1995 Ratings - Descriptions of House Votes

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(includes members ratings and descriptions of vote.)

1. BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT. Barton substitute amendment to propose a constitutional amendment to balance the budget by 2002 or two years after ratification. The amendment would require a three-fifths majority of the entire House and Senate to increase taxes, engage in deficit spending or raise the public debt limit; a simple majority could waive the requirement in times of war or in the face of a serious military threat. Approved 253-173, January 26, 1995. [On a later vote, the Barton amendment was replaced by the Stenholm amendment as the final passage vehicle.] ACU supported the amendment.

2. LINE-ITEM VETO. Passage of the bill to allow the president to rescind any budget authority or cancel certain targeted tax benefits in a bill within ten days after enactment, with Congress having 20 days to pass a bill restoring the spending or benefit. Approved 294-134, February 6, 1995. ACU supported the bill.

3. MISSILE DEFENSES. Spratt amendment to strike provisions that direct the Secretary of Defense to deploy, as soon as "practical," an anti-missile defense for U.S. territory, replacing it with a provision stipulating that combat-readiness, weapons modernization and deployment of a defense against short-range ballistic missiles should have a higher priority than deployment of missile defenses for U.S. territory. Approved 218-212, February 15, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.

4. NATIONAL SECURITY REVITALIZATION. Passage of the bill to limit the president's ability to place U.S. troops under U.N. command; reduce the U.S. contribution to U.N. peace-keeping operations; and establish a program o help former communist countries in Europe join NATO. Approved 241-181, February 16, 1996. ACU supported the bill.

5. WELFARE OVERHAUL. Adoption of the Rule to provide for House floor consideration of amendments to the bill to cut welfare eligibility, limit federal welfare spending and give states flexibility to operate an array of social services. Approved 217-211, March 22, 1995. ACU supported the Rule.

6. TERM LIMITS. Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to impose a 12-year lifetime limit on congressional service in each chamber. Rejected 227-204, March 29, 1995. (A two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required to pass a constitutional amendment.) ACU supported the resolution. This vote has been double-weighted.

7. TAX AND SPENDING CUTS. Adoption of the Rule to provide for House floor consideration of the bill to cut taxes by $189 billion over five years through a variety of proposals, including a $500-per child tax credit, the elimination of the alternative minimum tax, and a lowering the individual capital gains tax rate from 28 percent to 19.8 percent, and to offset the costs through various proposals. Approved 228-204, April 5, 1995. ACU supported the Rule.

8. FY'96 BUDGET RESOLUTION. Neumann substitute amendment to balance the budget by 2000, rather than 2002, by cutting $612 billion more in outlays than the GOP-sponsored resolution through a freeze on all non-Social Security outlays at or below current levels and $22.6 billion in additional Medicare savings. Rejected 89-342, May 18, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.

9. FLAG DESECRATION. Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to allow Congress and the states to prohibit desecration of the U.S. flag. Approved 312-120, June 28, 1995. ACU supported the resolution.

10. MEXICO CITY ABORTION POLICY. Smith amendment to codify the Mexico City policy, which prohibits U.S. funding of any public or private foreign entity that directly or indirectly performs abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is endangered; to require foreign organizations receiving U.S. aid to certify that they do not violate or lobby to change abortion laws; and to withhold money from the U.N. Population Fund unless the president certifies that the fund has terminated all activities in China or that for the past 12 months there have been no coercive abortions in China. Approved 243-187, June 28, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.

11. NEA/NEH CUTS. Adoption of the Rule to provide for House floor consideration of the Interior Appropriations bill. The Rule waived a point of order against the money in the bill for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities because their authorizations had expired. Rejected 192-238, July 12, 1995. ACU opposed the Rule.

12. MEXICO BAILOUT. Sanders amendment to prohibit money from the Exchange Stabilization Fund from being used to support a foreign currency. The amendment would, as of October 1, 1995, effectively curtail the Clinton Administration's effort to support the Mexican peso. Approved 245-183, July 19, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.

13. ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION. Stokes amendment to strike the bill's provisions prohibiting the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing environmental laws, including sections of the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act and the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regarding pesticides on food. Approved 212-206, July 28, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.

14. FEDERAL FUNDING OF ABORTION. Greenwood amendment to provide $193 million for "family planning" projects under Title X of the Public Health Service Act, the bulk of which would be distributed to Planned Parenthood. Approved 224-204, August 2, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.

15. PUBLIC BROADCASTING. Hoekstra amendment to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, thereby saving taxpayers $240 million in fiscal 1998. Rejected 136-286, August 3, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.

16. WELFARE FOR LOBBYISTS. Skaggs amendment to strike the bill's provisions prohibiting recipients of federal grants who have spent five percent of their annual expenditures in any of the previous five fiscal years from using grant funds to participate in political campaigns or litigation in which a government entity is a party, or lobby, or receive federal grants if they do so. Rejected 187-232, August 3, 1995. ACU opposed the amendment.

17. RAISING PENSION FUNDS. Passage of the bill to prohibit the Department of Labor from encouraging pension fund managers make investment decisions based on social criteria. Approved 239-179, September 12, 1995. ACU supported the bill.

18. CUBAN LIBERTY ACT. Passage of the bill to tighten loopholes in the U.S. embargo on Cuba by urging the president to increase efforts to encourage foreign countries to restrict trade and credit relations with Cuba. The bill also would allow U.S. nationals whose properties have been confiscated by the Cuban government to file suit in U.S. court against foreign entities that purchase or lease the properties. Approved 294-130, September 21, 1995. ACU supported the bill.

19. LATE-TERM ABORTIONS. Adoption of the Rule to provide for House floor consideration of the bill to ban partial birth abortions, in which the person performing the abortion partially delivers the fetus before performing the abortion. Approved 288-139, November 1, 1995. ACU supported the bill.

20. NEA TAX EXEMPTION. Bonilla amendment to revoke the National Education Association's exemption from Washington, D.C., property taxes, beginning in fiscal 1996. Rejected 210-213, November 1, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.

21. 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 235-192, November 20, 1995. ACU supported the bill. This vote was double-weighted.

22. LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS. Clinger amendment to prohibit federal agencies from using public funds on any activity intended to promote public support or opposition to any legislative proposal. Rejected 190-238, November 28, 1995. ACU supported the amendment.

23. BOSNIA. Passage of the bill to prohibit the use of federal funds for the deployment of U.S. ground troops to Bosnia as part of any peace-keeping operation or implementation force. Rejected 210-218, December 13, 1995. ACU supported the bill.

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