1995 Ratings - Descriptions of Senate Votes
Download ACU 1995 Ratings 120 K Self-Executable Zip File.(includes members ratings and descriptions of vote.)
1. BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT. Passage of the joint resolution to pass a constitutional amendment to balance the budget by the year 2002 or two years after ratification by the states. Rejected 65-35, March 2, 1995. (A two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required to pass a constitutional amendment.) ACU supported the amendment. [Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole was credited with a favorable vote on this resolution, because his NO vote was merely a procedural maneuver designed to allow him to call for a re-vote at a later date, should he garner one more favorable vote for the Balanced Budget Amendment.]
2. PUSH-BUTTON STRIKES. Motion to invoke cloture (thus allowing the measure to be voted on) on the Kassebaum amendment to block the implementation of a presidential executive order barring federal contractors from permanently replacing striking workers. The executive order had overturned sixty years of established labor law. Rejected 58-39, March 15, 1995. (Three-fifths of the total Senate, or 60 votes, is required to invoke cloture.) ACU supported the cloture motion.
3. LINE-ITEM VETO. Passage of the bill to provide the president with the ability to veto individual line items in an appropriations bill, targeted tax breaks in a revenue bill, or new entitlement spending. Approved 69-29, March 23, 1995. ACU supported the bill.
4. PRODUCT LIABILITY OVERHAUL. Passage of the bill to rewrite the rules governing product liability suits in federal and state courts, capping punitive damages against small companies and placing new limits on such awards against larger companies, there by reducing consumer costs and increasing product availability. Approved 61-37, May 10, 1995. ACU supported the bill.
5. TAX CUTS. Gramm amendment to the budget resolution to provide tax cuts similar to those provided by the House, including a $500-per child credit, a reduction in the capital gains tax rate, an expansion of IRAs, and the elimination of the marriage penalty in the tax code. Rejected 31-69, May 23, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.
6. WELFARE FOR POLITICIANS. Kerry amendment to strike from the budget resolution the provisions that eliminate the Presidential Campaign Fund that is supported by a check-off on tax returns. [Under current law, major party candidates for president are supported by taxpayer funds. The Senate GOP budget resolution would have ended that. The Kerry amendment sought to continue taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns.] Approved 56-44, May 24, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.
7. DEATH PENALTY DELAYS. Kyl amendment to prohibit federal habeas corpus appeals in state cases if a state has adequate and effective remedies to test the legality of the individual's detention. The habeas corpus appeal is the most commonly-used legal tactic to delay the implementation of the death penalty against convicted murderers. Rejected 38-61, June 7, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.
8. FOSTER NOMINATION. NOMINATION. Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the nomination of Henry Foster, Jr., to be Surgeon General. Rejected 57-43, June 22, 1995. (Three-fifths of the total Senate, or 60 votes, is required to invoke cloture.) ACU opposed the cloture motion.
9. REPEALING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. Gramm amendment to prohibit money in the FY '96 Legislative Branch appropriations from being used to award federal contracts based on the race, color, national origin or gender of the contractor. Rejected 36-61, July 20, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.
10. RYAN WHITE REAUTHORIZATION. Kassebaum amendment to the Ryan White Reauthorization bill, which would authorize new funds for AIDS research. The Kassebaum amendment gutted the tougher Helms amendment, which had passed earlier in the day, which would have prevented funds from being used directly or indirectly to promote homosexuality or intravenous drug use. The Helms amendment defined "promotion" broadly; the Kassebaum amendment included no such definition. Approved 76-23, July 27, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.
11. MISSILE DEFENSES. Thurmond motion to table (kill) the Dorgan amendment to cut $300 million from the $671.5 million provided by the bill to fund an anti-missile defense program designed to protect U.S. territory. Approved 51-48, August 3, 1995. ACU supported the motion.
12. WELFARE: WORK REQUIREMENT. Helms amendment to require most able-bodied, non-elderly food stamp recipients to work 40 hours during each 4-week period. Rejected 32-66, September 11, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.
13. U.N. POPULATION FUND. Helms amendment to prohibit money in the bill for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), unless the president certifies that the UNFPA has terminated all activities in China or no coercive abortions have taken place as the result of the policies of the Chinese government. Rejected 43-57, September 21, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.
14. STATE DEPARTMENT OVERHAUL. Leahy motion to table (kill) the Helms amendment to require the president to submit within six months a plan to cut $3 billion over four years by abolishing two of the three foreign affairs agencies (the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Information Agency). Rejected 43-57, September 21, 1995. ACU opposed the motion.
15. AMERICORPS. Mikulski amendment to provide $427 million for the Americorps program, which pays so-called "volunteers" to engage in community service programs. Rejected 47-52, September 26, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.
16. LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION. Gramm motion to table (kill) the Domenici amendment to preserve the Legal Services Corporation by providing the corporation with $340 million, a $130 million increase over the $210 million block grant program established by the bill to provide money to the states directly to run their own legal aid services for the poor. Rejected 39-60, September 29, 1995. ACU supported the motion.
17. FBI CUTS. Kohl amendment to add $80 million for social crime prevention programs and offset the cost by cutting FBI funding by an equal amount. Approved 49-41, September 29, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.
18. WELFARE FOR LOBBYISTS. Craig substitute amendment to the Simpson amendment to the Campbell amendment. The Craig amendment would bar large organizations that receive federal grants from spending more than $1 million of the first $17 million of their budget on lobbying activity. The Simpson amendment would also prohibit large nonprofit lobbying organizations from receiving federal grants and would require all federal grant recipients other than individuals who receive more than $25,000 to report their lobbying costs. Approved 49-47, November 9, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.
19. BALANCED BUDGET ACT. Passage of the bill to balance the budget over seven years, by reducing projected spending by $894 billion and cutting taxes by $245 billion. Approved 52-47, November 17, 1995. ACU supported the bill. This vote was double-weighted.
20. LATE-TERM ABORTION BAN. Passage of the bill to impose penalties on doctors who perform certain late-term abortions, in which the person performing the abortion partially delivers the fetus before performing the abortion. Approved 54-44, December 7, 1995. ACU supported the bill.
21. FLAG DESECRATION. Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to grant Congress the power to prevent the physical desecration of the U.S. flag. Rejected 63-36, December 12, 1995. (A two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required to pass a constitutional amendment.) ACU supported the resolution.
22. BOSNIA. Passage of the bill to prohibit the use of federal money for the deployment of U.S. ground troops in Bosnia as part of any peace-keeping operations unless specifically appropriated by Congress. Rejected 22-77, December 13, 1995. ACU supported the bill.