Did Kerry Pass 5 Bills, Or 56?

An excellent post from Cold Hearted Truth:

Last Night the President suggested that John Kerry had written only 5 bills that passed... Kerry suggested 56. Who was right? Well technically neither.

While Kerry may have the semantics of the issue on his side, as 56 of his bills did pass the Senate; truth is that only 11 of those bills actually passed both houses and became law. Of those 11 bills 4 designated special days or weeks with titles... 1 expressed solidarity with a family... 1 renamed a building... and won awarded Jackie Robinson a congressional Gold Medal. Two appropriated funds for existing programs, one amended an existing act, and one reauthorized an existing program...