Building Bipartisanship, Moving America Forward

Senator Brown’s record has earned him a reputation as the most bipartisan member of the Massachusetts delegation and a bipartisan leader in the United States Senate. He votes based on the issue, not the party. Senator Brown has worked across the aisle to provide key votes on the HIRE Act jobs bill, Wall Street re-form, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ratification of the New START treaty with Russia, cracking down on China’s currency manipulation, and for more disaster relief funding to help Massachusetts and other states recover from recent natural disasters. 

Nine of Senator Brown’s legislative initiatives have made their way to the President’s desk in a little over two years. Senator Brown stood with President Obama at the White House on three separate occasions to see his legislative efforts signed into law. 

Fighting for Jobs and a Strong Massachusetts Economy

With an unemployment rate that remains at unacceptably high levels, Senator Brown’s top priority has been to advance policies that will create and save Massachusetts jobs.

• Repealing Burdensome Regulations: Senator Brown led the charge to repeal the onerous 3 per-cent withholding tax that would have saddled Massachusetts employers who do business with the government with severe cash flow problems. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) considered the requirement to be an unfunded mandate on state and local governments. The provision would have cost billions more to implement than it would have raised in revenue. Brown’s repeal bill was signed into law on November 21, 2011. 
• Hiring our Returning Heroes: Senator Brown was stunned by reports that the unemployment rate among recent veterans was in some cases more than twice the national average. Brown introduced his own “Hire a Hero” bill in February 2011 to create incentives for businesses to hire unemployed vets, and after nearly a year of advocacy, the Brown-sponsored “VOW to Hire Heroes” amendment was signed into law on November 21, 2011. 
• “Crowdfunding” to Boost Small Businesses: Studies by the Kauffman Foundation and other groups have found that new businesses have been the primary driver of American job creation over the past 25 years. With many businesses lacking funding needed to grow, Senator Brown introduced the first “crowdfunding” bill in the Senate, which would allow entrepreneurs to raise up to $1 million in capital from regular citizens over the internet without being subject to onerous red tape. Brown worked across the aisle with Senators Michael Bennet of Colorado and Jeff Merkley of Oregon to intro-duce a compromise version of the bill - the CROWDFUND Act - that was signed into law on April 5, 2012. 

Holding Washington Accountable

Senator Brown has worked to bring the highest ethical standards to Washington, becoming a champion of efforts to clean up some of the worst abuses of public trust on Capitol Hill. Senator Brown has never requested earmarks and has worked to block other forms of congressional pork, voting to restrain Wash-ington’s out-of-control spending. 

• Ethics Reform—Stopping Insider Trading by Members of Congress: Senator Brown led the Senate movement to ban insider trading by members of Congress. On November 15, 2011, Brown introduced the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, known as the STOCK Act. Brown was also the first senator to request a hearing on Congressional insider trading and was invited to testify on his bill before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The amended STOCK Act was signed into law on April 4, 2012. 
• Helping Bay State Citizens Stand up to Washington: Through investigation and oversight hear-ings, one of which was held in Boston, Senator Brown has uncovered rampant abuse at the fisheries regulator, the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where officials levied dis-proportionate fines on Massachusetts fishermen, shredded documents, and lied to investigators. Brown also held a veterans field hearing in Quincy to address the unprecedented claims backlog and how to help our returning heroes transition back into the workforce. 
• Access To Necessary Drugs To Save Children’s Lives: Senator Brown introduced legislation to ensure that children’s hospitals have access to discounts on orphan drugs that are used to treat rare diseases. These discounts were eliminated under the federal health care bill signed into law by the President in March 2010. The bill was signed into law on December 15, 2010. 

Keeping America Safe and Helping the Troops

As a 32-year member of the National Guard, Senator Brown has led the charge on a range of legislative efforts to enhance national security and help service members and their families. 

• Helping our Troops Fight Back Against Financial Fraud and Scams: Young soldiers with steady paychecks are often targeted by financial fraud and scams. Senator Brown worked across the aisle with Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island to introduce and pass the amendment that created the new Office of Service Member Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), cur-rently headed by Holly Petraeus. Brown has maintained his steady support for the CFPB, supporting the nomination and appointment of Director Richard Cordray. 
• Fixing Arlington National Cemetery: Senator Brown introduced and passed legislation with Sen-ator Claire McCaskill of Missouri to provide oversight to make certain that those responsible for managing the cemetery are meeting the highest standards when it comes to ensuring the proper burials of America’s fallen heroes. The bill was signed into law on December 22, 2010. 
• Stopping Contracting Fraud that Endangers our Troops: After a long investigation which re-vealed that U.S. contracting dollars were ending up in enemy hands, Senator Brown introduced the No Contracting with the Enemy Act, which makes it much easier for U.S. contracting officials to quickly void government contracts with businesses that are found to be funneling taxpayer re-sources to groups such as Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Brown’s bill was signed into law on December 31, 2011. 
• Fighting for a Fair Housing Allowance for Guardsmen Deployed Overseas: Senator Brown learned of a flaw in the National Guard housing allowance formula during his National Guard training deployment to Afghanistan in August 2011. A member of the Yankee Brigade approached him with a plea for help, as his housing allowance had been cut due to an arbitrary technicality when he shifted to active duty, leaving his family struggling to pay the bills. Brown successfully included a legislative fix in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which will make certain that Guards-men and their families receive their fair housing allowance when deployed overseas. This bill was signed into law on December 31, 2011. 

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