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National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
Congressional Scorecard
105th Congress

Key Votes in the Senate

Overview
In the section below, each key Senate vote is characterized by a vote number, the lead sponsor, a brief description, and identification of the "pro-Hispanic" position. There are significantly more House votes than Senate votes, a reflection of the fact that a greater volume of key votes took place in the House than in the Senate.

CIVIL RIGHTS & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

1. Motion to Preserve the Disadvantaged Business Program. S. 1173 - Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Chafee (R-RI) motion to table McConnell, R-KY amendment to eliminate the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program in the Department of Transportation and deny equal access to federal contracting dollars to small and disadvantaged minority- and women-owned businesses. Motion agreed to 58-37 (RC# 23), March 6, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - Y)

2. Bill to Allow Nuclear Waste Dump in Sierra Blanca. H.R. 629 - Texas Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Conference Report. Conference report, similar to S. 270, a bill sponsored by Sen. Snowe (R-ME) to construct a nuclear waste dump near Sierra Blanca, Texas, a poor, Mexican American community which is already the site of one of the largest sewage sludge projects in the country. The dump would violate the 1983 La Paz environmental agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. In August, 1998, two Texas administrative law judges recommended that the dump license be denied because of severe geological problems and unanswered questions about environmental racism. This bill would pressure local conservation commission officials to approve the license. Bill passed 78-15 (RC# 255), September 2, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)

EDUCATION

3. Motion to Prevent Block Granting of K-12 Education Funds. S. 1061 - FY 1998 Labor, HHS Appropriations. Jeffords (R-VT) motion to table (kill) the Gorton, R-Wash., amendment that would create block grants for education funds for K-12 education. Motion rejected 49-51 (RC# 232), September 11, 1997. (Subsequently, the Gorton amendment was adopted on a voice vote.) (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - Y)

4. Motion to Prevent Increase in School Construction Bonds. H.R. 2646 - Expanding Education Savings Accounts. Coverdell (R-GA) motion to table (kill) the Moseley-Braun (D-IL), "school construction" amendment to provide $10 billion in tax credits over ten years for purchasers of interest-free bonds to fund school construction projects. Motion agreed to 56-42 (RC# 90), April 21, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)

5. Amendment to Block Grant Education Funds. H.R. 2646 - Expanding Education Savings Accounts. Gorton (R-WA) amendment to require each state to decide within one year how it would like to receive its future federal education funding: administered as it is currently, sent directly to the states or sent directly to the local school districts. This block grant amendment would weaken effective targeting of federal education funds, and possibly divert funds from schools serving disadvantaged students. Amendment passed 50-49 (RC# 91), April 22, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)

6. Amendment to Fund Drop-Out Prevention Programs. H.R. 2646 - Expanding Education Savings Accounts. Bingaman (D-NM) amendment to establish a national grant program to help schools create drop-out prevention programs. Amendment passed 74-26 (RC# 101), April 23, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - Y)
IMMIGRATION

7. Amendment to Create New Agricultural "Guestworker" Program. S. 2260 - Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations. Smith (R-OR) amendment to create new bracero guestworker program which would, among other things, reduce guestworkers' wages below current law; eliminate housing requirements; eliminate growers' responsibility to recruit available U.S. farm workers; expand guestworkers beyond agriculture to forestry and food processing; eliminate domestic workers' absolute preference for H-2A jobs; and eliminate provisions designed to deter grower "over-recruitment" of guestworkers. Amendment passed 68-31 (RC# 233), July 23, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)

INCOME SECURITY & FAMILY SUPPORT

8. Motion to Prohibit Restoration of Food Stamps for Legal Immigrants. S. 1150 - Agricultural Research Bill. Gramm (R-TX) motion to recommit conference report for S. 1150, the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reauthorization Act of 1997. S. 1150 contains $818 million to restore food stamp eligibility to legal immigrants who are under 18, elderly or disabled, and were lawfully present in U.S. before enactment of welfare reform on August 22, 1996. S. 1150 would also extend eligibility of refugees and asylees for food stamps from five to seven years; Gramm motion would have stripped this extension and, in effect, would have delayed or killed enactment. Motion rejected 23-77 (RC# 128), May 12, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)

9. Motion to Prevent Increase in Child Care Funding. S. 1415 - Tobacco Settlement Act. McCain (R-AZ) motion to table (kill) amendment by Senators Bond (R-MO) and Kerry (D-MA), to guarantee that no less than 50% of revenues generated from tobacco bill be allocated to the Child Card and Development Block Grant to fund child care and after-school activities, in which many Hispanic children participate. Motion rejected 66-33 (RC# 157), June 11, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)

10. Amendment to Count Education as "Work" under TANF. S. 1882 - Higher Education Programs Authorization Extension - Education for Welfare Recipients. Wellstone (D-MN) amendment to expand educational and training opportunities for welfare recipients, increase from 12 to 24 months the limit on vocational education, allow for 24 months of postsecondary education to count as "work" activity under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and exempt teen parents from the vocational education cap. Would have a positive impact on Hispanic welfare recipients who are often in need of education or training skills to attain employment with a livable wage. Amendment passed 56-42 (RC# 191), July 9, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - Y)

11. Motion to Prevent an Increase in the Minimum Wage. S. 1301 - Bankruptcy Reform bill. Lott (R-MS) motion to table amendment by Kennedy (D-MA) to increase the federal minimum wage to $5.65 an hour in 1999; and then to $6.15 an hour in 2000. For Hispanic workers, almost half a million of whom earn the minimum wage and millions earning around the minimum wage, a degenerating minimum wage has increased the number of working poor Hispanics. Without an increase in minimum wage, the economic well-being of low-wage workers - and families with low-wage earners - will continue to decline significantly. Amendment rejected, 55-44 (RC# 278), September 22, 1998. (PRO-HISPANIC POSITION - N)