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At election time it is often difficult for voters to have any more than a vague recollection of how well members of Congress have performed their jobs since they were elected. This creates a definite advantage for incumbents running for re-election, and makes it difficult for challengers to unseat incumbents, even if the latter performed miserably. Therefore The Drum and Cannon is making available the voting records of members of the 111th Congress as they deal with key issues facing our country. On this page you can read a brief description of those key issues, then check how any member of Congress voted on the issue by selecting one or both options for viewing the records.. Voting results can be seen sorted either by the name of each congressperson, or by party affiliations. View sorted by NAME View sorted by PARTY
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISSUES Issue #1. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the "Economic Stimulus Bill", was passed in Feb. 2009 by a vote of 60-38 in the Senate and 246-183 in the House. No House Republicans voted in favor of the Bill, and only 3 Senate Republicans supported it (Collins, Snowe, and Specter). Signed by the President on 2/17/2009. Issue #2. The $410B Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, allows government to run through Sept. 2009. Passed in the House 245-178-8 on 2/25/09; passed the Senate on 3/10/09 by a voice vote after a vote for cloture of 62-35. The final Bill contained nearly 9,000 earmarks. The Bill was passed with the help of 8 Republican Senators and 18 Republican House members. It was signed by the President on 3/11/2009. Issue #3. The $3.56 trillion 2010 Federal Budget was passed by both houses of Congress on April 29, 2009. The vote in the House was 233 to 193; in the Senate it was 53 to 43. No Republicans in either house supported the bill. Senator Arlen Specter, who the day before announced that he was switching from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, nonetheless voted against the bill along with his former Republican cohorts. Passage in the Senate was guaranteed when the Democrats were able to use the "reconciliation" process to pass the bill, eliminating the ability of Republicans to filibuster. In the Senate, 4 Democrats (plus Specter) joined the Republicans in voting against the Bill. In the House, 17 Democrats voted against the Bill. Issue #4: The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
(HR 2454), also known as the “Waxman-Markey Bill” in the House or, more
generically, as the “Cap-and-Trade Bill”, was narrowly passed in the House of
Representatives on June 26, 2009 by a vote of 219-212,
with
3 abstentions. Eight Republicans voted “Yea”, while 44 Democrats went
against their party and voted “No”. The Heritage Foundation found that as a result of this legislation, unemployment will increase by nearly 2 million in 2012, the first year of the program, and reach nearly 2.5 million in 2035, the last year of the analysis. Total GDP loss by 2035 would be $9.4 trillion. The national debt would balloon as the economy slowed, saddling a family of four with $114,915 of additional national debt. Families would also suffer, as the bill would slap the equivalent of a $4,609 tax on a family of four by 2035. Mary Bono
Mack
The Bill will cost American taxpayers $1.2 trillion according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, and establishes a "Public Option" for the provision of health insurance for most uninsured Americans. It also mandates that all taxpayers carry health insurance, and that all businesses provide it for their employees as well. Shortly before the vote was taken, an
amendment was added to the Bill which specified that public funds would not be used to
provide abortions, which undoubtedly swayed a few moderate Democrats who previously had
opposed the Bill, allowing the Bill to be passed.
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