With the talk of Kerry only sponsoring 8 bills in close to 20 years -
that leads to the question of how many would be the average amount? 
While this number seems low, it is hard to make a judgement without
comparing it to something.  In my searches I have yet to find an
answer to this.  What would be the 'average' that a Senator would
sponsor over a 20 year period?

Thanks!

This doesn't answer your question, but you may find it interesting:

"In the 99th through the 107th Congress, Senator Strom Thurmond (who
would have been eighty-two years old on the day John Kerry took his
seat in the Senate) saw some thirty-seven bills and resolutions either
signed by the President or passed into law. In other words Senator
Thurmond beat Senator Kerry by a margin of more than three to one if
you measure success in the Senate by the number of bills which are
passed by both houses of Congress.

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, in the period that he?s served alongside
Senator Kerry, has sponsored some seventy-four items which have passed
into law (or been signed by the President), versus Senator Kerry?s
eleven.

In the same period (1985 to present), Senator Kerry?s senior colleague
from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy, has seen forty bills introduced
by him move as far along as Senator Kerry?s eleven."

http://www.adamyoshida.com/2004/08/senate-record-of-john-f-kerry.html

Just to clarify an apparent discrepancy in the number, Kerry's "eight"
refers to bills that were ultimately passed into law, not all bills
that he cosponsored:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,92477,00.html

Thank you - that is very helpful!

I understand the difference in numbers - what I am concerned with are
the bills that had enough validity and support to actually pass.  On
another board I found a list of bills he co-sponsored or sponsored
2003-4 in case anyone is interested:

http://www.bushvskerry04.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1612.html 
(Scroll down to trigger"s post.  Not sure of the source, so it may
need to be checked.

Thanks again!  I appreciate the help!

Laura