SENATE ROLL CALL VOTES
Abortion on Military Bases
Senate Vote No. 1
1. Vote No. 1 is the May 26, 1999, roll call vote by which the U.S. Senate rejected an attempt to authorize the performance of abortion on demand at U.S. military medical facilities.
Here is some background to this vote: In 1993, President Clinton, then newly elected, issued an order requiring overseas military medical facilities to provide abortions to uniformed personnel and their dependents. The direct costs of such abortions were to be assessed to the clients, because longstanding law prohibits the use of Department of Defense funds for abortions (except to save the mother's life).
In order to nullify President Clinton's order, in February 1996 Congress added language to a defense authorization bill to prohibit abortions from being performed at military facilities (except to save the mother's life, or in cases of rape or incest), even at client expense. President Clinton objected to this provision, but he reluctantly signed the bill into law for the sake of its other provisions.
On May 26, 1999, during consideration of the defense authorization bill for Fiscal Year 2000 (S. 1059), pro-abortion Senators Patty Murray (D-Wa.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) offered an amendment to repeal the 1996 ban on abortions at military facilities. Pro-life Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) moved to table (kill) the Murray Amendment, and this motion prevailed 51 to 49; this is the roll call shown below (official Senate roll call 148).
This was a pro-life win -- but if a single additional senator had supported the Murray Amendment, the pro-abortion amendment would have survived on a tie vote. In that case, Vice President Al Gore, who was standing by, would have cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the pro-abortion amendment.
On June 9, 1999, the House of Representatives also rejected an amendment to repeal the pro-life policy (see House vote No. 2 in this scorecard), so the pro-life policy remains in effect.
Abortion Insurance for Federal Employees
Senate Vote No. 2
2. On July 1, 1999, during Senate consideration of the Fiscal Year 2000 appropriations bill for the Treasury Department and certain other federal agencies (S. 1282), pro-life Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) offered an amendment to continue an existing ban on coverage of abortions (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest) under federal employees' health insurance plans. Pro-abortion Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) made a motion to table (kill) the DeWine Amendment. This pro-abortion motion failed 47-51, shown here as Vote No. 2 (Senate roll call 197). The pro-life DeWine Amendment was then adopted on a voice vote.
(Two weeks later, on July 15, the House also voted to extend the pro-life policy -- see House Vote No. 5 in this scorecard -- and the policy remains in effect.)
Pro-Life Free Speech About Federal Politicians ("Campaign Finance Reform")
Senate Votes No. 3-4
3-4. Votes No. 3 and 4 were on the latest of many attempts by Senator John McCain (R-Az.) and Senate Democrats to pass so-called "campaign reform" legislation that would restrict independent commentary about those who hold or seek federal office.
In this case, as on earlier occasions, the majority of the Senate voted to advance such legislation, but they were unable to muster the 60 votes necessary to "invoke cloture" and thereby pass the legislation over procedural obstacles erected by pro-life Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and pro-life Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Ms.).
NRLC urged "no" votes on the attempts to invoke cloture. President Clinton and Vice-president Gore strongly support the speech-restrictive legislation.
Vote No. 3 (Senate roll call 330) shows the October 19, 1999, vote on cloture on the substance of the "campaign reform" bill passed by the House of Representatives on September 14, 1999, the Shays-Meehan bill (HR 417), which contains numerous sweeping restrictions on the right of citizen groups and political parties to comment on the actions of federal politicians. (See House Vote No. 9 in this scorecard.) Fifty-two (52) senators voted to invoke cloture and advance the bill -- eight short of the 60 required to invoke cloture.
This was followed by the roll call on cloture on the text of the latest version of a "campaign reform" bill advanced by Senators McCain and Russ Feingold (D-Wi.) (S. 1593), shown here as Vote No. 4 (Senate roll call 331).
While less sweeping than the House-passed bill, the proposal would still severely restrict the right of political parties, party officials, and members of Congress to raise or spend money for commentary on members of Congress and other candidates. For example, one provision would prohibit members of Congress from endorsing the fundraising efforts of groups that engage in commentary on politicians that might influence voters.
On this vote, 53 senators voted for cloture -- seven short of the 60 votes required to advance the bill.
All 45 Senate Democrats voted for both cloture motions. The cloture motion on the Shays-Meehan bill was supported by seven Republicans, while the cloture motion on the McCain-Feingold bill was supported by eight Republicans.
Senator McCain and Senate Democrats vowed to press the issue again during the 2000 congressional session.
Extensive additional information on this issue is available at the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org, under "Campaign Finance Reform and Free Speech."
Roe v. Wade (Harkin Amendment)
Senate Votes No. 5-6
5-6. Votes No. 5-6 were on a non-binding resolution sponsored by pro-abortion Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to endorse Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand. The Harkin language expressed "the sense of the Congress" that "Roe v. Wade was an appropriate decision and secures an important constitutional right; and such decision should not be overturned."
This amendment would have no binding legal effect, but Harkin said he thought that senators should go on record on Roe v. Wade. Harkin offered the proposal as an amendment to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S. 1692) on October 21, 1999.
Vote No. 5 was on a motion by pro-life Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) to table (kill) the Harkin Amendment. This pro-life motion failed, 48-51 (Senate roll call no. 336).
Vote No. 6 was on adoption of the Harkin Amendment, which was approved 51-47 (Senate roll call no. 337). On this vote, 43 Democrats and eight Republicans voted to endorse Roe v. Wade, while two Democrats and 45 Republicans voted against it. Two senators opposed to the amendment, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Sen. John McCain
(R-Az.), were absent; had they been present, the Harkin Amendment would have prevailed 51-49.
[The Senate then passed S. 1692 with the Harkin Amendment attached. It is anticipated that the Harkin Amendment will not be part of the final version of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act that will be approved by Congress and sent to President Clinton in 2000.]
Baby Body Parts ("Fetal Tissue")
Senate Vote No. 7
7. On October 21, 1999, the Senate voted on an amendment offered by pro-life Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) to require detailed reporting on transactions involving the body parts of babies killed by abortion.
Smith offered his proposal as an amendment to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S. 1692). The Smith Amendment narrowly failed, 46-51, shown here as Vote No. 7 (Senate roll call 338).
On October 20 and 21, Smith gave two lengthy floor speeches explaining his amendment, which he prepared after reviewing leaked documents and other materials regarding firms that collect and sell fetal tissue and organs to medical researchers. He exhibited enlargements of order forms for specific body parts that reportedly were leaked by a former employee of one vendor of baby body parts. He also displayed a poster-size reproduction of the current price list for baby body parts published by another firm, which includes such entries as "Brain (>8 weeks) $150," "Skin (>12 weeks) $100," "Gonads $550," and "Intact Trunk (with/without limbs) $500."
Smith's amendment would have required persons who receive fetal tissue to file reports with the Department of Health and Human Services, specifying the gestational age of the fetus, the abortion method used, the fees paid to the abortion clinic, and other information. The amendment also would have limited the amount of "site fees" paid by tissue vendors to abortion clinics to amounts "reasonable in terms of reimbursement for the actual real estate or facilities used." There have been indications that vendors pay inflated "site fees" in order to circumvent a federal law that theoretically prohibits profiteering on human tissue.
Although Smith's amendment was rejected, he vowed to continue to pursue the issue during the 2000 congressional session. Moreover, two weeks later, the House of Representatives adopted by voice vote an NRLC-backed resolution (H. Res. 350), sponsored by Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Co.), calling for Congress to hold hearings on the issue in 2000 "and take appropriate steps if necessary, concerning private companies that are involved in the trafficking of baby body parts for profit."
Partial-Birth Abortion
Senate Vote No. 8
8. Vote No. 8 is the October 21, 1999 roll call by which the Senate passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S. 1692), on a vote of 63-34 (Senate roll call 340). The bill, sponsored by Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), would place a national ban on partial-birth abortion, defined as "an abortion in which the person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers some portion of an intact living fetus until the fetus is partially outside the body of the mother," and then kills the baby.
The bill was supported by 49 Republicans and 14 Democrats. It was opposed by three Republicans and 31 Democrats.
This roll call was the closest that pro-life forces have yet come to the two-thirds margin that is necessary to enact the bill over President Clinton's veto. Clinton has successfully vetoed the bill in two previous Congresses. Those vetoes were overridden in the House, but were narrowly sustained in the Senate -- most recently, in September 1998, by a three-vote margin.
On the Oct. 21, 1999 roll call, two senators who support the bill, Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Connie Mack (R-Fl.), were absent, as was one
senator who opposed the bill, John Chafee (R-RI). Thus, if all senators had voted, the tally would have been 65-35 -- only two votes short of the two-thirds margin that will be required to override the anticipated veto.
In the House, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act will be reintroduced in early 2000 by its original author, Congressman Charles Canady (R-Fl.), the chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. After the House passes that bill, a House-Senate conference committee will meet to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Following approval of the final version by both houses, it will be sent to President Clinton.
Thumbnail Descriptions of Senate Votes
Here are thumbnail descriptions of the basic issue for each Senate roll call vote recorded in this scorecard. For more complete descriptions, please see the explanatory material above.
Vote 1: Should U.S. military medical facilities be prohibited from performing abortions, except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest?
Vote 2: Should federal employees' health insurance plans be prohibited from covering abortions (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest)?
Votes 3-4: Should federal law restrict the right of citizen groups or political parties to raise or spend money to criticize or praise the positions or voting records of members of Congress or other federal politicians in communications to the public?
Votes 5-6: Should the Senate endorse Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand?
Vote 7: Should federal law require reporting of transactions involving baby body parts, and limit the fees that firms that collect these body parts pay to abortion clinics?
Vote 8: Should partial-birth abortions be banned, except to save the life of the mother?
Key to Vote Symbols
X Vote for pro-life policy (supported NRLC position)
0 Vote for anti-life policy (opposed NRLC position)
? Absent or not voting
I Ineligible: not a Senator at the time of the vote
1. Military Abortion
2. Employee Abortion
3.-4. Free Speech on Politicians
5.-6. Endorse Roe v. Wade
7. Baby Body Parts
8. Partial-Birth Abortion
Alabama
Shelby (R) X X X X X X X X
Sessions, J. (R) X X X X X X X X
Alaska
Stevens (R) X 0 X X 0 0 0 X
Murkowski (R) X ? X X X X X X
Arizona
McCain (R) X ? 0 0 ? ? X X
Kyl (R) X X X X X X X X
Arkansas
Hutchinson, T. (R) X X X 0 X X X X
Lincoln (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
California
Feinstein (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Boxer (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Colorado
Campbell, B. (R) X 0 X X 0 0 X X
Allard (R) X X X X X X X X
Connecticut
Dodd (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lieberman (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Delaware
Roth (R) X X X 0 X X 0 X
Biden (D) 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 X
Florida
Graham, B. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mack (R) X X X X X X ? ?
Georgia
Coverdell (R) X X X X X X X X
Cleland (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hawaii
Inouye (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Akaka (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Idaho
Craig (R) X X X X X X X X
Crapo (R) X X X X X X X X
Illinois
Durbin (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fitzgerald (R) X X X X X X X X
Indiana
Lugar (R) X X X X X X X X
Bayh (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Iowa
Grassley (R) X X X X X X X X
Harkin (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kansas
Brownback (R) X X X 0 X X X X
Roberts (R) X X X X X X X X
Kentucky
McConnell (R) X X X X X X X X
Bunning (R) X X X X X X X X
Louisiana
Breaux (D) X X 0 0 X X X X
Landrieu (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Maine
Snowe (R) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Collins, S. (R) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Maryland
Sarbanes (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mikulski (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Massachusetts
Kennedy, E. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kerry, J. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michigan
Levin, C. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Abraham (R) X X X X X X X X
Minnesota
Wellstone (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grams, R. (R) X X X X X X X X
Mississippi
Cochran (R) X X X X X X X X
Lott (R) X X X X X X X X
Missouri
Bond (R) X X X X X X X X
Ashcroft (R) X X X X X X X X
Montana
Baucus, M. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Burns (R) X X X X X X X X
Nebraska
Kerrey, R. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hagel (R) X X X X X X X X
Nevada
Reid, H. (D) X X 0 0 X X 0 X
Bryan (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
New Hampshire
Smith, R.C. (R) X X X X X X X X
Gregg (R) X X X X X ? ? ?
New Jersey
Lautenberg (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Torricelli (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
New Mexico
Domenici (R) X X X X X X X X
Bingaman (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
New York
Moynihan (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Schumer (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
North Carolina
Helms (R) X X X X X X X X
Edwards, J. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
North Dakota
Conrad (D) 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 X
Dorgan (D) 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 X
Ohio
DeWine (R) X X X X X X X X
Voinovich (R) X X X X X X X X
Oklahoma
Nickles (R) X X X X X X X X
Inhofe (R) X X X X X X X X
Oregon
Wyden (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Smith, G. (R) X X X X X X X X
Pennsylvania
Specter (R) 0 0 0 X 0 0 0 X
Santorum (R) X X X X X X X X
Rhode Island
Reed, J. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chafee, Lincoln (R) I I I I I I I I
South Carolina
Thurmond, S. (R) X X X X X X X X
Hollings (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
South Dakota
Daschle (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Johnson, T. (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Tennessee
Thompson, F. (R) X X 0 0 X X X X
Frist (R) X X X X X X X X
Texas
Gramm, P. (R) X X X X X X X X
Hutchison, K. (R) X X X X X X X X
Utah
Hatch (R) X X X X X X X X
Bennett (R) X X X X X X X X
Vermont
Leahy (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Jeffords (R) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Virginia
Warner (R) X X X X 0 0 0 X
Robb (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Washington
Gorton, S. (R) 0 X X X X X X X
Murray (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
West Virginia
Byrd (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X
Rockefeller (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wisconsin
Kohl (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Feingold (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wyoming
Thomas, C. (R) X X X X X X X X
Enzi (R) X X X X X X X X