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(Tampa Bay Times) ![\\"Amy](\\" By Amy Sherman June 23, 2015 # Did Hillary Clinton have her name on only three laws in eight years as Jeb Bush says? As Jeb Bush reels off his accomplishments as governor cutting taxes and slashing state jobs, he says he’s ready to put his record up against Hillary Clinton’s. A day after his announcement speech at Miami Dade College, Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked Bush to comment on the Democrat’s record. Hannity: \"Can you name in a serious way one specific Hillary accomplishment, or what would you say that\'s good about her?\" Bush: \"She\'s smart. I think she\'s smart. I think she loves her country. I don\'t ascribe bad motives for people that I don\'t agree with. But as a senator, I think she passed -- she has her name on three laws in eight years.\" There is some truth to Bush’s claim about laws passed, but it doesn’t tell the full story about her legislative accomplishments as a senator. Laws with Clinton’s name Clinton was first elected as a senator from New York in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. She resigned to become secretary of state, so her Senate tenure was from January 2001 to January 2009. Bush’s spokesman sent us a list of three bills Clinton sponsored that became law. These laws were uncontroversial matters that passed by unanimous consent in the Senate and voice vote in the House and then were signed by President George W. Bush: * S. 1241: A bill to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the State of New York. Bush signed the bill Dec. 3, 2004. * S. 3613: A bill to name a post office the \"Major George Quamo Post Office Building.\" Bush signed the bill Oct. 6, 2006. * S. 3145: A bill to designate a highway in New York as the Timothy J. Russert highway. Bush signed the bill July 23, 2008. But there are other ways that Senators can influence legislation even if they don’t end up as the sponsor of the final version: #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on September 21, 2024 in an event in Bethlehem, Pa. “The last union member on a national ticket (was) Ronald Reagan.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 24, 2024 * Co-sponsored bills: There were 74 bills that became law that Clinton co-sponsored. For example, she was one of 54 cosponsors on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed in January 2009 by President Barack Obama. (The fact that she co-sponsored these bills doesn’t tell us much about her role in their passage, but Bush referred to bills that \"she has her name\" on, so it’s worth noting those she co-sponsored.) * She co-sponsored one version but another version passed: For example, she co-sponsored S.1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in January 2009 while the version that passed was H.R. 1. * Sponsored amendments: She put forward amendments that influenced laws sponsored by others. She sponsored three amendments on a bill for security and disaster funding. The amendments passed in 2007 and the bill passed in 2008. Two experts who study Congress -- Norman Ornstein, a scholar at American Enterprise Institute, and Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University and Brookings Institution scholar -- said that the number of sponsored or co-sponsored bills signed into law isn’t a thorough measure of effectiveness or productivity for a member of the Senate. \"Offering amendments on the floor, holding hearings, contributing to oversight, helping to negotiate agreements, pushing federal agencies to be responsive to constituents back home -- all of these might contribute to making a senator ‘effective,’ but none of these endeavors of course would show up in a count of bills sponsored or passed or enacted,\" Binder said. As for Bush’s claim about the number of laws \"she has her name on,\" Binder said that it’s fair game to also look at the number of bills Clinton co- sponsored. \"Because ‘have her name on’ is so vague, I don\'t see the grounds on which to exclude co-sponsored bills,\" she said. Ornstein said that the names that go on bills of any real significance are the committee chairs -- for example the Dodd-Frank 2010 banking reform bill. Sen. Chris Dodd and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank were the major figures behind the law, but other senators also had roles and don’t have their names on the bill. Meanwhile, the Affordable Care Act \"does not have Al Franken\'s name on it, but a really important provision, the medical-loss ratio, was his handiwork,\" Ornstein said. \"Effectiveness can be a behind-the-scenes role, adding a serious amendment, working inside to get the language exactly right. By any reasonable standard, including the private comments of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle when she was in the Senate, she was very effective.\" Our ruling Bush said that as a senator, Clinton had her name \"on three laws in eight years.\" Bush used vague language here, so it’s fair game to look at the three sponsored bills and the 74 co-sponsored ones that passed. Also, congressional experts warn that legislative influence goes beyond having your name as a sponsor or co-sponsor. Senators weigh in with amendments, debate and negotiations. The statement is partially accurate, but leaves out important details so we rate this claim Half True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Fox News, Sean Hannity interview with Jeb Bush and clip about Hillary Clinton’s laws, June 16, 2015 GovTrack.us, Search of bills sponsored and co-sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton, January 2001-January 2009 GovTrack.us, \"Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,\" July 21, 2010 Congress.gov, H.R. 2638, Sept. 30, 2008 Congress.gov, SA 2474 SA 2438 SA 2390, July 25-26, 2007 U.S. Library of Congress, S. 1828 Influenza Vaccine Security Act of 2005, Introduced Oct. 6, 2005 U.S. Library of Congress, S. 1283 Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2005, Introduced June 21, 2005 U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Press release about Tricare, Sept. 29, 2006 The Hill, \"Jeb knocks Hillary’s record in the Senate and at State,\" June 16, 2015 USA Today, \"Can Hillary be elected commander in chief?,\" July 18, 2005 Niagara Falls Reporter, \"Mountain views: Principi Hero behind BRAC process,\" Aug. 30, 2005 Houston Chronicle, \"Career switch imperils teacher’s social security,\" May 2, 2002 PolitiFact, \"Clinton’s work has been low profile,\" Jan. 7, 2008 PolitiFact Fact Sheet, \"Clinton. Obama. Their bills,\" March 28, 2008 PolitiFact, \"Dan Sullivan says Sen. Mark Begich has only passed one law,\" Sept. 22, 2014 PolitiFact, \"How many bills has Ted Cruz passed in the Senate? 1,\" March 29, 2015 PolitiFact Florida, \"Group says Connie Mack has passed only one bill in Congress in seven years,\" Aug. 6, 2012 Interview, Matt Gorman, Jeb Bush campaign spokesman, June 17, 2015 Interview, Joshua Schwerin, Hillary Clinton campaign spokeswoman, June 17, 2015 Interview, Sarah Binder, political science professor at George Washington University and Brookings Institute scholar, June 17, 2015 Interview, Norman Ornstein, scholar at American Enterprise Institute, June 17, 2015 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Amy Sherman slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 27, 2024 in a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota: During the 2020 Minnesota riots after George Floyd’s murder, Gov. Tim Walz didn’t call in the National Guard, “so, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 3, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Kamala Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “wants to defund the police.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 30, 2024 in a press conference in Georgia: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was calling President Joe Biden after Hurricane Helene but \"hasn\'t been able to get him.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jared Moskowitz stated on September 19, 2024 in una audiencia en la Cámara de Representantes: “El Proyecto 2025 quiere deshacerse de la NOAA” y del Servicio Nacional de Meteorología. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 27, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jared Moskowitz stated on September 19, 2024 in a House hearing: “Project 2025 wants to get rid of NOAA” and the National Weather Service. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • September 26, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 18, 2024 in a speech in New York: When Haitians go to school in Springfield, Ohio, they “take the place of our children in school” and “each one will have a private interpreter.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • September 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": A zero-tolerance policy during the Trump administration \"led to less family separation than under Kamala Harris\' border policies.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 26, 2024 in an interview with a podcaster: Vice President Kamala Harris “is a communist. … She is really a Marxist.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas: “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 14, 2024 in a speech in California: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on August 11, 2024 in an interview on CNN State of the Union: Gov. Tim Walz delivered paid family leave in Minnesota but “Republicans are blocking” a Biden-Harris proposal. ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 16, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 2, 2024 in a video: In Pompano Beach, Florida, Somali immigrants illegally in the U.S. were in line to get driver’s licenses and “all you need to vote is a driver\'s license.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 27, 2024 in a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota: During the 2020 Minnesota riots after George Floyd’s murder, Gov. Tim Walz didn’t call in the National Guard, “so, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 3, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Kamala Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “wants to defund the police.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 30, 2024 in a press conference in Georgia: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was calling President Joe Biden after Hurricane Helene but \"hasn\'t been able to get him.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jared Moskowitz stated on September 19, 2024 in una audiencia en la Cámara de Representantes: “El Proyecto 2025 quiere deshacerse de la NOAA” y del Servicio Nacional de Meteorología. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 27, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jared Moskowitz stated on September 19, 2024 in a House hearing: “Project 2025 wants to get rid of NOAA” and the National Weather Service. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • September 26, 2024 ### Did Hillary Clinton have her name on only three laws in eight years as Jeb Bush says? * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump Jr. stated on September 9, 2024 in a post: “Less than three months ago, Kamala Harris and her administration blocked 300,000 unvetted Haitian migrants from being deported out of our country.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 30, 2024 in an X post: Photo shows President Joe Biden lounging on the beach \"while towns all over America were being wiped out” by Hurricane Helene. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 30, 2024 in in social media posts: “Biden Announces: ‘2.4 billion more to Ukraine’ but ‘no more aid for Hurricane Helene.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 24, 2024 in a post: “Olympic boxer Imane Khelif fails gender test, stripped of all titles, lifetime ban and $25 million prize money revoked!” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Grace Abels • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 30, 2024 in a press conference in Georgia: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was calling President Joe Biden after Hurricane Helene but \"hasn\'t been able to get him.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 29, 2024 in an Instagram post: “Video shows Kamala (Harris) responding to someone talking through her earrings that she allegedly wore during the Trump vs. Harris debate.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elissa Slotkin stated on September 30, 2024 in a Meta ad: U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers “believes he should make that decision” about whether to end pregnancies. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Sheehy stated on September 27, 2024 in an ad: U.S. Sen. Jon Tester “voted to give taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 26, 2024 in an Instagram post: “Kamala involved in P-Diddy’s rapes and assaults.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on September 10, 2024 in the ABC News presidential debate: “Donald Trump said he was going to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. He never did. We did.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Jacob Gardenswartz • September 30, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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As a senator Hillary Clinton has her name on three laws in eight years