1	STIMULUS—H.R. 622—House Republicans refused to consider a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits for the more than 1 million workers who had exhausted their jobless benefits without adding a huge tax cut for corporations and the wealthy as an amendment. Instead of voting on the unanimously passed Senate unemployment extension bill, Republican leaders offered their partisan “stimulus” bill that passed the House in 2001 but never won Senate approval. The bill called for tax cuts of $193 billion through 2007, and failed to provide real health care assistance for laid-off workers, fiscal relief for states struggling with massive budget deficits or unemployment benefits for the thousands of low-wage and part-time workers who are denied benefits in many states despite paying into the unemployment system. It passed Feb. 14, 2002, 225–199. Y=W; N=R (R: 214–1; D: 10–197; I: 1–1)
2	RETIREMENT SECURITY—H.R 3762—The House passed so-called 401(k) reform legislation that would make only modest improvements in current law -- doing nothing to prevent future Enrons -- while removing key protections for workers' retirement security. The bill eliminates rules that now prohibit investment advisors with financial conflicts of interest from providing investment advice to 401(k) plan participants. It also allows employers to exclude more lower-paid workers from participating in 401(k) plans. The bill passed April 11, 2002, 255–163. Y=W; N=R; (208–2; D: 46–160; I:1–1)
3	TAX CUTS—H.R. 86—The House passed legislation that would have made 2001's massive $1.74 trillion tax cut permanent—while the government moved from large budget surpluses to massive deficits. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this legislation would use an additional $374 billion worth of federal budget surpluses in fiscal years 2003-2012 to pay for tax cuts primarily for the wealthy rather than to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, provide a Medicare prescription drug benefit or otherwise assist working families. The legislation would cost another $4 trillion in FY's 2013-1022, the decade during which most “Baby Boomers” are expected to retire and begin relying on Social Security and Medicare. The bill passed April 18, 2002, 229-198. Y=W; N=R (R: 219–1; D: 9–196; I: 1–1)
4	CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY—H.R. 3763—During the debate on corporate accountability, House Republicans offered a bill that fell far short of providing meaningful reform and even made it more difficult for the Securities and Exchange Commission to go after corporate wrongdoers. In an effort to strengthen the bill, a motion was made to send the bill back to committee to add language related to the establishment of a public regulator to monitor accounting and auditing practices and executive accountability provisions. This motion was rejected April 24, 2002, 205-222.Y=R; N=W (R: 0–218; D: 204–3; I: 1–1)
5	MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS—H.R. 4954—Skyrocketing costs for prescription drugs have forced millions of seniors to choose whether to buy needed medicine, pay their rent or mortgage or buy groceries. Others have been forced to travel to Canada where the same drugs are much less expensive or to cut their prescribed doses in an effort to stretch their medicines. But the House passed a prescription drug plan that rewards HMOs, drug companies and private insurers with billions in subsidies and leaves seniors with no assurances that the coverage they need will be affordable or even available. In addition, an accounting trick buried in the bill means employers now providing retiree drug benefits will get little relief, which would have prompted employers to abolish coverage for an estimated 3 million retirees. The bill passed June 27, 2002, 221-208. Y=W; N=R (R: 212–8; D: 8–199; I: 1–1)
6	COLLECTIVE BARGAINING—H.R. 5005—As part of his homeland security proposal, President George W. Bush insisted on the right to deny collective bargaining rights to the workers slated to become part of the new government department. He threatened to veto any legislation that protected the workers' current right to unionize. The House passed an amendment to the bill that would expand presidential power to deny employees the right to unionize. The amendment passed July 26, 2002, 229–201. Y=W; N=R (R: 217–2; D: 11–198; I: 1–1)
7	FAST TRACK—H.R. 3009—The conference report on Fast Track trade authority contained weak and flawed provisions on workers' rights and environmental protections, essentially ruling out enforcement standards in future Fast Track trade agreements. Fast Track allows the president to submit trade agreements to Congress for an up or down vote without being subject to amendments or changes. The House passed the conference report July 26, 2002, 215–212. Y=W; N=R (R: 190–27; D: 25–183; I: 0–2)
8	ELECTION REFORM—H.R. 3295—The Help America Vote Act overhauls our nation's election system by creating minimum national standards for voting machines, provisional ballots and statewide voter registration lists. The conference report passed Oct. 10, 2002, 357–48.Y=R; N=W (R: 172–37; D: 184–11; I: 1–0).
9	BANKRUPTCY OVERHAUL—H.R. 333—The Bankruptcy Reform Act would have tilted the bankruptcy system in favor of creditors and would have made it more difficult for those hurt by the Bush recession and the sluggish economy to gain a fresh start. If enacted into law, millions of working families who desperately need relief from unemployment, medical problems, and other causes beyond their control would have been unable to gain a fresh start through the bankruptcy process. The House agreed to a motion to H.R. 333 that would have required debtors able to repay $10,000 or 25 percent of their debts over five years to file under Chapter 13, which requires a reorganization of debts under a repayment plan, instead of seeking to discharge their debts under Chapter 7. The motion passed Nov. 14, 2002, 244-116. Y=W; N=R (R: 189–0; D: 55–115; I: 0–1)
Voting records compiled and provided by the National AFL-CIO.