Editing Joe Biden (section)

=== Equality movements ===
In the mid-1970s, Biden was one of the Senate's strongest opponents of [[race-integration busing]]. His Delaware constituents strongly opposed it, and such opposition nationwide later led his party to mostly abandon school integration policies.<ref name="Gadsden">{{Cite news |last=Gadsden |first=Brett |date=May 5, 2019 |title=Here's How Deep Biden's Busing Problem Runs |newspaper=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/05/joe-biden-busing-problem-226791 |url-status=live |access-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505123922/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/05/joe-biden-busing-problem-226791 |archive-date=May 5, 2019}}</ref> In his first Senate campaign, Biden had expressed support for busing to remedy ''de jure'' segregation, as in the South, but opposed its use to remedy ''de facto'' segregation arising from racial patterns of neighborhood residency, as in Delaware; he opposed a proposed constitutional amendment banning busing entirely.{{sfn|Gadsden|2012|p=214}} Biden supported a 1976 measure forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting students beyond the school closest to them.<ref name="Gadsden" /> He co-sponsored a 1977 amendment closing loopholes in that measure, which President Carter signed into law in 1978.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raffel |first=Jeffrey A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gA1JljCpxzEC&pg=PA90 |title=Historical Dictionary of School Segregation and Desegregation: The American Experience |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-313-29502-7 |page=90 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930184823/https://books.google.com/books?id=gA1JljCpxzEC&pg=PA90 |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:President Ronald Reagan meeting with Senators Joe Biden and William Cohen.jpg|thumb|left|Biden shaking hands with President [[Ronald Reagan]], 1984|alt=Photo of Biden shaking hands with Reagan in the Oval Office]]

Biden became [[ranking minority member]] of the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]] in 1981. He was a Democratic floor manager for the successful passage of the [[Comprehensive Crime Control Act]] in 1984. His supporters praised him for modifying some of the law's worst provisions, and it was his most important legislative accomplishment to that time.<ref name="cby-44">''Current Biography Yearbook 1987'', p. 44.</ref> In 1994, Biden helped pass the [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act]], which included [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban|a ban on assault weapons]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Fifield |first=Anna |date=January 4, 2013 |title=Biden faces key role in second term |newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|url=https://www.ft.com/content/412f47b0-5694-11e2-aad0-00144feab49a |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210720074130/https://www.ft.com/content/412f47b0-5694-11e2-aad0-00144feab49a|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Scherer |first=Michael |date=January 16, 2013 |title=America's New Gunfight: Inside the Campaign to Avert Mass Shootings |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| url=https://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/americas-new-gunfight-inside-the-campaign-to-avert-mass-shootings/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081050/https://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/americas-new-gunfight-inside-the-campaign-to-avert-mass-shootings/ |archive-date=January 3, 2021}} Cover story.</ref> and the [[Violence Against Women Act]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Finley|first=Bruce|date=September 19, 2014|title=Biden: Men who don't stop violence against women are "cowards"|newspaper=[[The Denver Post]]|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2014/09/19/biden-men-who-dont-stop-violence-against-women-are-cowards/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013133013/https://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_26568257/vice-president-biden-denver-discuss-domestic-violence-issues|archive-date=October 13, 2015|access-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref> which he has called his most significant legislation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Domestic Violence|url=https://biden.senate.gov/issues/issue/?id=975b0cf4-ce25-42cc-b63d-072fb81e8618|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822144642/https://biden.senate.gov/issues/issue/?id=975b0cf4-ce25-42cc-b63d-072fb81e8618|archive-date=August 22, 2008|access-date=September 9, 2008|publisher=[[United States Senate|Biden senate website]]}}</ref> The 1994 crime law was unpopular among progressives and criticized for resulting in mass incarceration;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herndon |first=Astead W. |date=January 21, 2019 |title=On King Holiday, Democrats Convey Hope, Remorse and Invective Against Trump |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/us/politics/biden-crime-bill-regrets.html |access-date=January 21, 2019 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110162903/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/us/politics/biden-crime-bill-regrets.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Jonathan|last1=Martin|first2=Alexander|last2=Burns|date=January 6, 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/us/politics/joe-biden-2020-president.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110163104/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/us/politics/joe-biden-2020-president.html|title= Biden in 2020? Allies Say He Sees Himself as Democrats' Best Hope|url-status=live|archive-date=November 10, 2020|access-date=August 29, 2021|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Biden later expressed regret for passing the bill.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schor |first1=Elana |last2=Kinnard |first2=Meg |title=Biden says he regrets 1990s crime bill, calls it a 'big mistake' at MLK Day event |url=https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/01/21/biden-says-he-regrets-1990-s-crime-bill-calls-big-mistake-mlk-day-event/2639190002/ |access-date=July 20, 2021 |newspaper=[[The News Journal]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=January 21, 2019 |archive-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704120222/https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/01/21/biden-says-he-regrets-1990-s-crime-bill-calls-big-mistake-mlk-day-event/2639190002/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:President Bill Clinton meeting with Senator Joe Biden and Janet Reno in the Oval Office (06).jpg|thumb|Biden meeting with attorney general [[Janet Reno]], 1993]]

Biden voted for a 1993 provision that deemed homosexuality incompatible with military life, thereby banning gay people from serving in the armed forces.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Epstein |first1=Reid J. |last2=Lerer |first2=Lisa |date=September 20, 2019 |title=Joe Biden Has Tense Exchange Over L.G.B.T.Q. Record |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/us/politics/lgbt-forum-2020.html |access-date=April 15, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416100800/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/us/politics/lgbt-forum-2020.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Del Real |first=Jose A. |title=Sanders attacks Biden's record on gay rights and women's issues |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-calls-biden-my-friend-then-he-goes-on-the-attack/2020/03/08/20a23f86-60d0-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html |date=March 8, 2020 |access-date=April 15, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-date=March 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308233903/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-calls-biden-my-friend-then-he-goes-on-the-attack/2020/03/08/20a23f86-60d0-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1996, he voted for the [[Defense of Marriage Act]], which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, thereby barring people in such marriages from equal protection under federal law and allowing states to do the same.<ref name="NYT Biden Evolution on LGBTQ">{{Cite news |last1=Nagourney |first1=Adam |last2=Kaplan |first2=Thomas |date=June 21, 2020 |title=Behind Joe Biden's Evolution on L.G.B.T.Q. Rights |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/us/politics/biden-gay-rights-lgbt.html |access-date=January 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601215617/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/us/politics/biden-gay-rights-lgbt.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015, the act was ruled unconstitutional in ''[[Obergefell&nbsp;v. Hodges]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=de Vogue |first1=Ariane |last2=Diamond |first2=Jeremy |title=Supreme Court rules states must allow same-sex marriage |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/26/politics/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-ruling/index.html |date=June 27, 2015 |access-date=June 12, 2019 |publisher=[[CNN]] |archive-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627065146/https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/26/politics/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-ruling/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Biden was critical of [[United States Office of the Independent Counsel|Independent Counsel]] [[Ken Starr]] during the 1990s [[Whitewater controversy]] and [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal]] investigations, saying "it's going to be a cold day in hell" before another independent counsel would be granted similar powers.<ref>''Almanac of American Politics'' 2000, p. 372.</ref> He voted to acquit during the [[impeachment of Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{cite news |date=February 12, 1999 |title=How the senators voted on impeachment |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/02/12/senate.vote/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081326/https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/02/12/senate.vote/ |archive-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref> During the 2000s, Biden sponsored bankruptcy legislation sought by credit card issuers.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> [[Bill Clinton]] vetoed the bill in 2000, but it passed in 2005 as the [[Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act]],<ref name="aap08-bio" /> with Biden being one of only 18 Democrats to vote for it, while leading Democrats and consumer rights organizations opposed it.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |date=December 2, 2019 |title=How Biden Helped Create the Student Debt Problem He Now Promises to Fix |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/02/joe-biden-student-loan-debt-2005-act-2020 |access-date=March 8, 2020 |archive-date=March 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306071514/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/02/joe-biden-student-loan-debt-2005-act-2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> As a senator, Biden strongly supported increased [[Amtrak]] funding and rail security.<ref name="aap08-366" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Verma|first=Pranshu|date=October 24, 2020|title=Biden, an Amtrak Evangelist, Could Be a Lifeline for a Rail Agency in Crisis|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/us/biden-amtrak-covid.html|access-date=November 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119015056/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/us/biden-amtrak-covid.html|url-status=live}}</ref>