Food and Drug Administration regulation requiring manufacturers to do studies on pediatric populations for new prescription drugs — and those currently on the market — to ensure that prescription drugs have been adequately tested for the unique needs of children.August 27America Reads Child Literacy Initiative LaunchedThe President set a national goal of making sure that every child can read independently by the end of third grade. To reach this goal, the President issued the America Reads challenge, calling for one million tutors — college, university students, senior citizens, and private sector employees — to help children learn to read. In 1997, Congress funded the initiative, with $300 million in grants to help states improve children's reading skills. More than two million children have been tutored to read by national service programs such as AmeriCorps, VISTA, and Foster Grandparents.October 9Reached Agreement to Provide Child-Safety Locks With HandgunsThe President announced an agreement with eight of the country's largest gun manufacturers to include child safety locks with all new handguns. The voluntary agreement was reached after negotiations between the President, the gun manufacturers and the American Shooting Sports Council. The President had previously issued an Executive Memorandum requiring federal law enforcement authorities to provide child safety locks for their officers' firearms.November 19Adoption and Safe Families Act PassedThis bipartisan legislation enacted many of the recommendations of the President's Adoption 2002 report. In order to meet the President's challenge of doubling the number of adoptions by 2002, the Act provides incentives to states to permanently place children in foster care. In 1999, 46,000 foster care children were adopted — more than a 64 percent increase since 1996 and the biggest increase in adoptions since the National Foster Care Program was created almost 20 years ago. (PL 105-89, signed 11/19/97)November 20Endorsed the Recommendations of the Historic Quality Commission.In 1996, the President created a non-partisan, broad-based Commission on quality and charged them with developing a patients' bill of rights as their first order of business. In October of 1997, the President accepted the Commission's recommendation that all health plans should provide strong patient protections, including guaranteed access to needed health care specialists; access to emergency room services when and where the need arises; continuity of care protections; and access to a fair, unbiased and timely internal and independent external appeals process. The work of the Commission lay the foundation for subsequent administrative and legislative initiatives to improve patient protections and quality improvement.November 21FDA Reform Legislation SignedThe President supported and signed the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, the first major food and medical products reform in 35 years. The Act cut approval times of new drugs in half, simplified the review process for medical devices, expanded participation in experimental treatments for AIDS, Alzheimer's and cancer patients, and protected consumers by ensuring accurate food labeling. (PL 105-115, signed 11/21/97)December 16NATO Expanded to Eastern EuropeSecretary of State Madeleine Albright signed protocols for the accession of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into NATO. The expansion of NATO to include these three former Warsaw Pact nations was a historic step in ensuring peace and stability in Eastern Europe. NATO expansion was ratified in May 1998 after it was approved by a strong bipartisan Senate majority.1998January 7Child Care InitiativeThe President successfully initiated an historic effort to improve child care for America's working families. President Clinton's initiative responded to the struggles our nation's working parents face in finding child care that they can afford, trust, and rely on. The President's initiative helped working families pay for child care by more than doubling funding for child care subsidies and nearly doubling funding for Head Start; it built a supply of good after-school programs that will serve 1.3 million children in 2001; and, it is working to improve the safety and quality of care, and promote early learning through the recently passed Early Learning Opportunities Act.February 20Implemented the Patients' Bill of Rights for Federal Health PlansIn order to ensure that 85 million Americans in federal health plans benefit from essential health protections developed by the President's Health Care Quality Commission, President Clinton ordered federal health plans to comply with provisions of the Patients' Bill of Rights. The President's order guaranteed choice of providers and plans, access to emergency services, participation in treatment decisions, confidentiality of health information and a fair complaint and appeals process. Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP, the Indian Health Service, FEHBP plans, the Veterans Administration facilities, and the Military Health System are responding by ensuring that all protections that can be extended under current law be provided.April 11Good Friday Peace Accords SignedPresident Clinton helped conclude the Good Friday Peace Accords, a historic peace agreement between all the major parties to the long conflict over Northern Ireland. The accord represents the best hope in a generation for a just and lasting peace in Northern Ireland. (4/11/98)July 16Child Support IncentivesThe President signed into law the "Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998," which built on prior legislative and executive actions to improve child support collections by establishing performance-based rewards for states on a range of key child support goals. The Clinton Administration has taken great strides in promoting responsible fatherhood; since 1992, paternity establishment has tripled and child support collections have doubled.July 21Improving Nursing Home QualityIn July of 1998, President Clinton initiated a new nursing home quality initiative that ensures swift and strong penalties for nursing homes failing to comply with standards, strengthened oversight of state enforcement mechanisms, and implemented unprecedented efforts to improve nutrition and prevent bed sores. Finally, the Administration recently instructed states to eliminate corrective periods during which nursing homes could avoid the imposition of sanctions, such as fines, when a nursing home is found to have caused harm to a resident on consecutive surveys, in order to put additional pressure on nursing homes to meet all health and safety standards.August 7Workforce Investment ActLong championed by President Clinton and Vice-President Gore, this bi-partisan legislation was enacted to streamline and bring greater accountability to our nation's job training system. (signed 8/7/98)October 7GEAR UP Initiative CreatedIn his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton urged Congress "to support our efforts to enlist colleges and universities to reach out to disadvantaged children, starting in the 7th grade, so that they can get the guidance and hope they need so they can know that they, too, will be able to go on to college." Congress enacted GEAR UP without a single dissenting vote. GEAR UP provides intensive early intervention services that have helped prepare up to 700,000 students at high-poverty middle schools for college. GEAR UP was included in the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, which also reduced student loan interest rates, saving students about $50 for every $1,000 in debt; supported partnerships between universities and school systems to strengthen teacher preparation and quality; and created the first federal performance-based organization to administer student aid. (signed 10/7/98)October 21Class Size Reduction Initiative LaunchedAfter initially refusing to provide any funding at all, Congress agreed to provide $1.2 billion for the first year of the President's new initiative to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size in the early grades to a national average of 18. This initiative is the first comprehensive effort to reduce class size across the nation. (PL 105-277, signed 10/21/98)21st Century Community Learning CentersIn 1998, a Clinton Administration initiative launched a series of dramatic funding increases for before- and after-school programs, turning a small demonstration program into one of the most popular Federal education programs. President Clinton won $846 million for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program for 2001, up from only $1 million in 1997, and it will serve about 1.3 million children.October 23Wye Middle East Peace Agreement SignedAfter nine days of negotiations at the Wye Conference Center in Maryland, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat signed an agreement that will strengthen Israeli security, expand the area of Palestinian control in the West Bank, and enhance opportunities for the Israeli and Palestinian people. (10/23/98)October 27Head Start Expansion and Reauthorization (Human Services Reauthorization Act)The reauthorization of Head Start paved the way for further quality improvements, doubled participation in the Early Head Start program and moved toward the President's goal of providing quality Head Start opportunities for one million children. (PL 105-285, 10/27/98)Individual Development AccountsIn addition to reauthorizing Head Start, the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998 also created the Individual Development Account Demonstration Program to encourage low-income families to save for a first home, post-secondary education or to start a new business. (PL 105-285, 10/27/98)December 12Global Warming Protocol Signed in Kyoto, JapanWith critical leadership from the Clinton-Gore Administration, 160 nations agreed on the basic architecture of a strategy to combat global warming on December 12, 1997. This agreement is the first time that major nations of the world ever committed themselves to a comprehensive plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.December 16Air Attacks on Saddam HusseinBeginning December 16, 1998, American forces attacked Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological programs, and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Saddam Hussein had announced that he would no longer cooperate with UN inspectors to conduct inspections that would guarantee that Iraq does not try and rebuild its capacity to create weapons of mass destruction.1999April 29Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 SignedEd-Flex is designed to help districts and schools carry out educational reforms and raise the achievement levels of all children by providing increased flexibility in the implementation of federal education programs. In exchange, states are required to demonstrate enhanced accountability for the performance of all students.March 12Clarifying Over The Counter Drug LabelsThe President unveiled a historic new FDA regulation that, for the first time, requires over-the-counter drug products to use a new product label with larger print and clearer language, making it easier for consumers to understand product warnings and comply with dosage guidance. The new regulation provides Americans with essential information about their medications in a user friendly way and takes a critical first step towards preventing the tens of thousands of unnecessary hospitalizations caused by misuse of over-the-counter medications each year.April 27Education Flexibility Partnership Act SignedThis legislation expanded the Ed-Flex demonstration program to enable all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories to form Ed-Flex partnerships, giving states and communities the ability to use federal resources in the ways that best complement local efforts and innovation. Under Ed-Flex, states can waive many of the requirements of federal education programs in exchange for accountability for results.May 12100,000 Officers FundedUnder budget and ahead of schedule, the President's goal of funding 100,000 officers was reached. The President's successful community policing initiative has played a key role in producing the longest continuous drop in crime on record. In November 1999, President Clinton secured funding for the first installment of his 21st Century Policing Initiative over Congressional opposition. The new initiative will fund up to 50,000 additional community police officers by 2005 and equip them with new, advanced tools to fight crime. (PL 106-113, signed 11/29/99)June 16Leading the World in Eliminating Child LaborIn June 1999, the President traveled to the International Labor Organization Conference in Geneva, Switzerland to urge adoption of an historic international convention that would ban the worst forms of child labor. The next day, the Child Labor Convention was unanimously adopted by delegates at the conference. It represents the largest investment in American history to end abusive child labor around the globe.June 20Achieving Victory in KosovoPresident Clinton led the NATO Alliance in a 79-day air war that expelled Serb forces from Kosovo and restored self-government to the province, ending a decade of repression and reversing Slobodan Milosevic's brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing. In the face of Allied unity, American military superiority, and strong Presidential leadership, Milosevic withdrew his troops and permitted international peacekeepers to begin returning refugees. (3/24-6/20/99)October 29Medical Privacy Protections AnnouncedPresident Clinton announced new regulations to protect the privacy of personal medical records. The President's action gave consumers greater access to and control over their records, restricted the disclosure of protected health information to the minimum necessary, and established new disclosure requirements for researchers and others seeking access to health records.November 12Financial Modernization Legislation EnactedPresident Clinton signed the Financial Modernization Act into law, finally revamping a banking system that had been in place since the Great Depression. The new law will increase innovation and competition in the financial services industry, including traditional banking, insurance and securities industries, giving consumers greater choice and lower prices. The President insisted that the new regulatory structure permit banking institutions to expand into these newly authorized lines of business only if they satisfactorily serve the credit needs of their communities, and that the law include many of the consumer privacy provisions he proposed. (PL 106-102, signed 11/12/99)November 18Expanded Federal Investment in After-School and Summer School ProgramsPresident Clinton signed a significant increase in 21st Century Community Learning Centers, expanding the federal investment in after-school and summer school programs from a small pilot project. This initiative currently serves over 850,000 Americans nationwide, and will serve 1.3 million children next year.November 29Work Incentives Improvement Act SignedAfter months of congressional inaction, President Clinton insisted that Congress pass the Work Incentives Improvement Act as a condition of the budget agreement. This bipartisan Act allows people with disabilities to maintain their Medicare or Medicaid coverage when they go to work. This law represents one of the most important legislative advances for people with disabilities since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (PL 106-113, signed 11/29/99)Leveraged $90 Billion in International Debt ReliefPresident Clinton has been an international leader in recognizing and solving the debt problems of developing countries. To meet the commitments he made at the G-7 Economic Summit in Cologne in June and at his address to the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in September, President Clinton secured funds from Congress to leverage over $90 billion of debt relief for developing nations. Along with funds from other creditor nations, this plan tripled the amount of debt relief available to the world's poorest nations. (PL 106-113, signed 11/29/99)December 14Enacted New Legislation to Help Young People Leaving Foster CareToday, when young people emancipate from foster care, they face numerous health risks, but too often lose their health insurance. The new law grants states the option for these young people to remain eligible for Medicaid up to age 21. HHS issued guidance to all State Medicaid Directors encouraging them to take up this option. (Public Law 106-169)2000March 17Historic Smith & Wesson AgreementThe President announced the Administration's historic Agreement with several cities and counties and the nation's largest handgun manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, to reform the way they design, distribute and market their products. Among the key provisions are new design standards to make guns safer and prevent accidental shootings and gun deaths, such as locking devices on handguns and the incorporation of smart gun technology, and sales and distribution controls to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and to crack down on illegal gun traffickers, such as cutting off dealers that sell a disproportionate share of crime guns and not selling to dealers who sell at gun shows unless background checks are conducted.April 7Senior Citizen's Freedom to Work Act PassedIn his January 1999 State of the Union Address the President stated that "we should eliminate the limits on what seniors on Social Security can earn." In 2000, the House and Senate unanimously voted to eliminate the retirement earnings test for people above the normal retirement age. (PL 106-182, signed 4/7/00)April 15Created New National Monument To Preserve Ancient SequoiasPresident Clinton signed a proclamation creating the Giant Sequoia National Monument. This 328,000-acre monument will ensure lasting protection for 34 groves of ancient sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. (4/15/00)May 18Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act SignedExpands two-way trade and create incentives for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the Caribbean Basin to continue reforming their economies and participate more fully in the benefits of the global economy. This area forms the sixth largest export market for the United States. (PL 106-200, signed 5/18/00)June 7Providing Medicare Reimbursement For Costs Associated with Participation in Clinical TrialsThe President issued an Executive Memorandum directing the Medicare program to revise its payment policy and immediately begin to explicitly reimburse providers for the cost of routine patient care associated with participation in clinical trials. HHS was directed to take additional action to promote the participation of Medicare beneficiaries in clinical trials for all diseases, including activities to increase beneficiary awareness of the new coverage option and actions to ensure that the information gained from important clinical trials is used to inform coverage decisions by properly structuring the trial.June 9Preserved Four Unique and Irreplaceable National MonumentsPresident Clinton signed proclamations creating four new national monuments to protect federal lands representing unique, irreplaceable pieces of America's natural and cultural heritage. The four are the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon, the Hanford Reach National Monument in south central Washington, and the Ironwood Forest National Monument in southern Arizona.June 30Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act SignedThis Act eliminated legal barriers to using electronic technology to form and sign contracts, collect and store documents, and send and receive notices and disclosures. It also contained important protections making sure that consumers shopping on-line are protected to the same extent as paper transactions. (PL 106-229, signed 6/30/00)July 1Campaign Finance Disclosure EnactedPresident Clinton signed the first new campaign finance reform legislation in 20 years, closing a loophole that allowed tax-exempt groups to use undisclosed donors to pay for political ad campaigns. (PL 106-230, signed 7/1/00)July 13Plan Colombia EnactedPresident Clinton proposed a new aid package to bolster democracy and combat drug trafficking in Colombia. The agreement will enhance alternative development, strengthen civil justice and democratic institutions, and provide assistance aimed at reducing the flow of cocaine and other narcotics to the United States. (PL 106-246, signed 7/13/00)October 10China-PNTR EnactedThis Act was a crucial step to complete a major trade goal of the Clinton-Gore Administration, opening China's markets to American manufactured goods, farm products and services by allowing China to become part of the WTO, forcing it to slash import barriers against American goods and services. The United States agreed to maintain market access policies we currently apply to China. (PL 106-286, signed 10/10/00)October 24Providing Health Insurance to Women With Breast CancerPresident Clinton enacted legislation to provide a new Medicaid option to provide needed insurance coverage to the thousands of uninsured women with breast and cervical cancer detected by Federally supported screening programs. This new proposal will help eliminate the current and frequently overwhelming financial barriers to treatment for these women.October 27Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000The President signed this landmark legislation, which expands and strengthens the Violence Against Women Act, passed as part of the Crime Bill in 1994. The legislation also provides new tools and resources to combat the worldwide scourge of trafficking in persons and helps American victims of terrorism abroad to collect court-awarded compensation. From 1993 through 1998, violence against women by intimate partners fell by 21 percent. (PL 106-386, 10/27/00)Reauthorizing the Older Americans ActThe Older Americans Act ensures that millions of seniors nationwide have access to meals, nursing home ombudsmen, legal assistance, elder abuse prevention, employment and transportation services that are essential to their dignity and independence. This legislation includes the National Family Caregiver Support Program — a key Administration priority designed to provide respite care and other supportive services to help hundreds of thousands of families who are struggling to care for their older loved ones who are ill or disabled.November 13New Worker Health And Safety Rules To Prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries AnnouncedThe new rule announced by the Administration is aimed at reducing approximately 1.8 million repetitive stress injuries that affect workers. Based on extensive scientific research and public comment, the Administration's proposal would save 300,000 workers the pain and suffering associated with these injuries, and save American businesses $9 billion a year in workers compensation and lost productivity. The final rules will take effect January 16, 2001.December 15Passed $1.2 Billion for Emergency School RepairsIn the FY 2001 budget, President Clinton won passage of an historic $1.2 billion initiative for emergency school renovation. The initiative will help schools make much-needed repairs, such as roofs, heating and cooling systems, and electrical wiring. The assistance would be targeted to high-need districts and includes $75 million for public schools with high concentrations of Native American students.Passed the New Markets InitiativeThe FY 2001 budget also includes historic bipartisan New Markets and community renewal initiative -- the most significant effort ever to help hard-pressed communities lift themselves up through private investment and entrepreneurship. With the help of the New Markets tax credit, 40 strengthened empowerment zones and 40 renewal communities, this initiative will spur billions of dollars in private investment, and ensure that every American will share in nation's economic prosperity.Budget Includes Important Investments in Health CareThe President's longstanding commitment to expand access to quality health care for all Americans is reflected in the FY 2001 budget, which includes a multi-billion dollar effort to provide low-income children, seniors and people with disabilities, and those leaving welfare for work, with health care coverage. It also expands preventive benefits like cancer and glaucoma screenings for Medicare beneficiaries.