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Over the course of his career as a senator, John Edwards voted on a variety of major issues as follows:
ABORTION & THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN
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.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE & ELECTIONS
YES on S 27 – the Campaign Reform Act (2001). (Click here for a description of this bill.)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES
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.
EMPLOYMENT & WAGES
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.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
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.
TAXATION AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
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.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a more comprehensive look at John Edwards’ voting record, visit VoteSmart.org, OnTheIssues.org, and GovTrack.us.
NOTE: Voting records and legislation descriptions, courtesy of VoteSmart.org.