The AFL-CIO (National) Voting Records will let you know where your lawmaker stands on legislation selected for inclusion because of their importance to working families. The AFL-CIO hopes it will help you hold your congressional representatives accountable for the votes they cast.
R—RIGHT VOTE |
W—WRONG VOTE |
A—ABSENT, DID NOT VOTE OR MAKE POSITION KNOWN |
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| David Wu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greg Walden |  |
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| Earl Blumenauser | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peter DeFazio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darlene Hooley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 |
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE—H.R. 3030—In December 2003, the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program expired. The TEUC provided generally 13 weeks of federal unemployment benefits for workers who had exhausted their state benefits without finding new employment. By early 2004, the economy had lost more than 2.7 million private-sector jobs since Bush took office, more than 2 million jobless workers had been out of work for 27 or more weeks and about 90,00 workers a week were exhausting their state unemployment benefits. An amendment to H.R. 3030 that would provide an additional 13 weeks of federal unemployment benefits to replace the TEUC program passed Feb. 4, 2004, 227–179. Y=R; N=W (R: 39–179; D: 187–0; I: 1–0) |
2 |
BUDGET—H. Con. Res. 393—President George W. Bush presented a budget that permanently locked in multitrillion-dollar tax breaks that mostly benefit the nation’s wealthiest. To finance these taxes cuts for millionaires and billionaires, the Republican budget resolution—which mirrored Bush’s proposal—inflated the record-high $477 billion U.S. deficit and by $120 billion shortchanged or cut funds for the domestic programs working families need most—from job creation to health care, transportation and education. It also accelerated the repeal of the estate tax and made permanent tax cuts—such as the estate tax repeal, the capital gains and dividend rate cuts and the reduction in marginal rates—that provide huge benefits to families with the highest incomes. The resolution passed March 25, 2004, 215–212. Y=W; N=R (R: 215–10; D: 0–201; I: 0–1) |
3 |
TRANSPORTATION—H.R. 3550—According to a bipartisan group of state government officials, at least $318 billion was needed to meet the country’s transportation needs for the next six years. But the Bush administration had threatened to veto a Senate-passed measure that authorized the $318 billion although every $1 billion in transportation construction creates 47,500 jobs, according to a coalition of state transportation officials. A House bill to authorize $275 billion ($43 million less than the Senate figure) passed April 2, 2004, 357–65. Y=R; N=W (R: 162–59; D: 194–6; I: 1–0) |
4 |
HEALTH CARE—H.R. 4281—Some 45 million Americans do not have health care coverage, but legislation that would allow small businesses to offer health insurance to their employees through “association health plans” does little to address the problem. These substandard plans would be exempt from state insurance regulations and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would lead to premium increases for four in five already insured workers. The bill passed May 13, 2004, 252–162. Y=W; N=R (R: 215–0; D: 37–161; I: 0–1) |
5 |
IMMIGRATION—H.R. 3722—The legislation would have denied hospitals and other health care providers reimbursement for uncompensated emergency care they provide to undocumented immigrants unless they report those immigrants to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Health care providers would have been required to transmit to DHS information including the patients’ financial data, identity of the employer and biometric information. The bill also would have narrowed the scope of emergency health services available to undocumented persons and make inability to pay medical expenses a basis for removal from the United States. The bill failed May 18, 2004, 88–331. Y=W; N=R (R: 86–133; D: 2–197; I: 0–1) |
6 |
WORKPLACE SAFETY/ENFORCEMENT RULINGS—H.R. 2730—Under a 1991 Supreme Court decision, the Secretary of Labor has the authority to interpret and enforce Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and rules. H.R. 2730 would overturn that ruling and say that deference should be given to the OSHA Review Commission rather than the Secretary of Labor in interpreting OSHA standards. Such a change would benefit employers over workers and stifle OSHA enforcement, according to workplace safety advocates. The bill passed May 18, 2004, 224–204. Y=W; N=R (R: 215–8; D: 9–195; I: 0–1) |
7 |
WORKPLACE SAFETY/FEES—H.R. 2731—Workplaces with fewer than 100 employees make up almost 98 percent of private-sector establishments and have a higher rate of fatal occupational injuries than workplaces with more workers. But H.R. 2731 could result in less vigorous enforcement of the nation’s safety laws by reimbursing the legal fees of any small employer that prevails in any enforcement case or wins a challenge to an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard, regardless of whether OSHA’s actions were substantially justified. Under current law, those costs can only be recovered if the government’s action is ruled not substantially justified. The bill passed May 18, 2004, 233–194. Y=W; N=R (R: 217–5; D: 16–188; I: 0–1) |
8 |
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT—H.R. 444—Despite the worst job loss record since the Great Depression, the Bush administration backed legislation to cap at $3,000 the amount of job training and re-employment services available to unemployed workers. Many states now provide services that can be worth as much as $10,000 to unemployed workers. The Bush administration proposed “personal reemployment accounts” at the same time it was cutting funds for federal job training programs and refusing to extend the federal unemployment insurance program. The bill passed June 3, 2004; 213–203. Y=W; N=R (R: 213–4; D: 0–198; I: 0–1) |
9 |
MANUFACTURING—H.R. 4520—Under the Bush administration’s watch, millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost, many shipped overseas by U.S. firms. Yet the Foreign Sales Corp. tax bill not only provided nearly $40 billion in foreign tax breaks for companies that export jobs, but overall it provided some $140 billion in new corporate tax cuts. The bill passed June 17, 2004, 251–178. Y=W; N=R (R: 203–23; D: 48–154; I: 0–1) |
10 |
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING—HR 4613—In 2003, at the request of the Bush administration, Congress passed legislation authorizing the Secretary of Defense to make sweeping changes to the Department of Defense personnel system, including the civil service system, pay, appeal rights and collective bargaining agreements. A department outline of the plan released in February included replacing collective bargaining with a nonbinding consultative process and ending the right of workers to appeal to an impartial third party. An amendment to H.R. 4613 that would prohibit funds from being used to suspend or modify regulations that protect civilian Defense Department employees’ collective bargaining and due process rights failed June 22, 2004; 202–218. Y=R; N=W (R: 5–217; D: 196–1; I: 1–0) |
11 |
EXECUTIVE PAY/STOCK OPTION EXPENSING—H. R. 3574—Stock options make up the biggest part of a typical CEO’s compensation package. A Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rule will require executive stock options be treated like any other form of compensation and be counted as an expense on corporate balance sheets. But H.R. 3574 undermines and weakens the FASB rule. It passed July 20, 2004, 312–111. Y=W; N=R (R: 198–22; D: 114–88; I: 0–1) |
12 |
OVERTIME—H.R. 5006—In August 2004, the Bush administration implemented new overtime eligibility rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act that threatened to eliminate the overtime pay eligibility of millions of workers. An amendment to H.R. 5006 would have forced the Labor Department to rescind the portion of the new rules that weakened workers’ overtime protections. The amendment passed Sept. 9, 2004, 223–193. Y=R; N=W (R: 22–193; D: 200–0; I: 1–0) |
13 |
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING—H.R. 5006—More than 400,000 workers are employed by tribally owned casinos, a fast growing industry. An amendment to H.R. 5006 that would exempt those workers from coverage under the National Labor Relations Act and the collective bargaining rights it guarantees failed Sept. 9, 2004, 185–227. Y=W; N=R (R: 172–39; D: 13–187; I: 0–1) |
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PRIVATIZING FEDERAL JOBS—H.R. 5025—The Bush administration backs privatizing hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and turning them over to corporations. It changed contracting rules to make it easier to contract out work to the private sector. An amendment that would prohibit the Office of Management and Budget from implementing those pro-contractor revisions to federal rules passed Sept. 21, 2004, 210–187. Y=R; N=W (R: 24–184; D: 185–3; I: 1–0) |
15 |
MEXICAN TRUCKS—H.R. 5025—In 2004, the Bush administration issued a proposed regulation to allow Mexican trucks, which operate under lax safety and environmental rules, nearly unfettered access to U.S. highways. An amendment that would prohibit the Transportation Department from implementing the proposed regulation and prohibit those trucks form U.S. roadways passed Sept. 22, 2004, 339–70. Y=R, N=W (R: 141–69; D: 197–1; I: 1–0) |
| EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE—H.R. 3619—The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would ensure when a majority of employees in a workplace decides to form a union, employees can do so without the debilitating obstacles employers now use to block their workers’ free choice. The Employee Free Choice Act allows workers to freely choose whether to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation. It also provides mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establishes stronger penalties for violations of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations. The bill never came to a vote but won 209 co-sponsors and is included in the Voting Record but not included in the year-end or lifetime percentages. | |
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