Joe Biden

== U.S. Senate (1973–2009) ==
{{Main|US Senate career of Joe Biden}}

=== Senate activities ===
[[File:Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter.jpg|thumb|Biden with President [[Jimmy Carter]], 1979|alt=Scanned photo of Biden and Carter smiling at each other in the Oval Office. On the photo, Carter wrote: "Best wishes to my friend Joe Biden"]]
[[File:Biden-Church-Sadat.jpg|thumb|right|Biden (left) and [[Frank Church]] (middle) with [[president of Egypt]] [[Anwar Sadat|Anwar el-Sadat]] after signing the [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]], 1979]]
[[Secretary of the United States Senate|Secretary of the Senate]] [[Francis R. Valeo]] swore Biden in at the [[Delaware Division of the Wilmington Medical Center]] in January 1973.<ref name="ap-sworn">{{Cite news |date=January 6, 1973 |title=Oath Solemn |page=11 |work=[[Spokane Daily Chronicle]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yadYAAAAIBAJ&pg=5556,1874966 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103080828/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yadYAAAAIBAJ&pg=5556%2C1874966 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Witcover|2010|pp=93, 98}} Present were his sons Beau (whose leg was still in traction from the automobile accident) and Hunter and other family members.<ref name="ap-sworn" />{{sfn|Witcover|2010|pp=93, 98}} At age 30, he was the [[List of youngest members of the United States Congress#List of youngest U.S. senators|seventh-youngest senator in U.S. history]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenwald |first=Michael S. |date=January 11, 2021 |title=Biden, once one of the nation's youngest senators, will be its oldest president |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/11/youngest-senators-joe-biden/ |access-date=January 4, 2023 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307043412/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/11/youngest-senators-joe-biden/ |url-status=live }}</ref> To see his sons, Biden traveled by [[Amtrak|train]] between his Delaware home and D.C.<ref name="family values">{{Cite news |last=Pride |first=Mike |date=December 1, 2007 |title=Biden a smart guy who has lived his family values |work=[[Concord Monitor]] |url=https://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071201/OPINION/712010307 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203001952/http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20071201%2FOPINION%2F712010307 |archive-date=December 3, 2007}}</ref>—74 minutes each way—and maintained this habit throughout his 36 years in the Senate.<ref name="aap08-bio" />

Elected to the U.S. Senate in [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 1972|1972]], Biden was reelected in [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 1978|1978]], [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 1984|1984]], [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 1990|1990]], [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 1996|1996]], [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 2002|2002]], and [[United States Senate election in Delaware, 2008|2008]], regularly receiving about 60% of the vote.<ref name="aap08-366" /> He was junior senator to [[William Roth]], who was first elected in 1970, until Roth was defeated in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wald |first=Matthew L. |date=December 15, 2003 |title=William V. Roth Jr., Veteran of U.S. Senate, Dies at 82 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/15/us/william-v-roth-jr-veteran-of-us-senate-dies-at-82.html |access-date=January 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104010233/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/15/us/william-v-roth-jr-veteran-of-us-senate-dies-at-82.html |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2024}}, he was the [[List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service|19th-longest-serving senator]] in U.S. history.<ref name="26 Aug 2018">{{cite web |title=Longest Serving Senators |url=https://www.senate.gov/senators/longest_serving_senators.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919101452/https://www.senate.gov/senators/longest_serving_senators.htm |archive-date=September 19, 2018 |access-date=August 26, 2018 |website=[[United States Senate]] |publisher=United States Senate}}</ref>

During his early years in the Senate, Biden focused on consumer protection and environmental issues and called for greater government accountability.<ref name="time-200-fut">{{Cite news |date=July 15, 1974 |title=200 Faces for the Future |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879402-6,00.html |access-date=August 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813045404/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879402-6,00.html |archive-date=August 13, 2013}}</ref> In a 1974 interview, he described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens' concerns and healthcare, but conservative on other issues, including abortion and [[military conscription]].<ref name="The Washingtonian-June-1974">{{Cite news |last=Kelley |first=Kitty |date=June 1, 1974 |title=Death and the All-American Boy |work=[[Washingtonian (magazine)|Washingtonian]] |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/1974/06/01/joe-biden-kitty-kelley-1974-profile-death-and-the-all-american-boy/ |access-date=March 8, 2020 |archive-date=November 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110162757/https://www.washingtonian.com/1974/06/01/joe-biden-kitty-kelley-1974-profile-death-and-the-all-american-boy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Biden was the first U.S. senator to endorse [[Jimmy Carter]] for president in the [[1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1976 Democratic primary]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 29, 2021 |title=Biden and Carter, longtime allies, reconnect in Georgia |url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-georgia-health-coronavirus-voting-rights-0940cfedf2e7d58612ff58f4ca9a04f4 |access-date=May 13, 2023 |work=Associated Press News |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513235651/https://apnews.com/article/politics-georgia-health-coronavirus-voting-rights-0940cfedf2e7d58612ff58f4ca9a04f4 |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter went on to win the Democratic nomination and defeat incumbent Republican President [[Gerald Ford]] in the [[1976 United States presidential election|1976 election]]. Biden also worked on [[arms control]].<ref name="nyt-foreign" /><ref name="cby-45">''Current Biography Yearbook 1987'', p. 45.</ref> After Congress failed to ratify the [[SALT II]] Treaty signed in 1979 by [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet general secretary]] [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and President [[Jimmy Carter]], Biden met with Soviet foreign minister [[Andrei Gromyko]] to communicate American concerns and secured changes that addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's objections.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Salacuse|first=Jeswald W.|url=https://archive.org/details/leadingleaders00jesw|title=Leading Leaders: How to Manage Smart, Talented, Rich and Powerful People|publisher=[[American Management Association]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8144-0855-1}} p. 144.</ref> He received considerable attention when he excoriated Secretary of State [[George Shultz]] at a Senate hearing for the Reagan administration's support of South Africa despite its continued policy of [[apartheid]].<ref name="dmn-87" />

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 |work=[[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]]'' [[Racial segregation|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 name="Raffel1998">{{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|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 name="time-cov-0113">{{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/http://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/http://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> in 2019, Biden called his role in passing the bill a "big mistake", citing its policy on [[crack cocaine]] and saying that the bill "trapped an entire generation".<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>

Biden voted for a 1993 provision that deemed homosexuality incompatible with military life, thereby banning gays 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 |work=[[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 individuals in such marriages from equal protection under federal law and allowing states to do the same.<ref>{{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 [[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 President 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" /> 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>

=== Brain surgeries ===
In February 1988, after several episodes of increasingly severe neck pain, Biden underwent surgery to correct a leaking [[intracranial berry aneurysm]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Altman |first=Lawrence K. |date=February 23, 1998 |title=The Doctor's World; Subtle Clues Are Often The Only Warnings Of Perilous Aneurysms |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/23/science/the-doctors-world-subtle-clues-are-often-the-only-warnings-of-perilous-aneurysms.html |access-date=August 23, 2008 |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428023004/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/23/science/the-doctors-world-subtle-clues-are-often-the-only-warnings-of-perilous-aneurysms.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nyt-4cmed">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/politics/20health.html|title=Many Holes in Disclosure of Nominees' Health|last=Altman|first=Lawrence K.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 19, 2008|access-date=October 26, 2008|archive-date=February 25, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225194337/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/politics/20health.html|url-status=live}}</ref> While recuperating, he suffered a [[pulmonary embolism]], a serious complication.<ref name="nyt-4cmed" /> After a second aneurysm was surgically repaired in May,<ref name="nyt-4cmed" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/04/us/biden-resting-after-surgery-for-second-brain-aneurysm.html |title=Biden Resting After Surgery For Second Brain Aneurysm |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 4, 1988 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105212210/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/04/us/biden-resting-after-surgery-for-second-brain-aneurysm.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Biden's recuperation kept him away from the Senate for seven months.<ref name="ap-aug22">{{cite news |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/vp-candidate-profile-sen-joe-biden/ |title=V.P. candidate profile: Sen. Joe Biden |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=August 23, 2008 |access-date=September 7, 2008 |first=Calvin |last=Woodward |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230131941/https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/vp-candidate-profile-sen-joe-biden/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Senate Judiciary Committee ===
[[File:Biden Crime Bill.jpg|thumb|Biden speaking at the signing of the [[1994 Crime Bill]] with President [[Bill Clinton]] in 1994|alt=Photo of Senator Biden giving a speech, with uniformed law enforcement officers in the background]]

Biden was a longtime member of the [[Senate Committee on the Judiciary]]. He chaired it from 1987 to 1995 and was a [[ranking member|ranking minority member]] from 1981 to 1987 and again from 1995 to 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Previous Committee Chairman |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/chairman/previous |access-date=May 14, 2023 |publisher=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511035733/https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/chairman/previous |url-status=live }}</ref>

As chair, Biden presided over two highly contentious [[U.S. Supreme Court]] confirmation hearings.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> When [[Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination|Robert Bork was nominated]] in 1988, Biden reversed his approval{{mdashb}} given in an interview the previous year{{mdashb}} of a hypothetical Bork nomination. Conservatives were angered,{{sfn|Bronner|1989|pp=138–139, 214, 305}} but at the hearings' close Biden was praised for his fairness, humor, and courage.{{sfn|Bronner|1989|pp=138–139, 214, 305}}<ref name="nyt-lg-87">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/08/us/washington-talk-the-bork-hearings-for-biden-epoch-of-belief-epoch-of-incredulity.html |title=Washington Talk: The Bork Hearings; For Biden: Epoch of Belief, Epoch of Incredulity |last=Greenhouse |first=Linda |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 8, 1987 |author-link=Linda Greenhouse |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111141909/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/08/us/washington-talk-the-bork-hearings-for-biden-epoch-of-belief-epoch-of-incredulity.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Rejecting the arguments of some Bork opponents,<ref name="aap08-bio" /> Biden framed his objections to Bork in terms of the conflict between Bork's strong [[originalism]] and the view that the [[U.S. Constitution]] provides rights to liberty and privacy beyond those explicitly enumerated in its text.<ref name="nyt-lg-87" /> Bork's nomination was rejected in the committee by a 5–9 vote<ref name="nyt-lg-87" /> and then in the full Senate, 42–58.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/24/us/senate-s-roll-call-on-the-bork-vote.html|title=Senate's Roll-Call On the Bork Vote|date=October 24, 1987|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103084644/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/24/us/senate-s-roll-call-on-the-bork-vote.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

During [[Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination|Clarence Thomas's nomination hearings]] in 1991, Biden's questions on constitutional issues were often convoluted to the point that Thomas sometimes lost track of them,{{sfn|Mayer|Abramson|1994|pp=213, 218, 336}} and Thomas later wrote that Biden's questions were akin to "beanballs".<ref name="thomas-vi">{{cite news |title=Clarence Thomas: A Silent Justice Speaks Out: Part VI: Becoming a Judge—and perhaps a Justice |last=Greenburg |first=Jan Crawford |agency=[[ABC News]] |date=September 30, 2007 |url=https://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=3664944&page=4 |access-date=October 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622121644/https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=3664944&page=4 |archive-date=June 22, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After the committee hearing closed, the public learned that [[Anita Hill]], a [[University of Oklahoma]] law school professor, had accused Thomas of [[Sexual harassment|making unwelcome sexual comments]] when they had worked together.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101289|title=Nina Totenberg, NPR Biography|access-date=May 31, 2008|publisher=[[NPR]]|archive-date=April 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414042451/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101289|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Excerpt from Nina Totenberg's breaking National Public Radio report on Anita Hill's accusation of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas.|url=https://jwa.org/feminism/_html/_transcripts/transcript_JWA071a.htm|access-date=October 5, 2008|date=October 6, 1991|publisher=[[NPR]]|archive-date=February 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221202700/http://jwa.org/feminism/_html/_transcripts/transcript_JWA071a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Biden had known of some of these charges, but initially shared them only with the committee because Hill was then unwilling to testify.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> The committee hearing was reopened and Hill testified, but Biden did not permit testimony from other witnesses, such as a woman who had made similar charges and experts on harassment.<ref name="nyt-hill">{{cite news |url=https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/biden-and-anita-hill-revisited/ |title=Biden and Anita Hill, Revisited |last=Phillips |first=Kate |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 23, 2008 |access-date=September 12, 2008 |archive-date=September 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911204456/http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/biden-and-anita-hill-revisited/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The full Senate confirmed Thomas by a 52–48 vote, with Biden opposed.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> Liberal legal advocates and women's groups felt strongly that Biden had mishandled the hearings and not done enough to support Hill.<ref name="nyt-hill" /> In 2019, he told Hill he regretted his treatment of her, but Hill said afterward she remained unsatisfied.<ref name="NYT-Stolberg-Hulse">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/politics/joe-biden-anita-hill.html|title=Joe Biden Expresses Regret to Anita Hill, but She Says 'I'm Sorry' Is Not Enough|last1=Stolberg|first1=Sheryl Gay|date=April 25, 2019|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 25, 2019|last2=Martin|first2=Jonathan|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425205328/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/politics/joe-biden-anita-hill.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Senate Foreign Relations Committee ===
[[File:Bill Clinton and officials on Air Force One.jpg|thumb|Senator Biden accompanies President Clinton and other officials to [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], December 1997.|alt=Photo of Clinton, his senior officials, and Biden on Air Force One]]

Biden was a longtime member of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]]. He became its ranking minority member in 1997 and chaired it from June 2001 to 2003 and 2007 to 2009.<ref name="aap08-365" /> His positions were generally [[liberal internationalist]].<ref name="nyt-foreign">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/world/americas/24iht-policy.4.15591832.html | title=In Biden, Obama chooses a foreign policy adherent of diplomacy before force | last=Gordon | first=Michael R. | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=August 24, 2008 | access-date=November 5, 2009 | author-link=Michael R. Gordon | archive-date=February 27, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227192937/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/world/americas/24iht-policy.4.15591832.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lat-foreign" /> He collaborated effectively with Republicans and sometimes went against elements of his own party.<ref name="aap08-365" /><ref name="lat-foreign" /> During this time he met with at least 150 leaders from 60 countries and international organizations, becoming a well-known Democratic voice on foreign policy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/09/23/meetings_with_foreign_leaders.html |title=Meetings with Foreign Leaders? Biden's Been There, Done That |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 23, 2008 |access-date=November 5, 2009 |author-link=Glenn Kessler (journalist) |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112112314/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/09/23/meetings_with_foreign_leaders.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Biden voted against authorization for the [[Gulf War]] in 1991,<ref name="lat-foreign">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-24-na-foreignpol24-story.html |title=Joe Biden respected—if not always popular—for foreign policy record |last1=Richter |first1=Paul |last2=Levey |first2=Noam N. |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=August 24, 2008 |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-date=May 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502051910/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-24-na-foreignpol24-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> siding with 45 of the 55 Democratic senators. He said the U.S. was bearing almost all the burden in the [[Coalition of the Gulf War|anti-Iraq coalition]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/world/confrontation-gulf-congress-acts-authorize-war-gulf-margins-are-5-votes-senate.html |title=Congress Acts to Authorize War in Gulf |last=Clymer |first=Adam |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 13, 1991 |author-link=Adam Clymer |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081353/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/world/confrontation-gulf-congress-acts-authorize-war-gulf-margins-are-5-votes-senate.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Biden became interested in the [[Yugoslav Wars]] after hearing about [[Serbs|Serbian]] abuses during the [[Croatian War of Independence]] in 1991.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /> Once the [[Bosnian War]] broke out, Biden was among the first to call for the "[[Lift and strike (Bosnia)|lift and strike]]" policy.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /><ref name="aap08-365" /> The [[George H. W. Bush administration]] and [[Clinton administration]] were both reluctant to implement the policy, fearing [[Balkans|Balkan]] entanglement.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /><ref name="lat-foreign" /> In April 1993, Biden held a tense three-hour meeting with Serbian leader [[Slobodan Milošević]].<ref name="wapo-bosnia">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602681.html | title=Biden Played Less Than Key Role in Bosnia Legislation | last=Kessler | first=Glenn | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=October 7, 2008 | access-date=November 5, 2009 | author-link=Glenn Kessler (journalist) | archive-date=August 26, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826101923/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602681.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Biden worked on several versions of legislative language urging the U.S. toward greater involvement.<ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> Biden has called his role in affecting Balkan policy in the mid-1990s his "proudest moment in public life" related to foreign policy.<ref name="lat-foreign" /> In 1999, during the [[Kosovo War]], Biden supported the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|1999 NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia]].<ref name="nyt-foreign" /> He and Senator [[John McCain]] co-sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milošević over [[FR Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] actions toward [[Kosovo Albanians|ethnic Albanians]] in [[Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija|Kosovo]].<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wsj082508">{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121954185485266719 | title=Biden, McCain Have a Friendship—and More—in Common | last=Holmes | first=Elizabeth | newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | date=August 25, 2008 | access-date=November 5, 2009 | archive-date=October 16, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016194520/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121954185485266719 | url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ====
{{Main|War on terror}}
[[File:Joe Biden addresses the press after having a brief meeting with Iraq's interim Prime Minister lyad Allawi.jpg|thumb|Biden addresses the press after meeting with Prime Minister [[Ayad Allawi]] in [[Baghdad]] in 2004.|alt=refer to caption]]Biden was a strong supporter of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]], saying, "Whatever it takes, we should do it."<ref name="TNR.hawk">{{cite magazine|last1=Crowley|first1=Michael|title=Hawk Down|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/politics/hawk-down|magazine=[[The New Republic]]|quote=Even before Obama announced his run for president, Biden was warning that Afghanistan, not Iraq, was the 'central front' in the war against Al Qaeda, requiring a major U.S. commitment. 'Whatever it takes, we should do it,' Biden said in February 2002.|date=September 24, 2009|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016194518/http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/hawk-down|url-status=live}}</ref> As head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said in 2002 that Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]] was a threat to national security and there was no other option than to "eliminate" that threat.<ref name="MTP04292007">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/18381961 |work=[[Meet the Press]] |title=MTP Transcript for April 29, 2007 |first=Tim |last=Russert |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=April 29, 2007 |page=2 |author-link=Tim Russert |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208191954/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/18381961 |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2002, he voted in favor of the [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq]], approving the [[U.S. Invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="lat-foreign" /> As chair of the committee, he assembled a series of witnesses to testify in favor of the authorization. They gave testimony grossly misrepresenting the intent, history, and status of Saddam and his secular government, which was an avowed enemy of [[al-Qaeda]], and touted Iraq's fictional possession of [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]].<ref>{{#invoke:cite news||first=Mark|last=Weisbrot|author-link=Mark Weisbrot|date=February 18, 2020|access-date=August 28, 2021|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/joe-biden-role-iraq-war |title=Joe Biden championed the Iraq war. Will that come back to haunt him now?|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109174540/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/joe-biden-role-iraq-war|archive-date=January 9, 2021|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Biden eventually became a critic of the war and called his vote and role a "mistake" but did not push for withdrawal.<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> He supported the appropriations for the occupation, but argued that the war should be internationalized, that more soldiers were needed, and that the Bush administration should "level with the American people" about its cost and length.<ref name="aap08-365">''Almanac of American Politics'' 2008, p. 365.</ref><ref name="wsj082508" />

By late 2006, Biden's stance had shifted considerably. He opposed the [[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|troop surge of 2007]],<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> saying General [[David Petraeus]] was "dead, flat wrong" in believing the surge could work.<ref name="nytm-traub">{{#invoke:cite news||last=Traub|first=James|author-link=James Traub|date=November 24, 2009|title=After Cheney |page=MM34 |magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29Biden-t.html|url-status=live|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103084703/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29Biden-t.html|archive-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref> Biden instead advocated dividing Iraq into a loose [[federalism|federation]] of three [[ethnic group|ethnic]] states.<ref name="Divided">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/weekinreview/19shanker.html |title=Divided They Stand, but on Graves |first=Thom |last=Shanker |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 19, 2007 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081421/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/weekinreview/19shanker.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Rather than continue the existing approach or withdrawing, the plan called for "a third way": federalizing Iraq and giving [[Kurd]]s, [[Shiite]]s, and [[Sunni Islam|Sunnis]] "breathing room" in their own regions.{{sfn|Witcover|2010|pp=572–573}} In September 2007, a non-binding resolution endorsing the plan passed the Senate,<ref name="LAT20071001">{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Ned |last2=Salman |first2=Raheem |date=October 1, 2007 |title=U.S. vote unites Iraqis in anger |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-01-fg-iraq1-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081500/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-01-fg-iraq1-story.html |archive-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref> but the idea failed to gain traction.<ref name="nytm-traub" />