*
Over the course of her career as a legislator, Tammy Baldwin voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on HR 6099, the Abortion Pain Bill (2006), a bill which mandated that abortion providers, prior to performing an abortion on a fetus older than 20 weeks, inform the mother that: (a) the fetus might feel pain during the procedure, and (b) the use of some pain-reducing drugs may have health risks associated with them.
NO on S 403, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
YES on H Amdt 209, the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (2005), an amendment to end the ban on privately funded abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas.
NO on HR 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2005), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004), a bill that proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S 3, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 760, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 503, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2001), a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on HR 2436, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 1999, a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
NO on S 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a bill to create a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
NO on HR 2975, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, a bill to give the federal government a broad range of powers to combat terrorism, such as: (a) easing restrictions on government wiretap and surveillance operations, and permitting the sharing of such information between some government officials; (b) enhancing security along the United States/Canadian border; and (c) denying U.S. visas to suspected money-launderers.
NO on HR 3162, the USA Patriot Act of 2001; (Click here for details about the Patriot Act.)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on HR 2210, the Head Start Bill (2003), a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
YES on H Amdt 594, Minimum Wage Increase-Two Year Raise (2000), an amendment to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour over the first year, and more during the second year.
YES on HR 3846, the Minimum Wage Increase Bill (2000), to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour over a one-year period.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
YES on H Amdt 856, the Outer Continental Shelf Amendment (2006), an amendment to continue the prohibition of drilling for natural gas, and to prevent funds allocated in the bill from being used for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
YES on H Amdt 72, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment (2005), which sought to strike provisions that had previously allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
YES on H Amdt 288, the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Amendment (2001), an amendment to increase the CAFE standards of vehicles and to offer incentives for alternative-fuel vehicles.
YES on H Amdt 298, Prohibiting Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2001), an amendment to extend the existing prohibition on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
YES on HR 1954, Iran and Libya Sanctions (2001), a vote to pass a bill that would extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) of 1996, which imposed sanctions against companies and individuals that invested in oil and gas industries in Libya and Iran.
YES on H Amdt 1023, the Cuban Economic Embargo Amendment (2000), an amendment to prohibit use of funds to continue the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba.
YES on H Amdt 1029, the Cuban Travel Embargo Amendment (2000), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to restrict travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397, the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005), a bill to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
YES on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
NO on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
NO on HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, a bill granting state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer illegal immigrants to federal custody.
NO on HR 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on HR 418, the Real ID Act of 2005, a bill granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.
NO on HR 3722, Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance (2004), a bill to: prohibit federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals that provide emergency services to illegal immigrants unless the hospital provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records; make employers of certain illegal immigrants financially responsible for the medical treatment of those immigrants; and allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants under Federal immigration law.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on H J Res 88, the Same-Sex Marriage Resolution (2006), a bill proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the U.S. consists only of the union of a man and a woman, and that federal and state constitutions cannot be construed to require that the status of marriage be conferred on other unions.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
NO on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
NO on HR 5638, the Death/Estate Tax Amendment (2006), a bill to reduce estate taxes beginning in 2010.
NO on HR 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
NO on HR 8, the Death/Estate Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005, a bill to permanently repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
YES on HR 1308, Child Tax Credit Bill (2004), a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
YES on HR 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004, a bill to extend the previously-available Alternative Minimum Tax relief to 2005.
NO on HR 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, a bill to institute $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over an 11-year period.
NO on HR 4810, the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000), a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8, the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000, a vote to override a veto on a bill that phased out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
NO on HR 3081, the Small Business Tax Fairness Act of 2000, a bill to cut taxes for small businesses by $46 billion over five years.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
NO on HR 4635, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (2002), a bill to start a program deputizing airline pilots as federal law-enforcement officers and allowing them to carry firearms on airlines to defend against acts of violence.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tammy Baldwin’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of her career as a senator, Tammy Duckworth has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 667 – the Health Care Freedom Act of 2017 – which called for replacing Obamacare with the Health Care Freedom Act of 2017, commonly known as the “skinny repeal” option.
NO on S Amdt 271 – Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 – which called for a repeal of existing sections of Obamacare.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1 – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017) – which reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and moderately reduced most individual tax brackets.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tammy Duckworths’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy ofVoteSmart.org.
Over the course of her career in the House of Representatives, Tammy Duckworth voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
NO on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tammy Duckworth’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a senator, Ted Kennedy voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on A Amdt 3896 – Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for Abortions (2008) – a bill that would forbid the funding of abortions under the Indigenous Health Bill (S 1200), except in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape, or from incest involving a minor, or if an abortion were medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life.
NO on S Amdt 2707 – Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive Abortion (2007) – an amendment to bar federal funds from being distributed to organizations that support the practices of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
NO on S 403 – the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006) – a bill to criminalize the transportation of pregnant minors across state lines with the intention of the minor obtaining an abortion, with certain exceptions.
NO on S 3 – Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003) – a bill to adopt a conference report prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus/unborn child is partially delivered before it is aborted.
NO on S 1692 – Ban on Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (1999) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on HR 1122 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion (1997) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on S Amdt 1077 – Fetal Tissue Research Amendment (1997) – which called for a prohibition against the use of funds for research that utilizes human fetal tissue, cells, or organs that are obtained from an abortion.
NO on S Amdt 936 – Abortion Funding Amendment (1997) – which called for a continuation of the policy barring federal health insurance policies from covering abortions except when the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape.
NO on HR 1833 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion Ban (1996) – a bill prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the partial birth/late-term abortion procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman is endangered and there is no other possible procedure.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
NO on S 3930 – the Military Commissions Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the creation of a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
CONSTITUTION
NO on H J Res 1 – Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional Amendment(1996) – a bill calling for the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting total expenditures from exceeding total revenue for a fiscal year, unless three-fifths of Congress were to vote in favor of a bill stating otherwise.
NO on S J Res 31 – Flag Desecration (1995) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to grant Congress and the States the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag.
NO on S J Res 41 – Balanced Budget Amendment (1994) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on S Amdt 47 – Violent Protestrr Amendment (2005) – an amendment to S 256 that would prevent violent protesters from filing for bankruptcy in order to avoid paying court-awarded civil damages or criminal penalties.
NO on HR 1997 – the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004) – a bill that would make it an additional criminal offense if a perpetrator injured or killed a fetus/unborn child while carrying out a violent crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S Amdt 1117 – Charging Teens as Adults for Crimes Involving a Firearm (1993).
YES on S Amdt 1204 – Replacing the Death Penalty with Life Imprisonment (1993) – an amendment calling for the substitution of life imprisonment with no possibility of release for all death penalty provisions.
NO on S Amdt 1132 – Prohibiting the Death Penalty for Minors (1993) – an amendment that would prohibit individuals aged 18 or younger from being subject to capital punishment.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on S Amdt 4259 – the Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – an amendment that would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire undocumented immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 4322 – the Minimum Wage Adjustment Amendment (2006) – which sought to raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year period.
YES on S Amdt 44 – the Minimum Wage Amendment (2005) – which sought to increase the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year time period.
NO on S Amdt 2547 – Three Year Minimum Wage Increase Amendment(1999) – which called for increasing the federal minimum hourly wage by $1-per-hour, to $6.15, over a three-year period.
NO on S Amdt 2417 – the U.S. Citizen Recruitment Amendment (1998) – which would require employers to try to fill job openings with U.S. citizens for before allowing H-1B visa holders to apply for those positions.
YES on S Amdt 1708 – the Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Amendment(1998) – a vote to table an amendment prohibiting preferential treatment (based on race, ethnicity, or sex) when awarding federal transportation contracts, and to repeal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which required that at least 10% of federally funded highway construction projects be contracted to “disadvantaged business enterprises..”
YES on HR 3448 – Minimum Wage Increase bill (1996) – which called for raising the federal minimum hourly wage rate from $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour during the first year, and to $5.15 per hour during the second year.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
YES on S Amdt 2358 – ANWR Amendment (2005) – which called for the removal of provisions that would allow an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on S Amdt 272 – ANWR Oil Drilling Amendment (2003) – which sought to stop a fast-track budget reconciliation bill from permitting movement towards drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on Treaty Doc. 105-28 – the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty(1999) – which sought to require 44 countries that already had nuclear power plants or nuclear research reactors, to ban nuclear weapons testing.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397 – the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005) – which sought to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse of their products.
NO on S 1805 – Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2004) – which sought to prohibit certain civil lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, dealers and importers of firearms and ammunition pertaining to acts of criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.
YES on S Amdt 1152 – Prohibiting the Possession of Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons (1993) – which sought to ban the manufacture, sale, or possession of nineteen semiautomatic assault weapons and other firearms.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
YES on S Amdt 4309 – Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration Laws (2008) – a vote to table an amendment that would provide the Senate Budget Committee with the authority to revise funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services Program if the community was impeding the government’s ability to verify citizenship.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – which would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 3117 – Border Fence and Customs Appropriations (2007) – an amendment to appropriate $3 billion to be used to hire full-time border patrol agents, improve employment eligibility verification, and fund security measures along the U.S. and Mexican border that would include building a fence, establishing vehicle barriers, utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles, placing ground-based sensors and cameras, and removing and detaining illegal immigrants.
YES on S Amdt 2405 – Real ID Funding (2007) – a vote to table (i.e., kill) an amendment to fund the Real ID Act, which established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibited Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards.
NO on S Amdt 1151 – Declaring English the National Language (2007) – which sought to declare English as the language of “sole legal authority” for the business of the federal government, and declared that no person had a right to require officials of the United States government to use a language other than English.
NO on S Amdt 1184 – Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes (2007) – which sought to prohibit illegal immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies, domestic violence, stalking, violation of protection orders, crimes against children, or crimes relating to the illegal purchase or sale of firearms, from gaining legal status.
NO on S Amdt 1202 – Point-Based Immigration Expiration Date (2007) – which sought to place an expiration date on a point-based (merit-based) immigration system.
NO on S Amdt 4064 – English As National Language Amendment (2006) – an amendment declaring English to be the national language, and calling for stricter requirements in language testing and knowledge of U.S. history.
YES on HR 2202 – the Immigration Reform Bill (1996) – which sought to increase the presence of U.S. border patrol personnel, change deportation laws and procedures, alter the verification system for eligibility and employment, and take additional similar measures aimed at decreasing illegal immigration into the U.S.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on HR 3396 – the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) – a bill defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 4297 – the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005 – a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
NO on HR 1836 – the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 – a bill to institute $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over an 11-year period.
NO on HR 4810 – the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000) – a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8 – the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000 – a vote to override a veto on a bill that would phase out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on S 735 – the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act (1996) – which sought to: increase the capacity of detection agents for explosives; expand the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants; increase funding for the deportation of suspected terrorists; deny asylum for suspected terrorists; and prohibit terrorist groups from fundraising in the United States.
VOTING & ELECTIONS
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993) – which required states to provide people with an opportunity to submit voter-registration applications for federal elections by three principal means: (a) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for, or seek to renew, a driver’s license (hence the name “motor voter”); (b) by submitting their voter-registration applications by mail, using forms developed jointly by each state and the Election Assistance Commission; and (c) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for public assistance of any kind.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on HR 3734 – the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 – a bill that sought to: (a) replace the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs with a single program of block grants; (b) impose a five-year lifetime limit on receiving TANF benefits; (c) require all “able-bodied” welfare recipients to go to work once the state determines they are ready to work, or they have received assistance for a total of two years, whichever is earlier; (d) prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving State and Federal benefits, except for emergency medical services, certain emergency disaster relief, public health immunizations, housing assistance, and certain Social Security Act benefits; (e) make legal immigrants ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps; (f) require five years of residence in the United States before most legal immigrants can be eligible for federal means-tested services; and (g) deny assistance to families that include a fugitive felon, someone on probation, or a parole violator.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Ted Kennedy’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Ted Lieu has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Ted Lieu’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of her career as a legislator, Terri Sewell has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
YES-NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
YES on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
YES on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
YES on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
NO on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
YES on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Terri Sewell’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of his career as a senator, Tom Harkin voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2009) – most commonly known as Obamacare.
YES on S Amdt 2962 – Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009) – a motion to halt further consideration of a bill to bar the use of any federal funds for abortion services unless the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or the woman would be placed in danger of death without the performance of an abortion.
NO on A Amdt 3896 – Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for Abortions (2008) – a bill that would forbid the funding of abortions under the Indigenous Health Bill (S 1200), except in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape, or from incest involving a minor, or if an abortion were medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life.
NO on S Amdt 3330 – Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform Abortions (2007) – an amendment to prohibit funds from being granted to organizations (other than hospitals) that perform abortions when a woman’s life is not in danger.
NO on S Amdt 2707 – Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive Abortion (2007) – an amendment to bar federal funds from being distributed to organizations that support the practices of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
NO on S 403 – the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006) – a bill to criminalize the transportation of pregnant minors across state lines with the intention of the minor obtaining an abortion, with certain exceptions.
NO on S 3 – Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003) – a bill to adopt a conference report prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus/unborn child is partially delivered before it is aborted.
NO on S 1692 – Ban on Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (1999) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on HR 1122 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion (1997) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on S Amdt 1077 – Fetal Tissue Research Amendment (1997) – which called for a prohibition against the use of funds for research that utilizes human fetal tissue, cells, or organs that are obtained from an abortion.
NO on S Amdt 936 – Abortion Funding Amendment (1997) – which called for a continuation of the policy barring federal health insurance policies from covering abortions except when the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape.
NO on HR 1833 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion Ban (1996) – a bill prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the partial birth/late-term abortion procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman is endangered and there is no other possible procedure.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE & ELECTIONS
YES on S Amdt 2355 – Prohibiting Funding for ACORN (2009) – an amendment to bar the use of federal dollars to directly or indirectly fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
YES on S 160 – the Washington DC Voting Act (2009) – a bill that sought to give the District of Columbia a voting seat in the House of Representatives.
YES on S 27 – the Campaign Reform Act (2001). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on S Amdt 2175 – Authorizes the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to the United States (2013) – an amendment to authorize the transfer or release of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
NO on S Amdt 1274 – Authorizes Further Detention After Trial During Wartime (2011) – an amendment to authorize the further detention by the military of an individual under the “laws of war,” even if that individual has already received a trial or has been transferred for trial by an alternative court.
NO on S 3930 – the Military Commissions Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the creation of a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
CONSTITUTION
NO on S J Res 10 – Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (2011) – a joint resolution to submit, to the state legislatures, a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the federal government from spending money in excess of its revenue, beginning 5 fiscal years after the ratification of the amendment.
NO on S Amdt 115 – Calling for a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment (2011) – which urged Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution requiring a federal balanced budget.
YES on H J Res 1 – Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional Amendment (1996) – a bill calling for the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting total expenditures from exceeding total revenue for a fiscal year, unless three-fifths of Congress were to vote in favor of a bill stating otherwise.
NO on S J Res 31 – Flag Desecration (1995) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to grant Congress and the States the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag.
NO on S J Res 41 – Balanced Budget Amendment (1994) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on S Amdt 47 – Violent Protester Amendment (2005) – an amendment to S 256 that would prevent violent protesters from filing for bankruptcy in order to avoid paying court-awarded civil damages or criminal penalties.
NO on HR 1997 – the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004) – a bill that would make it an additional criminal offense if a perpetrator injured or killed a fetus/unborn child while carrying out a violent crime against a pregnant woman.
YES on S Amdt 1117 – Charging Teens as Adults for Crimes Involving a Firearm (1993).
YES on S Amdt 1204 – Replacing the Death Penalty with Life Imprisonment (1993) – an amendment calling for the substitution of life imprisonment with no possibility of release for all death penalty provisions.
NO on S Amdt 1132 – Prohibiting the Death Penalty for Minors (1993) – an amendment that would prohibit individuals aged 18 or younger from being subject to capital punishment.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on S 815 – Employment Non-Discrimination Act (2013) – a bill to prohibit employment discrimination based on the real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of an individual.
YES on S 1917 – Extends Payroll Tax Cut and Establishes Tax on Income Over $1 Million (2011) – a motion to proceed with a bill designed to reduce the payroll tax rate from 4.2% to 3.1% for 2012, and to establish a 3.25% tax on income over $1 million.
NO on S 1931 – Reduces Payroll Tax Rate (2011) – a bill to extend the existing payroll tax holiday through 2012, and to extend the existing pay freeze for federal employees through 2015.
NO on S Amdt 928 – American Jobs and Economic Growth (2011) – an amendment to: (a) repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); (b) require Congress to pass a resolution to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution; (c) establish new individual and corporate income tax rates; (d) repeal $39 billion in unspent discretionary funds; and (e) limit the authority of certain government agencies to establish certain regulations.
YES on HR 2847 – Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits (2010) – a call to appropriate funds for purposes related to employment, infrastructure, and transportation.
YES on S 181 – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that redefined unlawful employment laws and counted each paycheck as an offense if a salary was ruled as discriminatory against a woman.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – the Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – an amendment that would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire undocumented immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 4322 – the Minimum Wage Adjustment Amendment (2006) – which sought to raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year period.
YES on S Amdt 44 – the Minimum Wage Amendment (2005) – which sought to increase the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year time period.
NO on S Amdt 2547 – Three Year Minimum Wage Increase Amendment (1999) – which called for increasing the federal minimum hourly wage by $1-per-hour, to $6.15, over a three-year period.
NO on S Amdt 2417 – the U.S. Citizen Recruitment Amendment (1998) – which would require employers to try to fill job openings with U.S. citizens for before allowing H-1B visa holders to apply for those positions.
YES on S Amdt 1708 – the Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Amendment (1998) – a vote to table an amendment prohibiting preferential treatment (based on race, ethnicity, or sex) when awarding federal transportation contracts, and to repeal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which required that at least 10% of federally funded highway construction projects be contracted to “disadvantaged business enterprises..”
YES on HR 3448 – Minimum Wage Increase bill (1996) – which called for raising the federal minimum hourly wage rate from $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour during the first year, and to $5.15 per hour during the second year.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 2280 – Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014) – a bill that sought to authorize the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on S Amdt 1537 – Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (2012) – which sought to exempt the Keystone XL Pipeline project from further executive approval requirements.
YES on S Amdt 4825 – Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade Plan (2008). (Click here for an explanation of Cap and Trade.)
YES on S Amdt 2358 – ANWR Amendment (2005) – which called for the removal of provisions that would allow an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on S Amdt 272 – ANWR Oil Drilling Amendment (2003) – which sought to stop a fast-track budget reconciliation bill from permitting movement towards drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on Treaty Doc. 105-28 – the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1999) – which sought to require 44 countries that already had nuclear power plants or nuclear research reactors, to ban nuclear weapons testing.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 719 – Authorizes Reciprocity for the Carrying of Certain Concealed Firearms (2013) – which would authorize certain individuals to carry a concealed firearm in any state wherein it was legal for residents to carry such weapons.
YES on S Amdt 711 – Prohibits the Sale of Assault Weapons (2013) – an amendment designed to prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, and possession of any “semiautomatic assault weapon,” defined as (a) any semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; (b) a semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine; (c) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and (d) all types of AK, AK-47, AR, Thompson, and UZI weapons.
NO on S Amdt 1618 – Authorizing Concealed Firearms Across State Lines (2009) – an amendment to allow individuals who possessed conceal-and-carry permits in their home state to carry concealed firearms across state lines.
NO on S 397 – the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005) – which sought to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse of their products.
NO on S 1805 – Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2004) – which sought to prohibit certain civil lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, dealers and importers of firearms and ammunition pertaining to acts of criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.
YES on S Amdt 1152 – Prohibiting the Possession of Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons (1993) – which sought to ban the manufacture, sale, or possession of nineteen semiautomatic assault weapons and other firearms.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. (Obamacare)
YES on HR 2 – the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009) – a bill designed to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 4214 – National Guard Deployment on Southern U.S. Land Border (2010) – which called for the appropriation of $250 million for the deployment of at least 6,000 National Guard personnel along the southern land border of the United States to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection in border security activities.
NO on S Amdt 1399 – Requiring Completion of Reinforced Border Fencing (2009) – which called for the completion of the 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexico border, already authorized under existing law, be completed by no later than December 31, 2010.
YES on S Amdt 4309 – Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration Laws (2008) – a vote to table an amendment that would provide the Senate Budget Committee with the authority to revise funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services Program if the community was impeding the government’s ability to verify citizenship.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – which would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 3117 – Border Fence and Customs Appropriations (2007) – an amendment to appropriate $3 billion to be used to hire full-time border patrol agents, improve employment eligibility verification, and fund security measures along the U.S. and Mexican border that would include building a fence, establishing vehicle barriers, utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles, placing ground-based sensors and cameras, and removing and detaining illegal immigrants.
YES on S Amdt 2405 – Real ID Funding (2007) – a vote to table (i.e., kill) an amendment to fund the Real ID Act, which established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibited Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards.
NO on S Amdt 1151 – Declaring English the National Language (2007) – which sought to declare English as the language of “sole legal authority” for the business of the federal government, and declared that no person had a right to require officials of the United States government to use a language other than English.
NO on S Amdt 1184 – Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes (2007) – which sought to prohibit illegal immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies, domestic violence, stalking, violation of protection orders, crimes against children, or crimes relating to the illegal purchase or sale of firearms, from gaining legal status.
YES on S Amdt 1202 – Point-Based Immigration Expiration Date (2007) – which sought to place an expiration date on a point-based (merit-based) immigration system.
YES on HR 6061 – the Secure Fence Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps it deemed necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on S Amdt 4064 – English As National Language Amendment (2006) – an amendment declaring English to be the national language, and calling for stricter requirements in language testing and knowledge of U.S. history.
YES on HR 2202 – the Immigration Reform Bill (1996) – which sought to increase the presence of U.S. border patrol personnel, change deportation laws and procedures, alter the verification system for eligibility and employment, and take additional similar measures aimed at decreasing illegal immigration into the U.S.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
YES on HR 3396 – the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) – a bill defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2573 – Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012 – which sought to extend tax cuts established in 2001 and 2003 until the end of 2013.
NO on HR 4853 – Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010) – a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
NO on HR 4297 – the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005 – a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
YES on HR 1308 – Child Tax Credit Bill (2004) – a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
NO on HR 4810 – the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000) – a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8 – the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000 – a vote to override a veto on a bill that would phase out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
YES on S 735 – the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act (1996) – which sought to: increase the capacity of detection agents for explosives; expand the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants; increase funding for the deportation of suspected terrorists; deny asylum for suspected terrorists; and prohibit terrorist groups from fundraising in the United States.
VOTING & ELECTIONS
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993) – which required states to provide people with an opportunity to submit voter-registration applications for federal elections by three principal means: (a) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for, or seek to renew, a driver’s license (hence the name “motor voter”); (b) by submitting their voter-registration applications by mail, using forms developed jointly by each state and the Election Assistance Commission; and (c) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for public assistance of any kind.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2174 – Limits Eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (2012) – which called for limiting eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to households in which each member receives cash assistance under a state program.
YES on S Amdt 2392 – Reduces Funding for Food Stamps (2012) – which called for a repeal of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), authorized the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to states for supplemental nutrition assistance, and limited appropriations for the grant program to $45 billion per year.
YES on HR 3734 – the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 – a bill that sought to: (a) replace the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs with a single program of block grants; (b) impose a five-year lifetime limit on receiving TANF benefits; (c) require all “able-bodied” welfare recipients to go to work once the state determines they are ready to work, or they have received assistance for a total of two years, whichever is earlier; (d) prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving State and Federal benefits, except for emergency medical services, certain emergency disaster relief, public health immunizations, housing assistance, and certain Social Security Act benefits; (e) make legal immigrants ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps; (f) require five years of residence in the United States before most legal immigrants can be eligible for federal means-tested services; and (g) deny assistance to families that include a fugitive felon, someone on probation, or a parole violator.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tom Harkin’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a senator, Tom Harkin voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2009) – most commonly known as Obamacare.
YES on S Amdt 2962 – Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009) – a motion to halt further consideration of a bill to bar the use of any federal funds for abortion services unless the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or the woman would be placed in danger of death without the performance of an abortion.
NO on A Amdt 3896 – Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for Abortions (2008) – a bill that would forbid the funding of abortions under the Indigenous Health Bill (S 1200), except in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape, or from incest involving a minor, or if an abortion were medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life.
NO on S Amdt 3330 – Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform Abortions (2007) – an amendment to prohibit funds from being granted to organizations (other than hospitals) that perform abortions when a woman’s life is not in danger.
NO on S Amdt 2707 – Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive Abortion (2007) – an amendment to bar federal funds from being distributed to organizations that support the practices of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
NO on S 403 – the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006) – a bill to criminalize the transportation of pregnant minors across state lines with the intention of the minor obtaining an abortion, with certain exceptions.
NO on S 3 – Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003) – a bill to adopt a conference report prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus/unborn child is partially delivered before it is aborted.
NO on S 1692 – Ban on Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (1999) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on HR 1122 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion (1997) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on S Amdt 1077 – Fetal Tissue Research Amendment (1997) – which called for a prohibition against the use of funds for research that utilizes human fetal tissue, cells, or organs that are obtained from an abortion.
NO on S Amdt 936 – Abortion Funding Amendment (1997) – which called for a continuation of the policy barring federal health insurance policies from covering abortions except when the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape.
NO on HR 1833 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion Ban (1996) – a bill prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the partial birth/late-term abortion procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman is endangered and there is no other possible procedure.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE & ELECTIONS
YES on S Amdt 2355 – Prohibiting Funding for ACORN (2009) – an amendment to bar the use of federal dollars to directly or indirectly fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
YES on S 160 – the Washington DC Voting Act (2009) – a bill that sought to give the District of Columbia a voting seat in the House of Representatives.
YES on S 27 – the Campaign Reform Act (2001). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on S Amdt 2175 – Authorizes the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to the United States (2013) – an amendment to authorize the transfer or release of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
NO on S Amdt 1274 – Authorizes Further Detention After Trial During Wartime (2011) – an amendment to authorize the further detention by the military of an individual under the “laws of war,” even if that individual has already received a trial or has been transferred for trial by an alternative court.
NO on S 3930 – the Military Commissions Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the creation of a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
CONSTITUTION
NO on S J Res 10 – Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (2011) – a joint resolution to submit, to the state legislatures, a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the federal government from spending money in excess of its revenue, beginning 5 fiscal years after the ratification of the amendment.
NO on S Amdt 115 – Calling for a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment (2011) – which urged Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution requiring a federal balanced budget.
YES on H J Res 1 – Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional Amendment (1996) – a bill calling for the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting total expenditures from exceeding total revenue for a fiscal year, unless three-fifths of Congress were to vote in favor of a bill stating otherwise.
NO on S J Res 31 – Flag Desecration (1995) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to grant Congress and the States the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag.
NO on S J Res 41 – Balanced Budget Amendment (1994) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on S Amdt 47 – Violent Protester Amendment (2005) – an amendment to S 256 that would prevent violent protesters from filing for bankruptcy in order to avoid paying court-awarded civil damages or criminal penalties.
NO on HR 1997 – the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004) – a bill that would make it an additional criminal offense if a perpetrator injured or killed a fetus/unborn child while carrying out a violent crime against a pregnant woman.
YES on S Amdt 1117 – Charging Teens as Adults for Crimes Involving a Firearm (1993).
YES on S Amdt 1204 – Replacing the Death Penalty with Life Imprisonment (1993) – an amendment calling for the substitution of life imprisonment with no possibility of release for all death penalty provisions.
NO on S Amdt 1132 – Prohibiting the Death Penalty for Minors (1993) – an amendment that would prohibit individuals aged 18 or younger from being subject to capital punishment.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on S 815 – Employment Non-Discrimination Act (2013) – a bill to prohibit employment discrimination based on the real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of an individual.
YES on S 1917 – Extends Payroll Tax Cut and Establishes Tax on Income Over $1 Million (2011) – a motion to proceed with a bill designed to reduce the payroll tax rate from 4.2% to 3.1% for 2012, and to establish a 3.25% tax on income over $1 million.
NO on S 1931 – Reduces Payroll Tax Rate (2011) – a bill to extend the existing payroll tax holiday through 2012, and to extend the existing pay freeze for federal employees through 2015.
NO on S Amdt 928 – American Jobs and Economic Growth (2011) – an amendment to: (a) repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); (b) require Congress to pass a resolution to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution; (c) establish new individual and corporate income tax rates; (d) repeal $39 billion in unspent discretionary funds; and (e) limit the authority of certain government agencies to establish certain regulations.
YES on HR 2847 – Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits (2010) – a call to appropriate funds for purposes related to employment, infrastructure, and transportation.
YES on S 181 – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that redefined unlawful employment laws and counted each paycheck as an offense if a salary was ruled as discriminatory against a woman.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – the Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – an amendment that would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire undocumented immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 4322 – the Minimum Wage Adjustment Amendment (2006) – which sought to raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year period.
YES on S Amdt 44 – the Minimum Wage Amendment (2005) – which sought to increase the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year time period.
NO on S Amdt 2547 – Three Year Minimum Wage Increase Amendment (1999) – which called for increasing the federal minimum hourly wage by $1-per-hour, to $6.15, over a three-year period.
NO on S Amdt 2417 – the U.S. Citizen Recruitment Amendment (1998) – which would require employers to try to fill job openings with U.S. citizens for before allowing H-1B visa holders to apply for those positions.
YES on S Amdt 1708 – the Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Amendment (1998) – a vote to table an amendment prohibiting preferential treatment (based on race, ethnicity, or sex) when awarding federal transportation contracts, and to repeal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which required that at least 10% of federally funded highway construction projects be contracted to “disadvantaged business enterprises..”
YES on HR 3448 – Minimum Wage Increase bill (1996) – which called for raising the federal minimum hourly wage rate from $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour during the first year, and to $5.15 per hour during the second year.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 2280 – Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014) – a bill that sought to authorize the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on S Amdt 1537 – Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (2012) – which sought to exempt the Keystone XL Pipeline project from further executive approval requirements.
YES on S Amdt 4825 – Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade Plan (2008). (Click here for an explanation of Cap and Trade.)
YES on S Amdt 2358 – ANWR Amendment (2005) – which called for the removal of provisions that would allow an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on S Amdt 272 – ANWR Oil Drilling Amendment (2003) – which sought to stop a fast-track budget reconciliation bill from permitting movement towards drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on Treaty Doc. 105-28 – the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1999) – which sought to require 44 countries that already had nuclear power plants or nuclear research reactors, to ban nuclear weapons testing.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 719 – Authorizes Reciprocity for the Carrying of Certain Concealed Firearms (2013) – which would authorize certain individuals to carry a concealed firearm in any state wherein it was legal for residents to carry such weapons.
YES on S Amdt 711 – Prohibits the Sale of Assault Weapons (2013) – an amendment designed to prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, and possession of any “semiautomatic assault weapon,” defined as (a) any semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; (b) a semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine; (c) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and (d) all types of AK, AK-47, AR, Thompson, and UZI weapons.
NO on S Amdt 1618 – Authorizing Concealed Firearms Across State Lines (2009) – an amendment to allow individuals who possessed conceal-and-carry permits in their home state to carry concealed firearms across state lines.
NO on S 397 – the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005) – which sought to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse of their products.
NO on S 1805 – Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2004) – which sought to prohibit certain civil lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, dealers and importers of firearms and ammunition pertaining to acts of criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.
YES on S Amdt 1152 – Prohibiting the Possession of Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons (1993) – which sought to ban the manufacture, sale, or possession of nineteen semiautomatic assault weapons and other firearms.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. (Obamacare)
YES on HR 2 – the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009) – a bill designed to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 4214 – National Guard Deployment on Southern U.S. Land Border (2010) – which called for the appropriation of $250 million for the deployment of at least 6,000 National Guard personnel along the southern land border of the United States to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection in border security activities.
NO on S Amdt 1399 – Requiring Completion of Reinforced Border Fencing (2009) – which called for the completion of the 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexico border, already authorized under existing law, be completed by no later than December 31, 2010.
YES on S Amdt 4309 – Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration Laws (2008) – a vote to table an amendment that would provide the Senate Budget Committee with the authority to revise funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services Program if the community was impeding the government’s ability to verify citizenship.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – which would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 3117 – Border Fence and Customs Appropriations (2007) – an amendment to appropriate $3 billion to be used to hire full-time border patrol agents, improve employment eligibility verification, and fund security measures along the U.S. and Mexican border that would include building a fence, establishing vehicle barriers, utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles, placing ground-based sensors and cameras, and removing and detaining illegal immigrants.
YES on S Amdt 2405 – Real ID Funding (2007) – a vote to table (i.e., kill) an amendment to fund the Real ID Act, which established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibited Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards.
NO on S Amdt 1151 – Declaring English the National Language (2007) – which sought to declare English as the language of “sole legal authority” for the business of the federal government, and declared that no person had a right to require officials of the United States government to use a language other than English.
NO on S Amdt 1184 – Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes (2007) – which sought to prohibit illegal immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies, domestic violence, stalking, violation of protection orders, crimes against children, or crimes relating to the illegal purchase or sale of firearms, from gaining legal status.
YES on S Amdt 1202 – Point-Based Immigration Expiration Date (2007) – which sought to place an expiration date on a point-based (merit-based) immigration system.
YES on HR 6061 – the Secure Fence Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps it deemed necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on S Amdt 4064 – English As National Language Amendment (2006) – an amendment declaring English to be the national language, and calling for stricter requirements in language testing and knowledge of U.S. history.
YES on HR 2202 – the Immigration Reform Bill (1996) – which sought to increase the presence of U.S. border patrol personnel, change deportation laws and procedures, alter the verification system for eligibility and employment, and take additional similar measures aimed at decreasing illegal immigration into the U.S.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
YES on HR 3396 – the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) – a bill defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2573 – Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012 – which sought to extend tax cuts established in 2001 and 2003 until the end of 2013.
NO on HR 4853 – Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010) – a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
NO on HR 4297 – the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005 – a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
YES on HR 1308 – Child Tax Credit Bill (2004) – a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
NO on HR 4810 – the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000) – a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8 – the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000 – a vote to override a veto on a bill that would phase out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
YES on S 735 – the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act (1996) – which sought to: increase the capacity of detection agents for explosives; expand the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants; increase funding for the deportation of suspected terrorists; deny asylum for suspected terrorists; and prohibit terrorist groups from fundraising in the United States.
VOTING & ELECTIONS
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993) – which required states to provide people with an opportunity to submit voter-registration applications for federal elections by three principal means: (a) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for, or seek to renew, a driver’s license (hence the name “motor voter”); (b) by submitting their voter-registration applications by mail, using forms developed jointly by each state and the Election Assistance Commission; and (c) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for public assistance of any kind.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2174 – Limits Eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (2012) – which called for limiting eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to households in which each member receives cash assistance under a state program.
YES on S Amdt 2392 – Reduces Funding for Food Stamps (2012) – which called for a repeal of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), authorized the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to states for supplemental nutrition assistance, and limited appropriations for the grant program to $45 billion per year.
YES on HR 3734 – the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 – a bill that sought to: (a) replace the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs with a single program of block grants; (b) impose a five-year lifetime limit on receiving TANF benefits; (c) require all “able-bodied” welfare recipients to go to work once the state determines they are ready to work, or they have received assistance for a total of two years, whichever is earlier; (d) prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving State and Federal benefits, except for emergency medical services, certain emergency disaster relief, public health immunizations, housing assistance, and certain Social Security Act benefits; (e) make legal immigrants ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps; (f) require five years of residence in the United States before most legal immigrants can be eligible for federal means-tested services; and (g) deny assistance to families that include a fugitive felon, someone on probation, or a parole violator.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tom Harkin’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of his career as a senator, Tom Harkin voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2009) – most commonly known as Obamacare.
YES on S Amdt 2962 – Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009) – a motion to halt further consideration of a bill to bar the use of any federal funds for abortion services unless the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or the woman would be placed in danger of death without the performance of an abortion.
NO on A Amdt 3896 – Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for Abortions (2008) – a bill that would forbid the funding of abortions under the Indigenous Health Bill (S 1200), except in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape, or from incest involving a minor, or if an abortion were medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life.
NO on S Amdt 3330 – Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform Abortions (2007) – an amendment to prohibit funds from being granted to organizations (other than hospitals) that perform abortions when a woman’s life is not in danger.
NO on S Amdt 2707 – Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive Abortion (2007) – an amendment to bar federal funds from being distributed to organizations that support the practices of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
NO on S 403 – the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006) – a bill to criminalize the transportation of pregnant minors across state lines with the intention of the minor obtaining an abortion, with certain exceptions.
NO on S 3 – Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003) – a bill to adopt a conference report prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus/unborn child is partially delivered before it is aborted.
NO on S 1692 – Ban on Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (1999) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on HR 1122 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion (1997) – a bill to prohibit any individual from knowingly performing the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman was endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury.
NO on S Amdt 1077 – Fetal Tissue Research Amendment (1997) – which called for a prohibition against the use of funds for research that utilizes human fetal tissue, cells, or organs that are obtained from an abortion.
NO on S Amdt 936 – Abortion Funding Amendment (1997) – which called for a continuation of the policy barring federal health insurance policies from covering abortions except when the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape.
NO on HR 1833 – Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion Ban (1996) – a bill prohibiting any individual from knowingly performing the partial birth/late-term abortion procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, in which a fetus is partially delivered before it is aborted, unless the life of the woman is endangered and there is no other possible procedure.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE & ELECTIONS
YES on S Amdt 2355 – Prohibiting Funding for ACORN (2009) – an amendment to bar the use of federal dollars to directly or indirectly fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
YES on S 160 – the Washington DC Voting Act (2009) – a bill that sought to give the District of Columbia a voting seat in the House of Representatives.
YES on S 27 – the Campaign Reform Act (2001). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on S Amdt 2175 – Authorizes the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to the United States (2013) – an amendment to authorize the transfer or release of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
NO on S Amdt 1274 – Authorizes Further Detention After Trial During Wartime (2011) – an amendment to authorize the further detention by the military of an individual under the “laws of war,” even if that individual has already received a trial or has been transferred for trial by an alternative court.
NO on S 3930 – the Military Commissions Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the creation of a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
CONSTITUTION
NO on S J Res 10 – Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (2011) – a joint resolution to submit, to the state legislatures, a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the federal government from spending money in excess of its revenue, beginning 5 fiscal years after the ratification of the amendment.
NO on S Amdt 115 – Calling for a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment (2011) – which urged Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution requiring a federal balanced budget.
YES on H J Res 1 – Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional Amendment (1996) – a bill calling for the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting total expenditures from exceeding total revenue for a fiscal year, unless three-fifths of Congress were to vote in favor of a bill stating otherwise.
NO on S J Res 31 – Flag Desecration (1995) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to grant Congress and the States the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag.
NO on S J Res 41 – Balanced Budget Amendment (1994) – a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on S Amdt 47 – Violent Protester Amendment (2005) – an amendment to S 256 that would prevent violent protesters from filing for bankruptcy in order to avoid paying court-awarded civil damages or criminal penalties.
NO on HR 1997 – the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004) – a bill that would make it an additional criminal offense if a perpetrator injured or killed a fetus/unborn child while carrying out a violent crime against a pregnant woman.
YES on S Amdt 1117 – Charging Teens as Adults for Crimes Involving a Firearm (1993).
YES on S Amdt 1204 – Replacing the Death Penalty with Life Imprisonment (1993) – an amendment calling for the substitution of life imprisonment with no possibility of release for all death penalty provisions.
NO on S Amdt 1132 – Prohibiting the Death Penalty for Minors (1993) – an amendment that would prohibit individuals aged 18 or younger from being subject to capital punishment.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on S 815 – Employment Non-Discrimination Act (2013) – a bill to prohibit employment discrimination based on the real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of an individual.
YES on S 1917 – Extends Payroll Tax Cut and Establishes Tax on Income Over $1 Million (2011) – a motion to proceed with a bill designed to reduce the payroll tax rate from 4.2% to 3.1% for 2012, and to establish a 3.25% tax on income over $1 million.
NO on S 1931 – Reduces Payroll Tax Rate (2011) – a bill to extend the existing payroll tax holiday through 2012, and to extend the existing pay freeze for federal employees through 2015.
NO on S Amdt 928 – American Jobs and Economic Growth (2011) – an amendment to: (a) repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); (b) require Congress to pass a resolution to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution; (c) establish new individual and corporate income tax rates; (d) repeal $39 billion in unspent discretionary funds; and (e) limit the authority of certain government agencies to establish certain regulations.
YES on HR 2847 – Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits (2010) – a call to appropriate funds for purposes related to employment, infrastructure, and transportation.
YES on S 181 – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that redefined unlawful employment laws and counted each paycheck as an offense if a salary was ruled as discriminatory against a woman.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – the Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – an amendment that would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire undocumented immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 4322 – the Minimum Wage Adjustment Amendment (2006) – which sought to raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year period.
YES on S Amdt 44 – the Minimum Wage Amendment (2005) – which sought to increase the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two-year time period.
NO on S Amdt 2547 – Three Year Minimum Wage Increase Amendment (1999) – which called for increasing the federal minimum hourly wage by $1-per-hour, to $6.15, over a three-year period.
NO on S Amdt 2417 – the U.S. Citizen Recruitment Amendment (1998) – which would require employers to try to fill job openings with U.S. citizens for before allowing H-1B visa holders to apply for those positions.
YES on S Amdt 1708 – the Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Amendment (1998) – a vote to table an amendment prohibiting preferential treatment (based on race, ethnicity, or sex) when awarding federal transportation contracts, and to repeal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which required that at least 10% of federally funded highway construction projects be contracted to “disadvantaged business enterprises..”
YES on HR 3448 – Minimum Wage Increase bill (1996) – which called for raising the federal minimum hourly wage rate from $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour during the first year, and to $5.15 per hour during the second year.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 2280 – Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014) – a bill that sought to authorize the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on S Amdt 1537 – Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (2012) – which sought to exempt the Keystone XL Pipeline project from further executive approval requirements.
YES on S Amdt 4825 – Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade Plan (2008). (Click here for an explanation of Cap and Trade.)
YES on S Amdt 2358 – ANWR Amendment (2005) – which called for the removal of provisions that would allow an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on S Amdt 272 – ANWR Oil Drilling Amendment (2003) – which sought to stop a fast-track budget reconciliation bill from permitting movement towards drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
YES on Treaty Doc. 105-28 – the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1999) – which sought to require 44 countries that already had nuclear power plants or nuclear research reactors, to ban nuclear weapons testing.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 719 – Authorizes Reciprocity for the Carrying of Certain Concealed Firearms (2013) – which would authorize certain individuals to carry a concealed firearm in any state wherein it was legal for residents to carry such weapons.
YES on S Amdt 711 – Prohibits the Sale of Assault Weapons (2013) – an amendment designed to prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, and possession of any “semiautomatic assault weapon,” defined as (a) any semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; (b) a semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine; (c) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and (d) all types of AK, AK-47, AR, Thompson, and UZI weapons.
NO on S Amdt 1618 – Authorizing Concealed Firearms Across State Lines (2009) – an amendment to allow individuals who possessed conceal-and-carry permits in their home state to carry concealed firearms across state lines.
NO on S 397 – the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005) – which sought to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse of their products.
NO on S 1805 – Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2004) – which sought to prohibit certain civil lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, dealers and importers of firearms and ammunition pertaining to acts of criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.
YES on S Amdt 1152 – Prohibiting the Possession of Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons (1993) – which sought to ban the manufacture, sale, or possession of nineteen semiautomatic assault weapons and other firearms.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. (Obamacare)
YES on HR 2 – the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009) – a bill designed to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 4214 – National Guard Deployment on Southern U.S. Land Border (2010) – which called for the appropriation of $250 million for the deployment of at least 6,000 National Guard personnel along the southern land border of the United States to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection in border security activities.
NO on S Amdt 1399 – Requiring Completion of Reinforced Border Fencing (2009) – which called for the completion of the 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexico border, already authorized under existing law, be completed by no later than December 31, 2010.
YES on S Amdt 4309 – Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration Laws (2008) – a vote to table an amendment that would provide the Senate Budget Committee with the authority to revise funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services Program if the community was impeding the government’s ability to verify citizenship.
YES on S Amdt 4259 – Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment (2008) – which would allow the Senate Budget Committee chairman to raise spending levels to increase border security, expand enforcement of immigration laws, increase penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants, deploy National Guard troops to the southern and northern borders of the United States, and identify and deport non-citizen immigrants in prisons, provided that such spending would not increase the budget deficit.
YES on S Amdt 3117 – Border Fence and Customs Appropriations (2007) – an amendment to appropriate $3 billion to be used to hire full-time border patrol agents, improve employment eligibility verification, and fund security measures along the U.S. and Mexican border that would include building a fence, establishing vehicle barriers, utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles, placing ground-based sensors and cameras, and removing and detaining illegal immigrants.
YES on S Amdt 2405 – Real ID Funding (2007) – a vote to table (i.e., kill) an amendment to fund the Real ID Act, which established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibited Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards.
NO on S Amdt 1151 – Declaring English the National Language (2007) – which sought to declare English as the language of “sole legal authority” for the business of the federal government, and declared that no person had a right to require officials of the United States government to use a language other than English.
NO on S Amdt 1184 – Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes (2007) – which sought to prohibit illegal immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies, domestic violence, stalking, violation of protection orders, crimes against children, or crimes relating to the illegal purchase or sale of firearms, from gaining legal status.
YES on S Amdt 1202 – Point-Based Immigration Expiration Date (2007) – which sought to place an expiration date on a point-based (merit-based) immigration system.
YES on HR 6061 – the Secure Fence Act of 2006 – a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps it deemed necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on S Amdt 4064 – English As National Language Amendment (2006) – an amendment declaring English to be the national language, and calling for stricter requirements in language testing and knowledge of U.S. history.
YES on HR 2202 – the Immigration Reform Bill (1996) – which sought to increase the presence of U.S. border patrol personnel, change deportation laws and procedures, alter the verification system for eligibility and employment, and take additional similar measures aimed at decreasing illegal immigration into the U.S.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
YES on HR 3396 – the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) – a bill defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2573 – Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012 – which sought to extend tax cuts established in 2001 and 2003 until the end of 2013.
NO on HR 4853 – Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010) – a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
NO on HR 4297 – the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005 – a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
YES on HR 1308 – Child Tax Credit Bill (2004) – a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
NO on HR 4810 – the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000) – a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8 – the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000 – a vote to override a veto on a bill that would phase out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
YES on S 735 – the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act (1996) – which sought to: increase the capacity of detection agents for explosives; expand the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants; increase funding for the deportation of suspected terrorists; deny asylum for suspected terrorists; and prohibit terrorist groups from fundraising in the United States.
VOTING & ELECTIONS
YES on HR 2 – Motor Voter Registration (1993) – which required states to provide people with an opportunity to submit voter-registration applications for federal elections by three principal means: (a) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for, or seek to renew, a driver’s license (hence the name “motor voter”); (b) by submitting their voter-registration applications by mail, using forms developed jointly by each state and the Election Assistance Commission; and (c) by registering to vote at the same time that they apply for public assistance of any kind.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2174 – Limits Eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (2012) – which called for limiting eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to households in which each member receives cash assistance under a state program.
YES on S Amdt 2392 – Reduces Funding for Food Stamps (2012) – which called for a repeal of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), authorized the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to states for supplemental nutrition assistance, and limited appropriations for the grant program to $45 billion per year.
YES on HR 3734 – the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 – a bill that sought to: (a) replace the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs with a single program of block grants; (b) impose a five-year lifetime limit on receiving TANF benefits; (c) require all “able-bodied” welfare recipients to go to work once the state determines they are ready to work, or they have received assistance for a total of two years, whichever is earlier; (d) prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving State and Federal benefits, except for emergency medical services, certain emergency disaster relief, public health immunizations, housing assistance, and certain Social Security Act benefits; (e) make legal immigrants ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps; (f) require five years of residence in the United States before most legal immigrants can be eligible for federal means-tested services; and (g) deny assistance to families that include a fugitive felon, someone on probation, or a parole violator.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tom Harkin’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a senator, Tom Udall has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2009) – most commonly known as Obamacare.
YES on S Amdt 2962 – Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009) – a motion to halt further consideration of a bill to bar the use of any federal funds for abortion services unless the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or the woman would be placed in danger of death without the performance of an abortion.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE & ELECTIONS
YES on S Amdt 2355 – Prohibiting Funding for ACORN (2009) – an amendment to bar the use of federal dollars to directly or indirectly fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
YES on S 160 – the Washington DC Voting Act (2009) – a bill that sought to give the District of Columbia a voting seat in the House of Representatives.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on S Amdt 2175 – Authorizes the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to the United States (2013) – an amendment to authorize the transfer or release of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
NO on S Amdt 1274 – Authorizes Further Detention After Trial During Wartime (2011) – an amendment to authorize the further detention by the military of an individual under the “laws of war,” even if that individual has already received a trial or has been transferred for trial by an alternative court.
CONSTITUTION
NO on S J Res 10 – Proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (2011) – a joint resolution to submit, to the state legislatures, a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the federal government from spending money in excess of its revenue, beginning 5 fiscal years after the ratification of the amendment.
NO on S Amdt 115 – Calling for a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment (2011) – which urged Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution requiring a federal balanced budget.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on S 815 – Employment Non-Discrimination Act (2013) – a bill to prohibit employment discrimination based on the real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of an individual.
YES on S 1917 – Extends Payroll Tax Cut and Establishes Tax on Income Over $1 Million (2011) – a motion to proceed with a bill designed to reduce the payroll tax rate from 4.2% to 3.1% for 2012, and to establish a 3.25% tax on income over $1 million.
NO on S 1931 – Reduces Payroll Tax Rate (2011) – a bill to extend the existing payroll tax holiday through 2012, and to extend the existing pay freeze for federal employees through 2015.
NO on S Amdt 928 – American Jobs and Economic Growth (2011) – an amendment to: (a) repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); (b) require Congress to pass a resolution to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution; (c) establish new individual and corporate income tax rates; (d) repeal $39 billion in unspent discretionary funds; and (e) limit the authority of certain government agencies to establish certain regulations.
YES on HR 2847 – Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits (2010) – a call to appropriate funds for purposes related to employment, infrastructure, and transportation.
YES on S 181 – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that redefined unlawful employment laws and counted each paycheck as an offense if a salary was ruled as discriminatory against a woman.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1 – Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015) – a vote to override President Obama’s veto of a bill that would have authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on S 2280 – Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014) – a bill that sought to authorize the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on S Amdt 1537 – Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (2012) – which sought to exempt the Keystone XL Pipeline project from further executive approval requirements.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2915 – the Defend Our Capital Act of 2015 – which required the police chief of the District of Columbia to issue a concealed-carry firearms license to any qualified individual who completes the application process.
YES on S Amdt 719 – Authorizes Reciprocity for the Carrying of Certain Concealed Firearms (2013) – which would authorize certain individuals to carry a concealed firearm in any state wherein it was legal for residents to carry such weapons.
NO on S Amdt 711 – Prohibits the Sale of Assault Weapons (2013) – an amendment designed to prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, and possession of any “semiautomatic assault weapon,” defined as (a) any semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; (b) a semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine; (c) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and (d) all types of AK, AK-47, AR, Thompson, and UZI weapons.
YES on S Amdt 1618 – Authorizing Concealed Firearms Across State Lines (2009) – an amendment to allow individuals who possessed conceal-and-carry permits in their home state to carry concealed firearms across state lines.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 667 – the Health Care Freedom Act of 2017 – which called for replacing Obamacare with the Health Care Freedom Act of 2017, commonly known as the “skinny repeal” option.
NO on S Amdt 271 – Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 – which called for a repeal of existing sections of Obamacare.
NO on HR 3762 – Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (2015) – which sought to override a veto of a bill that would have repealed certain provisions of Obamacare and to rescind public funds from abortion providers.
YES on HR 3590 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. (Obamacare)
YES on HR 2 – the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009) – a bill designed to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on S 2193 – an amendment to invoke cloture on, and thus overcome a filibuster against, the Stop Illegal Reentry Act (2016) – a bill designed to increase the maximum prison term for an illegal immigrant who reenters the United States after being denied admission or deported.
NO on S 2146 – an amendment to invoke cloture on, and thus overcome a filibuster against, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act (2015) – a bill designed to prohibit sanctuary jurisdictions from receiving federal grants and increases penalties for an illegal immigrant who reenters the United States after being deported.
NO on S Amdt 1197 – Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border (2013) – a bill prohibiting the Secretary of Homeland Security from processing applications for registered provisional immigrant status until 350 miles of southern border fencing had been erected.
NO on S Amdt 4214 – National Guard Deployment on Southern U.S. Land Border (2010) – which called for the appropriation of $250 million for the deployment of at least 6,000 National Guard personnel along the southern land border of the United States to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection in border security activities.
NO on S Amdt 1399 – Requiring Completion of Reinforced Border Fencing (2009) – which called for the completion of the 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexico border, already authorized under existing law, be completed by no later than December 31, 2010.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1 – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017) – which reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and moderately reduced most individual tax brackets.
NO on S Amdt 2573 – Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012 – which sought to extend tax cuts established in 2001 and 2003 until the end of 2013.
NO on HR 4853 – Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010) – a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on S Amdt 2174 – Limits Eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (2012) – which called for limiting eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to households in which each member receives cash assistance under a state program.
YES on S Amdt 2392 – Reduces Funding for Food Stamps (2012) – which called for a repeal of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), authorized the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to states for supplemental nutrition assistance, and limited appropriations for the grant program to $45 billion per year.
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Tom Udall voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 6099, the Abortion Pain Bill (2006), a bill which mandated that abortion providers, prior to performing an abortion on a fetus older than 20 weeks, inform the mother that: (a) the fetus might feel pain during the procedure, and (b) the use of some pain-reducing drugs may have health risks associated with them.
NO on S 403, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
YES on H Amdt 209, the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (2005), an amendment to end the ban on privately funded abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas.
NO on HR 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2005), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004), a bill that proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S 3, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 760, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 503, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2001), a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on HR 2436, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 1999, a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
NO on S 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a bill to create a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
NO on HR 2975, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, a bill to give the federal government a broad range of powers to combat terrorism, such as: (a) easing restrictions on government wiretap and surveillance operations, and permitting the sharing of such information between some government officials; (b) enhancing security along the United States/Canadian border; and (c) denying U.S. visas to suspected money-launderers.
NO on HR 3162, the USA Patriot Act of 2001; (Click here for details about the Patriot Act.)
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on HR 2210, the Head Start Bill (2003), a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
YES on H Amdt 594, Minimum Wage Increase-Two Year Raise (2000), an amendment to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour over the first year, and more during the second year.
YES on HR 3846, the Minimum Wage Increase Bill (2000), to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour over a one-year period.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
YES on H Amdt 856, the Outer Continental Shelf Amendment (2006), an amendment to continue the prohibition of drilling for natural gas, and to prevent funds allocated in the bill from being used for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
YES on H Amdt 72, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment (2005), which sought to strike provisions that had previously allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
YES on H Amdt 288, the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Amendment (2001), an amendment to increase the CAFE standards of vehicles and to offer incentives for alternative-fuel vehicles.
YES on H Amdt 298, Prohibiting Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2001), an amendment to extend the existing prohibition on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
YES on HR 1954, Iran and Libya Sanctions (2001), a vote to pass a bill that would extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) of 1996, which imposed sanctions against companies and individuals that invested in oil and gas industries in Libya and Iran.
YES on H Amdt 1023, the Cuban Economic Embargo Amendment (2000), an amendment to prohibit use of funds to continue the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba.
YES on H Amdt 1029, the Cuban Travel Embargo Amendment (2000), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to restrict travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397, the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005), a bill to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
YES on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
NO on HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, a bill granting state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer illegal immigrants to federal custody.
NO on HR 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on HR 418, the Real ID Act of 2005, a bill granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.
NO on HR 3722, Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance (2004), a bill to: prohibit federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals that provide emergency services to illegal immigrants unless the hospital provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records; make employers of certain illegal immigrants financially responsible for the medical treatment of those immigrants; and allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants under Federal immigration law.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on H J Res 88, the Same-Sex Marriage Resolution (2006), a bill proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the U.S. consists only of the union of a man and a woman, and that federal and state constitutions cannot be construed to require that the status of marriage be conferred on other unions.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 5638, the Death/Estate Tax Amendment (2006), a bill to reduce estate taxes beginning in 2010.
NO on HR 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
NO on HR 8, the Death/Estate Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005, a bill to permanently repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
YES on HR 1308, Child Tax Credit Bill (2004), a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
NO on HR 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004, a bill to extend the previously-available Alternative Minimum Tax relief to 2005.
NO on HR 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, a bill to institute $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over an 11-year period.
NO on HR 4810, the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000), a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8, the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000, a vote to override a veto on a bill that phased out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
NO on HR 3081, the Small Business Tax Fairness Act of 2000, a bill to cut taxes for small businesses by $46 billion over five years.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
YES on HR 4635, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (2002), a bill to start a program deputizing airline pilots as federal law-enforcement officers and allowing them to carry firearms on airlines to defend against acts of violence.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tom Udall’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Tony Cardenas has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
NO on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Tony Cardenas’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Vicente González has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Vicente González’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Vicente González has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Vicente González’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Vicente González has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Vicente González’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of his career as a legislator, William Lacy Clay Jr. has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on HR 6099, the Abortion Pain Bill (2006), a bill which mandated that abortion providers, prior to performing an abortion on a fetus older than 20 weeks, inform the mother that: (a) the fetus might feel pain during the procedure, and (b) the use of some pain-reducing drugs may have health risks associated with them.
NO on S 403, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
YES on H Amdt 209, the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (2005), an amendment to end the ban on privately funded abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas.
YES on HR 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2005), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004), a bill that proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S 3, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 760, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 503, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2001), a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
NO on S 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a bill to create a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
YES on HR 2975, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, a bill to give the federal government a broad range of powers to combat terrorism, such as: (a) easing restrictions on government wiretap and surveillance operations, and permitting the sharing of such information between some government officials; (b) enhancing security along the United States/Canadian border; and (c) denying U.S. visas to suspected money-launderers.
DID NOT VOTE on HR 3162, the USA Patriot Act of 2001; (Click here for details about the Patriot Act.)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on HR 2210, the Head Start Bill (2003), a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
YES on H Amdt 856, the Outer Continental Shelf Amendment (2006), an amendment to continue the prohibition of drilling for natural gas, and to prevent funds allocated in the bill from being used for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
YES on H Amdt 72, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment (2005), which sought to strike provisions that had previously allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
NO on H Amdt 288, the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Amendment (2001), an amendment to increase the CAFE standards of vehicles and to offer incentives for alternative-fuel vehicles.
YES on H Amdt 298, Prohibiting Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2001), an amendment to extend the existing prohibition on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
YES on HR 1954, Iran and Libya Sanctions (2001), a vote to pass a bill that would extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) of 1996, which imposed sanctions against companies and individuals that invested in oil and gas industries in Libya and Iran.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397, the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005), a bill to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
YES on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
YES on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
NO on HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, a bill granting state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer illegal immigrants to federal custody.
NO on HR 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on HR 418, the Real ID Act of 2005, a bill granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.
NO on HR 3722, Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance (2004), a bill to: prohibit federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals that provide emergency services to illegal immigrants unless the hospital provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records; make employers of certain illegal immigrants financially responsible for the medical treatment of those immigrants; and allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants under Federal immigration law.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on H J Res 88, the Same-Sex Marriage Resolution (2006), a bill proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the U.S. consists only of the union of a man and a woman, and that federal and state constitutions cannot be construed to require that the status of marriage be conferred on other unions.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
DID NOTE VOTE on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
YES on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
YES on HR 5638, the Death/Estate Tax Amendment (2006), a bill to reduce estate taxes beginning in 2010.
NO on HR 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
YES on HR 8, the Death/Estate Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005, a bill to permanently repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
NO on HR 1308, Child Tax Credit Bill (2004), a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
YES on HR 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004, a bill to extend the previously-available Alternative Minimum Tax relief to 2005.
NO on HR 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, a bill to institute $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over an 11-year period.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
NO on HR 4635, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (2002), a bill to start a program deputizing airline pilots as federal law-enforcement officers and allowing them to carry firearms on airlines to defend against acts of violence.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at William Lacy Clay Jr.’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of his career as a legislator, William Lacy Clay Jr. has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on HR 6099, the Abortion Pain Bill (2006), a bill which mandated that abortion providers, prior to performing an abortion on a fetus older than 20 weeks, inform the mother that: (a) the fetus might feel pain during the procedure, and (b) the use of some pain-reducing drugs may have health risks associated with them.
NO on S 403, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
YES on H Amdt 209, the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (2005), an amendment to end the ban on privately funded abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas.
YES on HR 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2005), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004), a bill that proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S 3, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 760, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 503, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2001), a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
NO on S 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a bill to create a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
YES on HR 2975, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, a bill to give the federal government a broad range of powers to combat terrorism, such as: (a) easing restrictions on government wiretap and surveillance operations, and permitting the sharing of such information between some government officials; (b) enhancing security along the United States/Canadian border; and (c) denying U.S. visas to suspected money-launderers.
DID NOT VOTE on HR 3162, the USA Patriot Act of 2001; (Click here for details about the Patriot Act.)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on HR 2210, the Head Start Bill (2003), a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
YES on H Amdt 856, the Outer Continental Shelf Amendment (2006), an amendment to continue the prohibition of drilling for natural gas, and to prevent funds allocated in the bill from being used for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
YES on H Amdt 72, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment (2005), which sought to strike provisions that had previously allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
NO on H Amdt 288, the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Amendment (2001), an amendment to increase the CAFE standards of vehicles and to offer incentives for alternative-fuel vehicles.
YES on H Amdt 298, Prohibiting Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2001), an amendment to extend the existing prohibition on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
YES on HR 1954, Iran and Libya Sanctions (2001), a vote to pass a bill that would extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) of 1996, which imposed sanctions against companies and individuals that invested in oil and gas industries in Libya and Iran.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397, the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005), a bill to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
YES on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
YES on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
NO on HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, a bill granting state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer illegal immigrants to federal custody.
NO on HR 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on HR 418, the Real ID Act of 2005, a bill granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.
NO on HR 3722, Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance (2004), a bill to: prohibit federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals that provide emergency services to illegal immigrants unless the hospital provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records; make employers of certain illegal immigrants financially responsible for the medical treatment of those immigrants; and allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants under Federal immigration law.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on H J Res 88, the Same-Sex Marriage Resolution (2006), a bill proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the U.S. consists only of the union of a man and a woman, and that federal and state constitutions cannot be construed to require that the status of marriage be conferred on other unions.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
DID NOTE VOTE on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
YES on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
YES on HR 5638, the Death/Estate Tax Amendment (2006), a bill to reduce estate taxes beginning in 2010.
NO on HR 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
YES on HR 8, the Death/Estate Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005, a bill to permanently repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
NO on HR 1308, Child Tax Credit Bill (2004), a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
YES on HR 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004, a bill to extend the previously-available Alternative Minimum Tax relief to 2005.
NO on HR 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, a bill to institute $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over an 11-year period.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
NO on HR 4635, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (2002), a bill to start a program deputizing airline pilots as federal law-enforcement officers and allowing them to carry firearms on airlines to defend against acts of violence.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at William Lacy Clay Jr.’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a legislator, William Lacy Clay Jr. voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on HR 6099, the Abortion Pain Bill (2006), a bill which mandated that abortion providers, prior to performing an abortion on a fetus older than 20 weeks, inform the mother that: (a) the fetus might feel pain during the procedure, and (b) the use of some pain-reducing drugs may have health risks associated with them.
NO on S 403, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
YES on H Amdt 209, the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (2005), an amendment to end the ban on privately funded abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas.
YES on HR 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2005), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004), a bill that proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S 3, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 760, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 503, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2001), a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
NO on S 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a bill to create a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
YES on HR 2975, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, a bill to give the federal government a broad range of powers to combat terrorism, such as: (a) easing restrictions on government wiretap and surveillance operations, and permitting the sharing of such information between some government officials; (b) enhancing security along the United States/Canadian border; and (c) denying U.S. visas to suspected money-launderers.
DID NOT VOTE on HR 3162, the USA Patriot Act of 2001; (Click here for details about the Patriot Act.)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on HR 2210, the Head Start Bill (2003), a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
YES on H Amdt 856, the Outer Continental Shelf Amendment (2006), an amendment to continue the prohibition of drilling for natural gas, and to prevent funds allocated in the bill from being used for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
YES on H Amdt 72, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment (2005), which sought to strike provisions that had previously allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
NO on H Amdt 288, the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Amendment (2001), an amendment to increase the CAFE standards of vehicles and to offer incentives for alternative-fuel vehicles.
YES on H Amdt 298, Prohibiting Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2001), an amendment to extend the existing prohibition on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
YES on HR 1954, Iran and Libya Sanctions (2001), a vote to pass a bill that would extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) of 1996, which imposed sanctions against companies and individuals that invested in oil and gas industries in Libya and Iran.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397, the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005), a bill to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
YES on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
YES on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
NO on HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, a bill granting state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer illegal immigrants to federal custody.
NO on HR 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on HR 418, the Real ID Act of 2005, a bill granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.
NO on HR 3722, Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance (2004), a bill to: prohibit federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals that provide emergency services to illegal immigrants unless the hospital provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records; make employers of certain illegal immigrants financially responsible for the medical treatment of those immigrants; and allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants under Federal immigration law.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on H J Res 88, the Same-Sex Marriage Resolution (2006), a bill proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the U.S. consists only of the union of a man and a woman, and that federal and state constitutions cannot be construed to require that the status of marriage be conferred on other unions.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
DID NOTE VOTE on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
YES on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
YES on HR 5638, the Death/Estate Tax Amendment (2006), a bill to reduce estate taxes beginning in 2010.
NO on HR 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
YES on HR 8, the Death/Estate Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005, a bill to permanently repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
NO on HR 1308, Child Tax Credit Bill (2004), a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
YES on HR 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004, a bill to extend the previously-available Alternative Minimum Tax relief to 2005.
NO on HR 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, a bill to institute $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over an 11-year period.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
NO on HR 4635, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (2002), a bill to start a program deputizing airline pilots as federal law-enforcement officers and allowing them to carry firearms on airlines to defend against acts of violence.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at William Lacy Clay Jr.’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of his career as a legislator, Xavier Becerra has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on S 403, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2006), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
YES on H Amdt 209, the Overseas Military Facilities Abortion Amendment (2005), an amendment to end the ban on privately funded abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas.
NO on HR 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (2005), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004), a bill that proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on S 3, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 760, Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion (2003), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 503, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2001), a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on HR 2436, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 1999, a bill proposing to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman.
NO on HR 1122, Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion (1998), a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3682, the Child Custody Protection Act (1998), a bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without a parent’s (or a legal guardian’s) consent.
NO on HR 581, Population Planning Bill (1997), a bill forbidding the dispersal of U.S. federal funds to international organizations that perform abortions.
NO on HR 1833, the Partial-Birth/Late-Term Abortion Act of 1995, a bill to ban the late-term abortion procedure known as “intact dilation and extraction,” commonly referred to as “partial-birth abortion” – except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 185, Hyde Amendment (1993), an amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions, except in cases where a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
NO on S 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a bill to create a military commission to try unlawful enemy combatants for violations of the laws of war.
NO on HR 2975, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, a bill to give the federal government a broad range of powers to combat terrorism, such as: (a) easing restrictions on government wiretap and surveillance operations, and permitting the sharing of such information between some government officials; (b) enhancing security along the United States/Canadian border; and (c) denying U.S. visas to suspected money-launderers.
YES on HR 3162, the USA Patriot Act of 2001; (Click here for details about the Patriot Act.)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
NO on HR 3, the Juvenile Crime bill (1997), a bill to allow juveniles who commit violent crimes or specific drug offenses to be tried as adults more easily.
YES on H Amdt 503, the Death Penalty Removal Amendment (1994), an amendment to HR 4092 that would remove all death penalty provisions in the bill and replace them with life imprisonment.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on HR 2210, the Head Start Bill (2003), a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
NO on S 1502, the Washington, DC School Vouchers bill (1998), which created a corporation to issue vouchers to elementary- and secondary-school students in the DC area to pay for their private education.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
YES on H Amdt 594, Minimum Wage Increase-Two Year Raise (2000), an amendment to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour over the first year, and more during the second year.
YES on HR 3846, the Minimum Wage Increase Bill (2000), to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour over a one-year period.
YES on HR 3448, the Minimum Wage Increase Bill (1996), a bill to increase the minimum wage rate from $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour during the year beginning on October 1, 1996, and to $5.15 per hour beginning September 1, 1997.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
YES on H Amdt 856, the Outer Continental Shelf Amendment (2006), an amendment to continue the prohibition of drilling for natural gas, and to prevent funds allocated in the bill from being used for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
YES on H Amdt 72, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Amendment (2005), which sought to strike provisions that had previously allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
YES on H Amdt 288, the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Amendment (2001), an amendment to increase the CAFE standards of vehicles and to offer incentives for alternative-fuel vehicles.
YES on H Amdt 298, Prohibiting Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2001), an amendment to extend the existing prohibition on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
YES on HR 1954, Iran and Libya Sanctions (2001), a vote to pass a bill that would extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) of 1996, which imposed sanctions against companies and individuals that invested in oil and gas industries in Libya and Iran.
YES on H Amdt 1023, the Cuban Economic Embargo Amendment (2000), an amendment to prohibit use of funds to continue the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba.
YES on H Amdt 1029, the Cuban Travel Embargo Amendment (2000), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to restrict travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens.
GUN RIGHTS ISSUES
NO on S 397, the Firearms Manufacturers Protection Bill (2005), a bill to provide liability protection for manufacturers, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition, as well as their trade associations, for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse.
NO on HR 125, the Gun Ban Repeal Act of 1995, a bill to repeal the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons, and to set the mandatory minimum prison sentence for possession of a firearm while committing a violent federal crime or drug trafficking.
YES on HR 4296, Regulation of Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons (1994), a bill to ban certain semi-automatic weapons.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
YES on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
YES on H Amdt 728, the Federal Health Plan Contraceptive Coverage Amendment (1998), an amendment to prohibit funding for any federal health plan that does not offer contraceptive coverage, with an exception made for certain religious-based plans.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
YES on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
NO on HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, a bill granting state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer illegal immigrants to federal custody.
NO on HR 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico, and authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S.
NO on HR 418, the Real ID Act of 2005, a bill granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards.
NO on HR 3722, Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance (2004), a bill to: prohibit federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals that provide emergency services to illegal immigrants unless the hospital provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records; make employers of certain illegal immigrants financially responsible for the medical treatment of those immigrants; and allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants under Federal immigration law.
NO on HR 2202, the Immigration Reform Bill (1996), a bill to increase border patrol personnel, change deportation laws and procedures, alter the verification system for eligibility and employment, and take additional similar measures aimed at decreasing illegal immigration into the U.S.
NO on HR 123, English as the National Language (1996), a bill to declare English as the official language of the Government of the United States.
YES on H Amdt 968, the Immigrant Public Assistance Amendment (1996), an amendment to eliminate a provision that prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving public assistance.
NO on H Amdt 969, Denying Public Education to Undocumented Immigrants (1996), an amendment giving States the option to deny public education to illegal aliens.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
NO on H J Res 88, the Same-Sex Marriage Resolution (2006), a bill proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the U.S. consists only of the union of a man and a woman, and that federal and state constitutions cannot be construed to require that the status of marriage be conferred on other unions.
NO on HR 3396, the Defense of Marriage Act (1996), a bill defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.
RELIGION
NO on H Con Res 31, Display of the Ten Commandments (1997), a resolution declaring the sense of Congress that the public display of the Ten Commandments should be permitted in government offices and courthouses.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
NO on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
NO on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
NO on HR 5638, the Death/Estate Tax Amendment (2006), a bill to reduce estate taxes beginning in 2010.
NO on HR 4297, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005, a bill to authorize and extend $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.
NO on HR 8, the Death/Estate Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005, a bill to permanently repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
NO on HR 1308, Child Tax Credit Bill (2004), a vote to extend the child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts.
NO on HR 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004, a bill to extend the previously-available Alternative Minimum Tax relief to 2005.
NO on HR 4810, the Marriage Tax Relief Bill (2000), a bill to provide $89.8 billion over the next five years in tax relief for married couples.
NO on HR 8, the Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000, a vote to override a veto on a bill that phased out estate and gift taxes by 2010.
NO on HR 3081, the Small Business Tax Fairness Act of 2000, a bill to cut taxes for small businesses by $46 billion over five years.
NO on HR 4579, Tax Cut Bill (1998), a bill to cut taxes for married couples, farmers, students, and others; to reduce the “marriage penalty” by making the basic standard deduction on a joint return equal to twice the deduction of a single return; and to increase the exemption from estate and gift taxes to $1 million.
NO on HR 1215, the Contract With America Tax Relief Act of 1995, a bill to cut personal and business taxes by $189 billion over 5 years.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
NO on HR 4635, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (2002), a bill to start a program deputizing airline pilots as federal law-enforcement officers and allowing them to carry firearms on airlines to defend against acts of violence.
NO on S 735, the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act (1996), which sought to increase the capacity of detection agents for explosives; expand the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants; increase funding for the deportation of suspected terrorists; deny asylum for suspected terrorists; and prohibit terrorist groups from fundraising in the United States.
VOTING & ELECTIONS
NO on H Amdt 747, the Voter Registration Amendment (1998), which called to change voter registration standards by requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote, banning registration by mail, permitting states to require voters to sign their name before voting, and permitting states to require voters to present a photo ID at their polling place.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
NO on HR 3734, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, a bill to: replace the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs with a single, combined program of block grants; impose a five-year lifetime limit on receiving TANF benefits; require all “able-bodied” welfare recipients to go to work once the state determines they are ready to work, or they have received assistance for a total of two years, whichever is earlier; prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving State and Federal benefits, except for emergency medical services, certain emergency disaster relief, public health immunizations, housing assistance, and certain Social Security Act benefits; make legal immigrants ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps; require five years of residence in the United States for most legal immigrants to be eligible for Federal means-tested services; and deny assistance to families that include a fugitive felon, someone on probation, or a parole violator.
YES on H Amdt 968, the Immigrant Public Assistance Amendment (1996), an amendment to eliminate a provision that prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving public assistance.
NO on H Amdt 778, Prohibiting Benefits to Undocumented Immigrants (1994), an amendment to HR 3838 stating that no illegal immigrant may receive benefits and aid under FEMA’s emergency food and shelter programs, unless the President declares an emergency.
NO on H Amdt 771, Limiting Entitlement Program Expenditures (1994), an amendment to HR 4604 that would require an annual budget which would limit entitlement expenditures, with the exception of Social Security and debt interest payments.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Xavier Becerra’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
*
Over the course of her career as a legislator, Yvette Clark has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
(PAIR) NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
YES-NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009) (a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
DID NOT VOTE on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
NO on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
DID NOT VOTE on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
NO on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Yvette Clark’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of her career as a legislator, Yvette Clarke has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
(PAIR) NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
YES-NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
DID NOT VOTE on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
NO on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
DID NOT VOTE on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
NO on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Yvette Clarke’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Over the course of her career as a legislator, Yvette Clarke has voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017, a bill to prohibit the use of any federal funds for abortion services.
NO on S 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016, a bill to prohibit the government from penalizing healthcare providers that decline to cover abortions.
NO on HR 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2015), a bill requiring healthcare practitioners who are present when an infant survives an attempted abortion, to exercises the same degree of care as would be provided to any infant born at the same gestational age.
NO on HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill to rescind federal funds for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year, unless Planned Parenthood could certify that its clinics and affiliates would not use the funds to perform an abortion during that year.
NO on HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to prohibit federal funding of any abortion services and of health benefits coverage for such services.
NO on HR 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2013), a bill to prohibit abortions after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where: (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman, or (b) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.
NO on HR 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2012), a bill to prohibit abortions in the District of Columbia after a fetus has reached 20 weeks of age, except in cases where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered by conditions arising from the pregnancy.
NO on HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, a bill to prohibit abortions sought due to the sex, gender, color, or race of the fetus, or the race of a parent of the fetus
NO on H Amdt 95, Prohibiting Use of Federal Funds For Planned Parenthood (2011), a bill to prevent federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its state or local affiliates, for any purpose.
NO on HR 358, a 2011 bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), so as to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any part of any health care plan that provides coverage for abortions.
NO on HR 3, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (2011), a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used for the purpose of providing abortions, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
NO on H Amdt 509, Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services (2009), an amendment to prohibit funds from being used to pay for abortions or to cover any part of the costs of a health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy.
CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS
YES on H Amdt 197, the Guantanamo Transfer Plan (2007), an amendment requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the Congress detailing a plan for the transfer of prisoners out of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
NO on HR 115, the Thin Blue Line Act (2017), a bill authorizing the death penalty in cases of the murder or attempted murder of a police officer or other first responder.
YES on HR 1913 – Hate Crimes Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the definition of a hate crime to include felonies motivated by prejudice based on national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
EDUCATION
YES on HR 1429, the Head Start Act of 2007, a bill that authorized five years of funding increases for Head Start, a federal early education program meant to help low-income families; it also allowed Head Start programs to increase the number of their participants by 35 percent, by including children whose families’ incomes were between 100 and 130 percent of the poverty level. (For details about Head Start, click here.)
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
(PAIR) NO on HR 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
NO on HR 2575, the Save American Workers Act of 2014, a bill to increase the number of hours that an employee is required to work per week from 30 to 40, in order to be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
YES on S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, a bill that sought to count each paycheck as an offense if a woman’s salary was determined to be unjustly low, and to allow the recovery of back pay for up to two years prior to the complaint in addition to existing penalties.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NO on S 1, A Bill to Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2015), which authorized the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (2015), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny an application for a natural gas pipeline within 12 months.
NO on HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (2015), a bill authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
NO on HR 5682, To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (2014), a bill authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and cross-border facilities.
NO on H Amdt 585, Prohibits the Social Cost of Carbon from Being Included in Agency Determinations (2014), an amendment to prohibit the social cost of carbon from being used in an environmental review or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.
NO on HR 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (2013), a bill to increase lease sales for offshore oil and gas.
YES-NO on HR 6213, the No More Solyndras Act (2012), a bill to limit the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
NO on HR 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking any action related to the emission of “greenhouse gases,” and to temporarily bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing or approving regulations that would adversely impact employment in U.S. coal mines.
YES on HR 2454, Energy and Environmental Law Amendments (2009)(a.k.a. “Cap and Trade”) (Click here for details about Cap and Trade.)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NO on HR 3457, the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (2015), a bill to prohibit sanctions against Iran from being lifted until Iran pays court-ruled fines for judgments related to terrorism.
NO on HR 3460, To Suspend Until January 21, 2017, the Authority of the President to Waive, Suspend, Reduce, Provide Relief from, or Otherwise Limit the Application of Sanctions Pursuant to an Agreement Related to the Nuclear Program of Iran (2015): This bill sought to prohibit the President (Barack Obama) from reducing certain sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when a new President would be in office.
NO on H Res 411, Finding that the President Has Not Complied with Section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, a call to pass a resolution alleging that President Obama had not transmitted the Iran nuclear agreement to the appropriate Congressional committees.
NO on H Amdt 226, Limits Use of Funds to Implement New START Treaty (2015), an amendment to HR 1735 that prohibited funding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) unless certain conditions regarding the Russian Federation were met.
NO on H Amdt 679, Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty (2014), an amendment to HR 4435 that prohibited funds appropriated to the Department of Defense from being used to implement the New START Treaty.
NO on H Amdt 167, Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen (2013), an amendment to HR 1960 that prohibited the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of an individual detained at Guantanamo Bay, to the custody or control of Yemen or any entity within Yemen, until December 31, 2014.
YES on HR 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, a bill to increase economic sanctions on Iran and to allow the President to determine if the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should be considered a foreign terrorist organization.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
YES on HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010(Obamacare)
YES on HR 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion (2009), a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
DID NOT VOTE on HR 3162, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a 2007 bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
IMMIGRATION, NATIONALITY, & ENGLISH LANGUAGE ISSUES
NO on HR 3009, the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (2015), a bill to cut off federal funding to state or local governments that restrict law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
NO on HR 5759, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the executive branch from exempting or deferring, by executive order or otherwise, illegal immigrants from deportation pursuant to existing immigration law.
NO on HR 5272, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and for Other Purposes (2014): This bill aimed to prohibit any federal agency from using funds to consider any application of any illegal immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any illegal immigrant, or to authorize any illegal immigrant to work in the United States.
NO on H Amdt 136, Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order (2013), an amendment designed to prevent the enforcement of the Obama Administration’s controversial “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. Initiated in June 2012, that executive action guaranteed that most DREAM Act-eligible individuals would be granted legal status, work permits, access to certain publicly funded social services, and protection from deportation for a period of two years.
YES on HR 3012, Repeals Certain Green Cards Limitations (2011), a bill that sought to repeal country limits for immigrant visas made available to employment-based immigrants, whereas existing law specified that no more than 7 percent of the total number of family-sponsored and employment-based visas could be awarded to natives of any one country.
YES on HR 5281, the DREAM Act (2010), a bill offering permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college (for which they can receive in-state-resident tuition discounts).
NO on H Amdt 1045, Undocumented Immigrants’ Ineligibility for Certain Financial Assistance (2008), an amendment to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving financial assistance under HR 5818, a bill allowing states to obtain loans from the federal government to acquire foreclosed houses and provide housing assistance.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
NO on HR 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, a bill to repeal the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
NO on HR 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from issuing, revising, or finalizing any regulation that was in effect on January 1, 2010 regarding an organization that claims a tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NO on H Amdt 448, Requires Congressional Approval Prior to Establishing a Tax on Carbon Emissions (2013), an amendment to HR 367 that requires congressional approval in order for a carbon tax to be imposed.
DID NOT VOTE on HR 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012, a bill to prohibit any individual who has a delinquent tax debt from being an employee of the federal government.
NO on HR 436, Repeals Excise Tax on Medical Devices (2012), a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices previously imposed on manufactures, producers and importers.
NO on HR 9, Income Tax Deduction for Small Businesses (2012), a bill to establish an income tax deduction of 20 percent for small businesses, beginning in the 2012 tax year.
NO on HR 4853, Temporary Extension of Tax Relief (2010), a bill to: amend and extend provisions of the “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001”; extend the period of time in which the allowable credit for the Child Tax Credit can be increased; extend the reduced marriage penalty of $5,000, and the increased credit percentage of 45 percent for taxpayers with 3 or more qualifying children; increase the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for taxpayers other than corporations; and reduce estate taxes.
TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
NO on H Amdt 1114, Allowing the Use of Certain Terms in Within the Intelligence Community (2008), an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to discourage the use of the phrases “jihadist,” “jihad,” “Islamo-facism,” “caliphate,” “Islamist,” or “Islamic terrorist” within the intelligence community or federal government.
WELFARE & ENTITLEMENTS ISSUES
NO on H Amdt 231, Authorizes States to Require Federal Welfare Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (2013), an amendment to HR 1947 that authorized states to require federal welfare work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at Yvette Clarke’s voting record, visit VoteSmart.org. OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.
Return to the Table of Contents
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Opposed to Safeguards Against Election Fraud
In 2005, a landmark report by the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, known informally as the Carter-Baker Commission, advised all U.S. states that in order to guarantee free and fair elections, they should:
These recommendations were widely watered down, and in some cases entirely ignored, in the elections of November 2020 — chiefly because of Democrat efforts to circumvent and change existing election laws by unconstitutional and illegal methods. Those Democrat efforts were wholly consistent with the party platform’s pledge to “make voting easier and more accessible for all Americans by supporting automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration [on Election Day], early voting, and universal vote-from-home and vote-by-mail options.” All of those Democrat proposals dramatically increase opportunities for voter fraud, particularly in light of the fact that state voter rolls are already known to include at least 24 million ineligible or inaccurate voter registrations.
HARRIS & BIDEN: The For The People Act
The Heritage Foundation has reported that H.R. 1, The For the People Act of 2021, sought to:
In a March 1, 2021 statement of policy, the Biden-Harris White House said of H.R. 1: “[T]his landmark legislation is urgently needed to protect the right to vote and the integrity of our elections and to repair and strengthen American democracy.”
On June 22, 2021, VP Harris stated: “I want to be clear that our administration remains determined to work with Congress to pass The For The People Act.”
During a July 13, 2021 speech in Philadelphia, President Biden said: “Vice President Harris and I have spent our careers doing this work. And I’ve asked her to lead, to bring people together to protect the right to vote and our democracy. And it starts with continuing the fight to pass H.R.1, The For the People Act. That bill — that bill would help end voter suppression in the states…. Last month, Republicans opposed even debating, even considering [The] For the People Act. Senate Democrats stood united to protect our democracy and the sanctity of the vote. We must pass The For The People Act. It’s a national imperative.”
HARRIS & BIDEN: Opponents of Election-Integrity Legislation
On July 12, 2021, at least 51 of the 67 Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives fled their state and flew to Washington, D.C., so as to deny Texas Republicans the quorum needed to pass new voter-integrity bills to which the Democrats objected. The proposed legislation called for such things as: (a) ID requirements for people voting by mail, and (b) prohibitions barring local election officials from sending vote-by-mail applications to people who had not requested them. Sen. Harris praised the Democrats who left the state, saying: “I applaud them standing for the rights of all Americans and all Texans to express their voice through their vote, unencumbered.” “I will say that they are leaders who are marching in the path that so many others before did when they fought and many died for our right to vote,” she added.
In March 2021, the Georgia state legislature passed a law (SB 202) that contained provisions designed to eliminate voter fraud and election corruption — most notably, by increasing requirements for voter ID. President Biden characterized the law as racist, describing it as “Jim Crow on steroids.” On another occasion, he said that such “most pernicious” “new Jim Crow laws” were “antithetical to who we are” and “mak[e] Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.” Biden pledged, moreover, to do “everything in my power” to prevent the enactment of other, similar laws. On June 25, 2021, the Biden-Harris DOJ announced that it was suing Georgia over SB 202.
During a July 13, 2021 speech in Philadelphia, President Biden said: “This year alone, 17 states have enacted — not just proposed, but enacted — 28 new laws to make it harder for Americans to vote, not to mention — and catch this — nearly 400 additional bills Republican members of the state legislatures are trying to pass. The 21st century Jim Crow assault is real…. This is election subversion. It’s the most dangerous threat to voting and the integrity of free and fair elections in our history…. We’re are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That’s not hyperbole. Since the Civil War.”
During an August 2024 presidential campaign rally in Arizona, VP Harris vowed that she would “finally pass” the Freedom to Vote Act, which would: (a) enact no-excuse mail-in voting for every eligible voter in the country; (b) permit all registrants to use drop boxes to submit their absentee ballots; and (c) automatically register voters unless they proactively chose to opt out.
HARRIS & BIDEN: DOJ Sues Arizona over Voter Citizenship Requirement
The Biden-Harris administration objected strongly to a 2022 Arizona law requiring people to show documents proving their U.S. citizenship before they could vote in a presidential election or vote by mail in any federal election. The law was slated to take effect at the start of 2023.
On June 27, 2022, Kristen Clarke, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich a letter threatening a federal lawsuit designed to block the aforementioned statute. On July 1, Brnovich replied to Clarke with a letter claiming that his state’s new law was a “common sense” measure, and questioning whether the federal government was “attempting to undermine our [Arizona’s] sovereignty and destabilize our election infrastructure.”
On July 5, 2022, the DOJ sued to block the enactment of the Arizona law. According to Clarke, the statute’s “onerous documentary proof of citizenship requirement” constituted a “textbook violation” of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which required all states to accept a federal voter-registration form that asked voters to attest under penalty of perjury that they were citizens, but did not require them to show documented proof of their citizenship. “For nearly three decades, the National Voter Registration Act has helped to move states in the right direction by eliminating unnecessary requirements that have historically made it harder for eligible voters to access the registration rolls,” Clarke stated in a press release. “Arizona has passed a law that turns the clock back on progress by imposing unlawful and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections.”
HARRIS & BIDEN: DOJ Sues Virginia for Removing Non-Citizens from Voter Rolls
On October 11, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it was filing a lawsuit against Virginia and its Board of Elections because of that state’s efforts to enforce a 2006 law mandating the removal of non-citizens from its voter lists. Those efforts were being made in compliance with an August 7th executive order by which Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin required “all registrars” to “cancel the registrations of non-citizens who have registered to vote in a local, state, or federal election by falsely claiming that they are a citizen, including the forging of documentation or any other means of improper registration.” When making the case for his executive order, Youngkin stated that “79,867 deceased voters” had been removed from Virginia’s voter rolls in 2023 alone, and another “6,303 non-citizens” had been removed between January 2022 and July 2024.
WALZ: Voter ID Laws Are Racist
Walz believes that voter ID laws are racist and are designed to suppress voter turnout among nonwhite minorities.
WALZ: Restoration of Voting Rights for Convicted Felons
In 2024, Gov. Walz’s official website has highlighted his support for “restoring voting rights for over 55,000 formerly incarcerated people in Minnesota.” (Note: such individuals overwhelmingly vote for Democrats)
WALZ: Automatic Voter Registration
In May 2023, Walz, calling it “a great day for Democracy,” signed into law the “Democracy for the People Act,” which implemented “automatic voter registration” for all individuals whose names appear in government databases. According to a Heritage Foundation report, such a practice promotes the registration of “large numbers of ineligible voters, including aliens, and [can] cause multiple or duplicate registrations of the same individuals.”
WALZ: Pre-Register 16-&-17-Year-Olds
In May 2023, Walz signed into law the “Democracy for the People Act,” which allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote. A Heritage Foundation report states that such a practice, “when combined with a ban on voter ID and restrictions on the ability to challenge the eligibility of a voter,” “effectively ensure[s] that underage individuals [can] vote with impunity.”
WALZ: Create a Permanent Absentee Voter List
In May 2023, Walz signed into law the “Democracy for the People Act,” which created a permanent absentee voter list of people who would thenceforth automatically receive a ballot whenever there was an election. Such a policy of course encourages absentee and mail-in voting, a practice highly conducive to voter fraud.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Opposes Proof-of-Citizenship Requirement for Voters
In July 2024, the U.S. House voted on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which sought to require people to provide proof of their American citizenship when seeking to obtain for voter registration forms. The bill passed by a margin of 221 to 198.
TRUMP: Supports All Recommendations by the Carter-Baker Commission
Trump has spoken out frequently and forcefully in favor of all the recommendations made by the landmark 2005 report by the Carter-Baker Commission, which advised all U.S. states that in order to guarantee free and fair elections, they should:
Months after the nation witnessed Alabama state troopers attacking civil rights marchers in Selma in March 1965, Congress approved the Voting Rights Act. Lawmakers reasoned that it was needed because many state and local officials routinely discriminated against black Americans in the voting process, making it difficult for them to cast their ballots. Echoing the […]
Months after the nation witnessed Alabama state troopers attacking civil rights marchers in Selma in March 1965, Congress approved the Voting Rights Act. Lawmakers reasoned that it was needed because many state and local officials routinely discriminated against black Americans in the voting process, making it difficult for them to cast their ballots.
Echoing the language of the Fifteenth Amendment, the Act forbade states from enacting any “voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure … to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.”
Additionally, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, which was ratified by the states in January 1964, had given Congress the power to abolish the imposition of poll taxes in federal elections.
In 1966 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Voting Rights Act in South Carolina v. Katzenbach, finding that Congress had “full remedial powers” to prevent racial discrimination in voting. Following the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, there was “unremitting and ingenious defiance in certain parts of the country,” the court stated. The Act constituted a “legitimate response” to the “insidious and pervasive evil” of various policies that had denied black Americans the right to vote since 1870. (Also in 1966, the court struck down state poll taxes in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.)
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act relegates states and localities to second-class status by presuming they are too corrupt and racist to administer elections fairly. Before the passage of the statute, the burden was on victims to challenge discriminatory abuses, but Section 5 shifted the burden of cost and delay to government officials, the possible perpetrators of discrimination.
Section 5 requires state and local governments in certain parts of the nation to get federal approval — called pre-clearance — before implementing any changes they want to make in their voting procedures. Changes can include anything from moving a polling place to changing district lines in a county. The way the law is interpreted, even lowly bond referendums in affected areas require pre-clearance.
The section requires a state, county, or local government entity to demonstrate to federal authorities that the voting change in question does not have a racially discriminatory purpose and is not “retrogressive,” which means that it will not make minority voters worse off than they were prior to the change.
According to the Department of Justice, the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia are covered by Section 5 of the Act.
In addition to those nine states, Section 5 covers various counties across the nation: four in California; five in Florida; three in New York (all within New York City); 40 in North Carolina; and two in South Dakota. It also covers two townships in Michigan and 10 townships in New Hampshire.
The areas regulated under Section 5 were overwhelmingly Democratic when the law was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Aug. 6, 1965.
An argument can be made that the law was needed at the time to curb the influence of openly racist Democratic officials on the electoral process.
When LBJ signed the law, racial segregationists, overwhelmingly Democrats, ran most of the states affected by Section 5. Mississippi Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr. (D), was one of them. Johnson in his stump speeches thought he was witty when he sneered, “You know what the NAACP stands for? Ni–ers, alligators, apes, coons, and possums.”
Other pro-segregation Democratic governors in power at the time were Alabama’s George Wallace and Louisiana’s John McKeithen.
According to The New York Times, “Section 5 … was originally scheduled to expire in five years. Congress repeatedly extended it: for five years in 1970, seven years in 1975, and 25 years in 1982. Congress renewed the act in 2006 after holding extensive hearings on the persistence of racial discrimination at the polls, again extending the preclearance requirement for 25 years.”
A Voting Rights Act provision related to Section 5 was Section 4, which determined which states would be required to receive clearance from the Justice Department or a federal court in Washington before they could make any changes at all — major or minor — to their voting procedures.
In June 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 in a 5-4 decision. As Chief Justice Roberts explained, the Court’s ruling was founded upon the fact that Section 4 was “based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day.” “Congress — if it is to divide the states — must identify those jurisdictions to be singled out on a basis that makes sense in light of current conditions,” Roberts wrote. “It cannot simply rely on the past.”
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act allows congressional district boundaries to be redrawn to protect “majority-minority” districts and to prevent what a congressional research report calls “the submergence of minority voters into the majority, which can deny minority voters the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.”
Further Reading: “Rachel Maddow Smears ‘Racist’ Scalia” (by Matthew Vadum, 3-8-2013); “Supreme Court Invalidates Key Part of Voting Rights Act” (NY Times, 6-25-2013).
Return to the Table of Contents
After joining the Army National Guard at age 17 in April 1981, Tim Walz:
In the 1920s, among their final acts as victors in World War I, the British and French created the states that now define the Middle East out of the ashes of the empire of their defeated Turkish adversary. In a region that the Ottoman Turks had controlled for hundreds of years, Britain and France drew the boundaries of the new states, Syria Lebanon and Iraq. Previously, the British had promised the Jewish Zionists that they could establish a “national home” in a portion of what remained of the area, which was known as the Palestine Mandate. But in 1921 the British separated 80 percent of the Mandate, east of the Jordan, and created the Arab kingdom of “Transjordan.” It was created for the Arabian monarch King Abdullah, who had been defeated in tribal warfare in the Arabian Peninsula and lacked a seat of power. Abudllah’s tribe was Hashemite, while the vast majority of Abdullah’s subjects were Palestinian Arabs.
What was left of the original Palestine Mandate — between the west bank of the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea — had been settled by Arabs and Jews. Jews, in fact, had lived in the area continuously for 3,700 years, even after the Romans destroyed their state in Judea in AD 70. Arabs became the dominant local population for the first time in the 7th Century AD as a result of the Muslim invasions. The Arabs were largely nomads who had no distinctive language or culture to separate them from other Arabs. In all the time since, they had made no attempt to create an independent Palestinian state west or east of the Jordan and none was ever established.
In 1948, at the request of the Jews who were living in Palestine, the United Nations voted to partition the remaining quarter of the original Mandate to make a Jewish homeland possible. Under the partition plan, the Arabs were given the Jews’ ancient home in Judea and Samaria – now known as the West Bank. The Jews were allotted three slivers of disconnected land along the Mediterranean and the Sinai desert. They were also given access to their holy city of Jerusalem, but as an island cut off from the slivers, surrounded by Arab land and under international control. Sixty percent of the land allotted to the Jews was the Negev desert. Out of these unpromising parts, the Jews created a new state, Israel, in 1948. At this time, the idea of a Palestinian nation, or a movement to create one did not even exist.
At the moment of Israel’s birth, Palestinian Arabs lived on roughly 90 percent of the original Palestine Mandate — in Transjordan and in the UN partition area, but also in the new state of Israel itself. There were 800,000 Arabs living in Israel alongside 1.2 million Jews. At the same time, Jews were legally barred from settling in the 35,000 square miles of Palestinian Transjordan, which eventually was renamed simply “Jordan.”
If the Palestinian Arabs had been willing to accept this arrangement in which they received 90 percent of the land in the Palestine Mandate, and under which they benefited from the industry, enterprise and political democracy the Jews brought to the region, there would have been no Middle East conflict.
Instead, the Arab League — representing five neighboring Arab states — declared war on Israel on the day of its creation, and five Arab armies invaded the slivers with the aim of destroying the infant Jewish state. During the fighting, according to the UN mediator on the scene, an estimated 472,000 Arabs fled their homes to escape the dangers. They planned on returning after an Arab victory and the destruction of the Jewish state.
But the Jews — many of them recent Holocaust survivors — repelled the five Arab armies that had invaded their slivers of land. Yet even though their armies were beaten, the Arab states were determined to carry on their campaign of destruction, and to remain formally at war with the Israeli state. In 1950, Jordan annexed the entire West Bank.
The Jews resumed their work of creating a new nation in what was now a single sliver of land. In the years that followed the 1948 war, the Israelis made their desert bloom. They built the only industrialized economy in the entire Middle East. They built the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. They treated the Arabs who remained in Israel well. To this day the very large Arab minority, which lives inside the state of Israel, has more rights and privileges than any other Arab population in the entire Middle East.
The present Middle East conflict is said to be about the “occupied territories” — the West Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza strip — and about Israel’s refusal to “give them up.” But during the first twenty years of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israel did not control the West Bank. In 1950, when Jordan annexed the West Bank, there was no Arab outrage.
In 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan went to war against Israel for a second time and were again defeated. It was in repelling these aggressors that Israel came to control the West Bank and the Gaza strip, as well as the oil-rich Sinai desert. Israel had every right to annex these territories captured from the aggressors but chose not do so. On the other hand, neither did it withdraw its armies or relinquish its control — because the Arab aggressors once again refused to make peace. Instead, they declared themselves still at war with Israel, a threat no Israeli government could afford to ignore. By this time, Israel was a country of 2 or 3 million surrounded by declared enemies whose combined populations numbered over 100 million. Geographically Israel was so small that at one point it was less than ten miles across. No responsible Israeli government could relinquish a territorial buffer while its hostile neighbors were still formally at war.
In 1973, six years after the second Arab war against the Jews, the Arab armies again attacked Israel. This invasion was led by Syria and Egypt, abetted by Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and five other countries who gave military support to the aggressors, including an Iraqi division of 18,000 men. Israel again defeated the Arab forces. Afterwards, Egypt — and Egypt alone — agreed to make a formal peace.
The peace was signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, who was subsequently assassinated by Islamic radicals, paying for his statesmanship with his life.
Under the Camp David accords that Sadat signed, Israel returned the entire Sinai with all its oil riches. This act demonstrated once and for all that the solution to the Middle East conflict was ready at hand. It only required the willingness of the Arabs to agree. The Middle East conflict is not about Israel’s occupation of the territories; it is about the refusal of the Arabs to make peace with Israel, which is an inevitable by-product of their desire to destroy it.
At this point, the Arabs’ long war against Israel shifted in emphasis. No longer would the burden be borne by countries such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Now it was the Palestinians, specifically their “national liberation group,” the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The PLO was created in 1964, at a time when the West Bank was not under Israeli control but was part of Jordan. The PLO, however, was not established so that the Palestinians could achieve self-determination, but, in the words of its own leaders, to “push the Jews into the sea.”
For thirty years, the PLO charter remained unchanged in its call for Israel’s destruction. Then in the mid-1990s, under enormous international pressure following the 1993 Oslo accords, PLO leader Yasser Arafat removed the clause in the organization’s charter calling for the annihilation of Israel while assuring his followers that its removal was a necessary compromise that did not alter the movement’s goals. He did this explicitly and also by citing a historical precedent in which the Prophet Muhammad had insincerely agreed to a peace with his enemies in order to gain time to mass the forces with which he intended to destroy them.
Even during the “Oslo” peace process — when the Palestine Liberation Organization pretended to recognize the existence of Israel and the Jews therefore allowed the creation of a “Palestine Authority” — the PLO made no secret of the fact that its goal was Israel’s destruction.
The Oslo peace process begun in 1993 was based on the pledge of both parties to renounce violence as a means of settling their dispute. But the Palestinians never renounced violence and in the year 2000, they officially launched a new Intifada against Israel, effectively terminating the peace process.
In fact, during the peace process — between 1993 and 1999 — there were over 4,000 terrorist incidents committed by Palestinians against Israelis, and more than 1,000 Israelis killed as a result of Palestinian attacks – more than had been killed in the previous 25 years. By contrast, during the same 1993-1999 period, Israelis were so desperate for peace that they reciprocated these acts of murder by giving the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza a self-governing authority, a 40,000-man armed “police force,” and 95 percent of the territory their negotiators demanded. This Israeli generosity was rewarded by a rejection of peace, suicide bombings of crowded discos and shopping malls, an outpouring of ethnic hatred and a renewed declaration of war.
Indeed, the Palestinians broke the Oslo Accords precisely because the government of Ehud Barak had offered to meet 95 percent of their demands, including turning over parts of Jerusalem to their control — a possibility once considered unthinkable. These concessions confronted Arafat with the one outcome he did not want: Peace with Israel. Peace without the destruction of the “Zionist Entity.”
One of the more noteworthy battles during the Second Intifada, which persisted until 2005, was a 2002 Israeli military operation in the West Bank known as “Operation Defensive Shield.” scale military operation undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces against Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank. The Jewish Virtual Library provides the following overview:
“Precipitated by a series of a deadly terrorist attacks — and in direct response to the Passover massacre in which a Palestinian terrorist killed 30 people during the Jewish holiday on March 27 — Operation “Defensive Shield” sought to renew IDF control over the major cities in the West Bank in order to destroy the terrorist network that had been building within them. During the operation, IDF forces led incursions into Ramallah, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jenin, and Nablus, as well as many other smaller towns, and conducted house to house searches for terrorists and weapons. Thirty IDF soldiers were killed during the month-long mission and more than 120 were wounded in fierce urban fighting that took place during the entirety of the operation. Initial reports from international media outlets and the Palestinian Authority condemned the IDF for massacring hundreds of innocent civilians, though these allegations were all proven false. Around 250 Palestinians were killed and another 4,200 were arrested.”
The summer of 2006 saw the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a month-long conflict between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Again, the Jewish Virtual Library provides some background:
“Instigated when Hezbollah guerrillas conducted a perfidious cross-border raid in which they killed eight Israel Defense Forces soldiers and abducted two others, the war led to heavy losses on both sides of the conflict and an ultimately inconclusive result. The fighting ended on August 14 with the signing of a United Nations-brokered ceasefire and the war was officially ended when Israel lifted it naval blockade of Lebanon on September 8, 2006. In total, Israel lost 121 soldiers, including the two kidnapped soldiers, with more than 600 injured, and had 44 civilians killed with nearly 1,500 injured. Though estimates vary, Israel claims to have killed more than 600 Hezbollah fighters.”
Between January 2001 and December 2008, Hamas-affiliated terrorists in Gaza fired some 8,165 rockets and mortars at civilian communities in southern Israel. Meanwhile, the terrorists embedded their infrastructure in schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings – thereby protecting themselves behind “human shields.” In response to these years of provocations, on December 27, 2008, Israel launched “Operation Cast Lead,” a defensive military operation targeting Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza. On January 18, 2009, Hamas was compelled to accept the ceasefire that Israel had unilaterally declared the day before, as well as Egypt’s mediation in the intra-Palestinian talks — two demands the terror group had categorically rejected prior to the war.
On November 14, 2012, in response to a dramatic escalation by Gaza-based terrorists who firing rockets into southern Israel, the IDF launched “Operation Pillar of Defense.” This conflict lasted for one week. The IDF inflicted significant damage on Hamas’s command-and-control apparatus and its broad terrorist infrastructure, including more than 200 tunnels that were being used for the smuggling and storage of explosive weapons. Active hostilities lasted for one week.
On July 8, 2014, the IDF — in response to yet another escalation in rocket fire by terrorists in Gaza — initiated “Operation Protective Edge.” During the course of the combat, some 4,500 rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza; 692 of those rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. Moreover, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory 5 times. Meanwhile, the IDF destroyed 32 of Hamas’s underground terror tunnels, 14 of which penetrated Israeli territory, and it killed or wounded hundreds of terrorists. Active hostilities ended on August 26, 2014.
– Major Resources: “Why Israel Is the Victim and the Arabs Are the Indefensible Aggressors in the Middle East,” by David Horowitz (January 9, 2002); “Israeli Defense Forces: Wars and Operations” (Jewish Virtual Library).
Why Israel Is the Victim and the Arabs Are the Indefensible Aggressors in the Middle East
By David Horowitz
January 9, 2002
Why Israel Is the Victim
By 2013
A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
By Mitchell Bard
Israeli Defense Forces: Wars and Operations
By The Jewish Virtual Library
The Palestinian Uprisings
By Mitchell Bard
Timeline of Palestinian-Israeli History and the Israel-Arab Conflict
By MideastWeb.org
2005
Ten Years Since Oslo: The PLO’s “People’s War” Strategy and Israel’s Inadequate Response
By Joel Fishman
September 1-15, 2003
BOOK:
The Palestinian Delusion: The Catastrophic History of the Middle East Peace Process
By Robert Spencer
2019
Founded on July 16, 1790 and named after the first American President, Washington DC was established by the U.S. Constitution to serve, thenceforth, as the seat of the fledgling nation’s federal government. Between 1800 and 1820, DC’s population grew from about 5,000 to more than 13,200, making it the country’s ninth largest city. By 1840 that figure had mushroomed to 23,364, and two decades later it stood at 61,122.
As a Southern city, DC, from its earliest days, always had a substantial African American population that included a growing number of free blacks who worked as craftsmen, hack drivers, businessmen and laborers. Slavery was abolished throughout the capital on April 16, 1862—eight months before President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The District’s growth rate picked up additional steam after the Civil War, and by 1870 its population had reached 109,199—a 79% increase over the previous census taken ten years earlier.
Beginning in 1871, DC was governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners, two of whom were appointed by the U.S. President after approval by the Senate, and a third who was selected from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The city would retain this political arrangement for nearly a century, until 1967.
During the latter decades of the 19th century, DC continued to grow at a brisk pace; its population reached 147,293 in 1880; 230,392 in 1890; and 278,718 in 1900. Also during this period, signs of commercial and architectural development were ubiquitous throughout the District. Between the 1860s and 1890s, for instance, the German-born immigrant Adolf Cluss became DC’s most influential architect, constructing more than 80 public and private buildings that included numerous schools, churches, business offices, residential properties, hospitals, boarding houses, markets, hotels, military commissions, and museums. In the 1890s many new roads were built in the city, so as to extend, like an ever-expanding network, to its remotest reaches. And in 1900 Congress formed the Senate Park Improvement Commission which drew up an architectural plan for the redevelopment of the National Mall—with an eye toward emulating the grandeur of European capitals such as Paris, London, and Rome.
But as the City Journal reports, “it wasn’t until the Great Depression and World War II, with their expansion of the role of the government in American life, that Washington grew prosperous.” Indeed, average family income in DC during the War years was higher than in either New York or Los Angeles.
Post-WWII, Washington was a destination for large numbers of Southern blacks who emigrated to Northern cities in pursuit of newly available job opportunities. By 1957, DC had become the first major American city with a majority-black population. Six years later, Washington took center stage of the American Civil Rights Movement when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
In 1967 Congress passed a law eliminating the three-commissioner form of government that had run the capital since the 1870s, and replacing it with a single commissioner and a nine-member City Council, all appointed by the U.S. President. The President at that time, Lyndon Johnson, selected Democrat Walter Washington for the post of commissioner, which was subsequently retitled “mayor-commissioner.”
Following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination (in Memphis) in April 1968, DC was devastated by four days of race riots that resulted in 10 deaths, at least 1,200 fires, more than 7,600 arrests, and over $13 million in property damages. During the unrest, Walter Washington personally took to the streets and appealed to city residents for calm. “I walked by myself through the city and urged them to go home and help the recovery of people who had been burned out,” he told the Washington Post years later. The violence had a profound effect on the people of DC, causing many whites, middle-class blacks, and business owners to flee the city and resettle elsewhere.
In 1973 Congress passed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which for the first time placed DC under the governance of a directly elected mayor and City Council. The first elected mayor under this new arrangement was Walter Washington. And every DC mayor since then has been, like Washington, a Democrat.
Mr. Washington was a man of good character who had no interest in pitting blacks and whites against one another for the sake of his own political advantage. The Washington Post once quoted him as saying, “This city is already too much divided along race and income lines. We have got to take the lead and set the example in bringing this city together. We’ve got to become just one Washington.” He was also an effective administrator; by the time he left office in 1978, DC’s city government was running a $40 million yearly surplus.
Tragically for the District, however, Mr. Washington’s successor as mayor, Marion Barry, was a very different kind of person—wholly self-absorbed, grossly incompetent, and crooked to the marrow. As a young man in the 1960s, Barry had worked as a fundraiser for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an increasingly militant organization associated with high-profile black separatists (and unapologetic racists) like Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown. Then, in the ’70s, Barry served as president of the DC Board of Education and as a member of the DC City Council. He won his first mayoral race in 1978, and was subsequently reelected by wide margins in 1982 and 1986. “During his tenure in the 1980s,” reports the City Journal, “unchecked corruption, ineptly delivered city services, soaring crime, horrendous public schools, financial chaos, and racial tensions made the city a byword for dysfunction nationally.” By the early 1990s, DC was the site of several hundred homicides per year and was dubbed the “murder capital” of the nation. The city’s economy, meanwhile, was in shambles—notwithstanding the $400 million in federal aid it received each year.
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Barry, throughout his years as mayor, did everything in his power to expand the rolls of Washington’s public employees. Indeed, even as the District’s population fell by nearly 30,000 during the three terms Barry served between 1979 and 1991, the number of public-sector bureaucrats in the city grew by some 10,000. By 1992, an astonishing 52,000 people—one in twelve city residents—were on DC’s municipal payroll. To put this figure in context, consider that Los Angeles—a city with a population five times larger than DC’s—had 14,000 fewer taxpayer-funded workers.
Despite the massive number of public workers in DC, vital city services were hopelessly inefficient and chaotic. As a 1990 Los Angeles Times piece stated: “The city is under court order to correct prison and mental health facilities. Nearly half of all public housing sits idle for lack of repairs. Bureaucrats are so incompetent, arrogant and slothful, critics say, that even 911 calls go unanswered and ambulances may not arrive until tomorrow.” On seven separate occasions between 1987 and 1990, judges cited DC for the systematic mistreatment of people in its custody such as juvenile delinquents, prison inmates, and mentally handicapped residents in specialized facilities. In 1989 the Washington Monthly characterized Barry’s administration as “the worst city government in America.” The mayor, unfazed by such assessments, routinely chalked them up to racism on the part of his critics. On one occasion, for example, he denounced the “white press” for persecuting him via “a new style of lynching.”
Barry’s mayoralty was infamous not only for its gross incompetence but also for the magnitude of its corruption. Consider, for instance, Barry’s appointment of Ivanhoe Donaldson, his longtime friend and ally from the SNCC, as deputy mayor for economic development. In 1985 Donaldson pled guilty to stealing $190,000 from the city, and eventually wound up in prison for his crime. For good measure, Donaldson also obstructed justice by attempting to persuade four individuals to submit false affidavits to DC inspectors.
After Barry’s 1986 reelection, two more DC deputy mayors and ten additional city offficials were charged with corruption. One of these, deputy mayor for finance Alphonse G. Hill, was indicted on eleven counts of extortion, income tax evasion, and defrauding the District government—charges to which he eventually pled guilty.
Beyond these examples of political malfeasance, there were also serious concerns about Barry’s character as an individual. Throughout the ’80s, rumors and allegations abounded that the mayor was a frequent cocaine user. Though the evidence to that effect was highly credible, Barry for years managed to elude the grip of law-enforcement authorities—thanks, in large part, to friends and supporters who helped him stonewall any serious investigations. One such ally, Karen K. Johnson, was paid $25,000 to keep silent regarding the cocaine allegations and was cited for contempt of court when she refused to testify before a federal grand jury that was probing the matter. The truth was finally revealed, however, in a January 18, 1990 sting operation, when Barry—lured to a Washington hotel room by a former girlfriend-turned-FBI-informant—was secretly filmed smoking a crack pipe therein. At his subsequent indictment, Barry raised the specter of race, lamenting that he was the victim of a “political lynching.”
Remarkably, there were no public denunciations of Barry by DC-area activists or preachers. Instead, many locals began donning T-shirts that bore the inscription, “I’ve seen the tapes and the bitch set him up.” Washington’s three black weekly newspapers portrayed the mayor’s arrest and conviction as part of a racist white plot to seize political control of the city. And NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks denounced Barry’s prosecution as “Nazilike,” charging that “overzealous, hostile—if not openly racist—district and U.S. attorneys will bring a black official to trial on the flimsiest of evidence.”
When Barry was tried for 14 counts of cocaine possession and lying to a grand jury, he was certain that no jury in DC would convict him: “All it takes is one juror saying, ‘I’m not going to convict Marion Barry—I don’t care what you [prosecutors] say.” Ultimately, the mayor’s confidence proved to be well-founded. In spite of overwhelming evidence of his guilt, a jury of ten blacks and two whites convicted Barry of only a single coacine-possession charge, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison. Black columnist Carl Rowan put the Barry case in perspective: “These jurors were saying: The mayor may be a cocaine junkie, a crack addict, a sexual scoundrel, but he is our junkie, our addict, our scoundrel, and we aren’t going to let you white folks put him in jail.”
Just two months after his release from prison in 1992, Barry—disgraced but not chastened—filed papers to run for DC’s Ward 8 City Council seat in that year’s upcoming election. Campaigning under the slogan, “He May Not Be Perfect, But He’s Perfect for D.C.,” Barry won the race easily. Two years after that, he decided to set his political sights higher and was elected to a fourth term (1995-99) as mayor.
After taking some time away from politics, Barry in March 2002 announced that he intended to run for a DC City Council seat that year. A few weeks later, however, U.S. Park Police found traces of marijuana and cocaine in Barry’s vehicle. Thus he opted to put off his campaign until the political dust from this revelation had settled, and in 2004 Barry won election to the City Council with no less than 95% of the popular vote. He continues to hold that seat to this day.
The trail of corruption that Barry blazed as DC’s mayor has continued unabated during his years in the City Council. For example:
Barry disgraced his office not only by way of his blatant disregard for the law, but also by engaging in ugly, racist rhetoric against his non-black constituents. At a primary-election victory party in April 2012, for instance, the councilman disparaged Asian-owned businesses based in his majority-black ward, saying: “We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops…. They ought to go. I’m going to say that right now. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too.” Soon thereafter, Barry criticized local hospitals for hiring non-black nurses who were “immigrants … particularly from the Philippines,” declaring: “[L]et’s grow our own teachers, let’s grow our own nurses, and so that we don’t have to go scrounging in our community clinics and other kinds of places, having to hire people from somewhere else.” And not long after that, he referred to members of DC’s Polish community as “Polacks.”
Such racially charged remarks, coupled with a long trail of malfeasance such as Barry had compiled, would have ended the career of any white political figure guilty of similar transgressions. But Barry, in a city where unquestioned loyalty to Democrats and to racial politics is now a way of life, has long been immune to any such consequences. He continues to sit on DC’s City Council, and will likely remain there for as long as he wishes.
Moreover, it should be noted that Barry represents merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg vis à vis the corruption that has been a hallmark of DC politics for decades. Some lowlights:
In addition to political corruption, the District of Columbia has long been plagued by criminality and violence. Though the city’s crime rates today are well below the stratospheric levels which they reached during the dark days of Marion Barry, DC remains an unsafe place by many measures. Today it is America’s 5th most dangerous city among those with populations of more than 500,000, and the 21st most dangerous city overall. Indeed, fully 95% of all urban areas in the U.S. are statistically safer than Washington, whose rates of homicide and robbery are, respectively, 3 and 5 times higher than the national average. In 2012 alone, there were 7,448 violent crimes and 29,264 property crimes reported in DC.
Yet another major problem area for the nation’s capital is its abysmal public school system. While spending an incredible $30,000 per year on the education-related costs of each K-12 student in its jurisdiction, that system has a lengthy track record of abject failure. When the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests were administered, most recently, to fourth- and eight-grade students in 2013:
Further, a mere 56% of students who attend DC’s non-charter public high schools manage to graduate within four years, and a large percentage of those who do earn a diploma are nonetheless functionally illiterate. Indeed, DC high-school students nowadays score, on average, a dismal 1220 out of a possible 2400 on the SAT exam—lower than their counterparts anywhere else in the United States, and light years below the national average of 1500.
DC’s public school system is run by a Board of Education dominated almost entirely by Democrats and progressives. In this regard, it has much in common with all the other failed, urban school systems that currently pepper America’s educational landscape. As bestselling author and columnist Jonah Goldberg points out, Democrats and progressives have “controlled the large inner-city school systems for generations.”
In 2004, over the shrill objections of the Washington Teachers Union and the National Education Association, the District of Columbia instituted its DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP)—a federally funded tuition voucher initiative that provides scholarships to help some 1,600 low-income students in the city enroll in private schools of their choice, rather than remain trapped in their disastrously inferior public schools. Not only does the DCOSP produce far higher student-graduation rates than the city’s public schools, but it does so for a small fraction of the cost: $8,000 per K-8 student, and $12,000 per high-school student. Moreover, notes the Heritage Foundation, “the DCOSP has a stellar track record of increasing academic success, student safety, and parental satisfaction.”
When Adrian Fenty became mayor in 2007, the teacher-to-pupil ratio in Washington’s public school classrooms was approximately 12-to-1, while taxpayers provided nearly $29,000 per year to educate each child therein. This massive sum was equivalent to the cost of tuition at the most elite private schools in the country, where children received the best education that money could buy. A contrarian Democrat, Fenty tried to do something about this outrage. He hired Michelle Rhee, an education reformer, as the new school chancellor. He closed dangerous and underused schools, and laid off incompetent teachers. He waged a two-year successful battle to get a new union contract, which ended lifetime tenure and connected financial reward to teacher performance. Michelle Rhee fired 241 incompetent teachers and put another 737 on notice for being rated “minimally effective.”
The results were dramatic. At Sousa Middle School—located in one of the district’s most impoverished neighborhoods—84% of the students had math and reading scores below the minimal standards when Fenty and Rhee took charge. In just one year of the Fenty-Rhee reform administration, students at Sousa gained 17 points in reading proficiency and 25 in math, meeting the federal benchmarks for progress for the first time in the history of the school.
But the teachers’ unions struck back in 2012, supporting another Democrat, Vincent Gray, who would turn back the clock on Fenty’s reforms. The party backed Gray, and the head of the AFL-CIO himself came into town to campaign against Fenty and seal his defeat. In the process, he also sealed the fate of the many students, most of them black, who were stuck in the city’s atrocious public schools.
In contrast to Washington’s trademark corruption, rampant crime, and failed school system, one area where the city has made noteworthy progress in recent years is on the economic front. Whereas in the 1990s DC was a virtually insolvent city with a runaway budget deficit, a crumbling infrastructure, and a diminishing population, since 2000 these trends have improved markedly. In part, this reversal was kick-started by Anthony Williams, who in 1995 was appointed as the city’s independent chief financial officer and strove to undo the colossal damage done by the Marion Barry years. Then, from 1999-2007, Williams himself served as DC’s mayor.
During the first decade of the 21st century Washington’s population not only grew for the first time since the 1950s, but grew more quickly than the populations of all but three other U.S. cities. Also during that decade, DC ranked second among American cities in job growth, second in per-capita GDP growth, and first in per-capita income growth. As of 2020, Washington D.C.’s population was 712,000. But this seemingly good news has a dark underside. The City Journal notes, for instance, that in the 2000s, “two wars, plus 9/11-related defense and homeland-security procurement, fueled the boom” by allowing Washington to “redirec[t] some of the gigantic money flow through the federal pipeline to itself”—creating a situation where “about a third of the Washington-area economy [now] depends on the federal government.”
Urban analyst Aaron Renn points out, further, that the current boom is also a by-product of “an ever-expanding regulatory state” whose hallmarks include such programs as the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts governing financial matters, the federal takeover of the automobile industry, the Environmental Protection Agency’s designation of carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and the “annexation by the federal government of one-sixth of the American economy via [Obamacare’s] 2,000 pages of byzantine legislation, not counting the thousands of pages of implementing regulations still to come.” In response to these and other extensive, intrusive government measures, says Renn:
“[A] wider and wider variety of businesses and organizations must be located [in DC] to lobby the government that decides their fate…. These firms pay local taxes. So do their workers, who also buy houses, patronize stores, pay tuition at private schools, employ local doctors and lawyers, and so on. The regulatory superstate is turbocharging Washington’s local economy.”
But this superstate, Renn explains, “depends on inflicting pain on the rest of the country, pain that only Washington itself can relieve—if you pay up and have the right connections…. [Washington] is prospering because it’s becoming something that would have horrified the Founders: an imperial capital on the Potomac.”
As a result of these trends, Washington today is a city of extreme economic disparities between one region of the city and another. Areas in the west, including virtually everywhere between the Georgetown and Chevy Chase neighborhoods, contain some of America’s most affluent neighborhoods. By contrast, sections on the eastern periphery of the central city, and east of the Anacostia River, feature enormous levels of poverty and crime. From July 2010 to July 2011, for instance, DC’s Sixth and Seventh police districts alone—both of which are situated in this eastern region—saw the commission of 2,635 violent crimes, including almost 60% of all homicides in the city.
This piece was posted in May 2014.