John Tower

[Congressional biography]

Born: September 29, 1925 in Houston, TX
Died: April 5, 1991 near Brusnwick, GA (plane crash)

Education:

Military Service:

Career:

Key Senate Vote Data for John Tower in 1966

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Tower Voted
1966-03-15	SBA/FNMA Loan Sales [S2499]	Rejected (26-51)
Saltonstall (R-MA) motion to recommit (kill) the bill to authorize the Small Business Administration to sell participation certificates in pools of loans and authorizing SBA to enter into a trust agreement with the Federal National Mortgage Assn. for the sale of SBA participation certificates.
1966-04-20	Flexible Legislative Apportionment [SJR103]	Defeated (55-38)
Passage of the bill proposing an amendment to the Constitution to permit states to apportion one legislative house on the basis of population, geography, and political subdivisions.
1966-04-25	Federal Planning for Rural Communities [S2934]	Passed (43-21)
Passage of the bill to authorize the establishment of rural community development districts to be designated by states or local governments for the purpose of area-wide planning, and authorize federal grants to help pay the costs of planning activities in the districts.
1966-04-27	Additional Funds for Rent Supplements [HR14012]	Rejected (45-46)
Senate Appropriations Committee amendment to delete the section of the bill authorizing $12 million in contractual authority for rent supplements and appropriating $100,000 for rent supplement payments in fiscal 1966.
1966-05-05	Government-Sponsored Investments [S3283]	Passed (39-22)		No Vote
Passage of the bill authorizing the government to sell to investors participations in pools of loans held by six federal lending agencies.
1966-06-01	Limit Agricultural Subsidies [HR15151]	Agreed To (42-27)
Williams (R-DE) amendment to limit to $100,000 the amount any producer covered by the bill could receive in price support and acreage diversion payments.
1966-06-08	Ease Federal Packaging Requirements [S985]	Rejected (32-53)
Cotton (R-NH) amendment to delete sections authorizing federal officials to establish standard weights and quantities for the packaging of commodities covered by the bill.
1966-06-15	Cotton Research Referendum [HR12322]	Passed (49-20)
Passage of the bill providing for a referendum to be held on a $1 a bale assessment on cotton farmers (refunded upon request) with the funds to be used for a program of cotton research and promotion.
1966-06-16	Increase Debt Limit [HR15202]	Passed (50-17)		No Vote
Passage of the bill increasing the temporary national debt limit to $330 billion from $328 billion and extending it for one year, through June 30, 1967.
1966-06-23	Mine Safety Standards [HR8989]	Agreed To (42-38)		No Vote
Reconsideration of Javits (R-NY) amendment providing that a state, upon submission of an acceptable mine inspection plan, would be placed in charge of mine inspection and safety standards. The state plan had to include a number of specific features and had to provide for the development of standards "substantially as effective" as the federal standards to be established under the Act.
1966-06-28	Use the Unemployed for National Security [S2974]	Rejected (31-58)
Dominick (R-CO) amendment to delete language authorizing recruitment of the unemployed and underemployed or of manpower to meet national security needs.
1966-06-29	Federal Control of Employment Agencies [S2974]	Agreed To (47-42)
Prouty (R-VT) amendment to delete language directing the Secretary of Labor to set standards for personnel systems and salary scales in state employment agencies.
1966-07-11	Politicize the Civil Service [HR14122]	Agreed To (48-33)
Monroney (D-OK) motion to table the Williams (R-DE) amendment to prohibit representatives of political committees from soliciting contributions from civil service employees.
1966-07-12	Summer Lunch Program [S3467]	Rejected (37-42)
Ribicoff (D-CT) amendment to establish a summer lunch program for day camps and similar activities.
1966-07-15	Limit Farm Payments and Loans [HR14596]	Rejected (28-53)		No Vote
Brewster (D-MD) amendment to put a $50,000 ceiling on the amount of price support loans and direct payments a producer could receive under the Food and Agriculture Act of 1965.
1966-07-20	Reduce Development Loan Fund [S3584]	Agreed To (59-34)
Dirksen (R-IL) amendment to reduce by $250 million the 1967 authorizations for the Development Loan Fund, from $620 million to $370 million.
1966-07-26	Steel Plants for China [S3584]	Agreed To (56-33)
Byrd (D-VA) amendment stating the sense of Congress that the action of any government giving approval and financial backing to an arrangement under which an international consortium in West Europe would supply steel plants to Communist China was a "grave blow to the common defense of the free world and the safety of American and allied troops in Viet Nam". The amendment was directed at West Germany.
1966-07-26	Foreign Assistance Act [S3584]	Passed (66-27)
Passage of the bill, amended to contain the language of the Senate bill (S 3584), to authorize appropriations of $2,059,762,000 for foreign economic assistance during fiscal 1967 and to further amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
1966-08-08	Full Federal Unemployment Financing [HR15119]	Agreed To (47-39)
Committee amendment to provide full federal financing (rather than the joint federal-state financing provided by the House bill) for a new program of extended unemployment conpensation benefits available during periods of national or state recession.
1966-08-08	Unemployment Tax Increases [HR15119]	Passed (53-31)
Passage of the bill requiring states to meet minimum federal standards for the amount and duration of state unemployment compensation benefits, extending coverage of the federal-state unemployment compensation system to an additional 2.3 million workers, providing a new program of extended benefits for jobless workers during national or state recessions, and financing the expanded program by increasing the federal unemployment tax from 3.1 percent to 3.3 percent in 1967 and increasing the taxable wage base from $3,000 to $4,800 by 1972.
1966-08-10	HUD "Community Development" Programs [HR14921]	Rejected (40-45)
Clark (D-PA) amendment to provide $5,150,000 for community development training programs under the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
1966-08-15	Mass Transit Funds [S3700]	Agreed To (47-34)
Tower (R-TX) amendment to reduce appropriations authorization by $75 million a year, from $225 million to $150 million, for each of the fiscal years 1968 and 1969.
1966-08-15	Urban Mass Transit Act Extension [S3700]	Passed (65-18)
Passage of the bill extending the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 for two years, through fiscal 1969; authorizing appropriations of $150 million for each of fiscal years 1968 and 1969; increasing the limit on the amount which may be spent on research, development and demonstration projects; and authorizing new grant programs for training of mass transit personnel and for planning and design of new facilities.
1966-08-19	Delete "Demonstration Cities" Funds [S3708]	Rejected (26-55)
Tower (R-TX) amendment to delete the bill's authorization for $900 million in grants to "demonstration city" projects for fiscal 1968 and 1969 (leaving only $24 million in planning funds).
1966-08-19	Metropolitan Development Grants [S3708]	Passed (53-22)
Passage of the bill authorizing "demonstration city" grants for community renewal, "incentive" planning grants for orderly metropolitan development and other programs relating to housing and urban development.
1966-08-26	Limit Extent of Minimum Wage [HR13712]	Rejected (41-41)
Dirksen (R-IL) amendment to eliminate the bill's second step sales volume cutoff, effective in 1969, which extended minimum wage and overtime pay protection to workers in certain retail and service firms with gross annual sales or business of $250,000 or more. The amendment did not alter the reported bill's 1967 reduction in the cutoff from an annual $1 million to $500,000 but merely held the line at that figure.
1966-08-26	Minimum Wage Increases [HR13712]	Passed (57-17)
Passage of the bill to: increase the federal minimum wage for nonfarm workers in stages from $1.25 to $1.60 an hour to become fully effective by Feb. 1, 1968 for presently covered workers, and by Feb. 1, 1971 for nonfarm workers brought under minimum wage coverage for the first time by the bill; extend minimum wage coverage to an additional 7 million employees, including certain agricultural workers; extend existing overtime pay protection to certain employees not previously covered; and establish a minimum wage of $1 an hour for newly covered farm workers, to be increased in steps to $1.30 by Feb. 1, 1969.
1966-08-30	Trade Food for Strategic Materials [HR14929]	Rejected (19-55)		No Vote
Dirksen (R-IL) amendment requiring the United States to barter food for strategic materials rather than to sell the food, in the case of any country having strategic materials needed by the United States.
1966-09-21	School Prayer Constitutional Amendment [SJR144]	Defeated (49-37)
Passage of the bill proposing an amendment to the Constitution to permit voluntary prayer in public schools.

Represents a "Yes" vote.   Represents a "No" vote.   Indicates that this member voted against the conservative position on a particular vote. "No vote" means that this member did not cast a vote (or voted 'Present' instead of Yes or No).