Lloyd Bentsen

[Congressional biography]

Born: February 11, 1921 in Mission, TX
Died: May 23, 2006 in Houston, TX

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Key Senate Vote Data for Lloyd Bentsen in 1975

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Bentsen Voted
1975-03-07	Filibuster Rule [SRES4]	Agreed To (56-27)
Adoption of the resolution, as amended by the Byrd (D-WV) substitute, amending Rule 22 of the Standing Rules of the Senate to reduce from two-thirds to three-fifths of the entire Senate membership the number of votes needed to shut off a filibuster (invoke cloture) on any measure, motion or other pending business before the Senate. The resolution amending Rule 22 did not apply to efforts to change any of the Standing Rules of the Senate; to cut off a filibuster against such changes would still require a two-thirds vote of senators present and voting. This rule change makes it easier for the liberal majority to force votes on legislation that it favors.
1975-03-12	Mining Regulations [S7]	Passed (84-13)
Passage of the bill to provide minimum federal standards for the regulation of surface mining and the reclamation of strip-mined lands. Regulations in the bill would cause a reduction in coal production, thus a higher cost for consumers and increased dependence on foreign oil. Reducing production would also cause a decrease in the number of jobs.
1975-03-20	Tax Indexing [HR2166]	Agreed To (63-27)
Long (D-LA) motion to table, and thus kill, the Buckley (C-NY) amendment to automatically adjust federal income tax brackets upward to reflect cost-of-living increases, thus offsetting tax increases as incomes rose during an inflationary period. This would ease the taxpayers' burden by enabling them to be taxed only on their real income. Thus, the taxpayer whose real income decreased during inflationary periods would be paying less federal taxes.
1975-03-21	Tax Reduction Act [HR2166]	Passed (60-29)		No Vote
Passage of the bill to cut taxes by $30.4 billion, to increase corporate taxes by $3.7 billion through repeal of the oil and gas depletion allowance and tightening of the tax treatment on foreign income, and to provide a $100 payment to each recipient of Social Security and certain other federal benefits. Passage will drastically decrease federal revenue during a period of rising federal spending, thus causing heavy inflationary pressures. The net result will be that federal spending programs will be paid for by the hidden and cruel tax of inflation.
1975-04-10	Abortion Funding [S66]	Agreed To (54-36)
Javits (R-NY) motion to table, and thus kill, the Bartlett (R-OK) amendment to bar use of funds under the Social Security Act (covering the Medicaid program for the poor) to pay for or encourage abortions, except to save the life of the mother.
1975-04-25	"Emergency" Federal Jobs [HR4481]	Passed (53-14)
Passage of the bill to make emergency fiscal 1975 appropriations of $6,082,647,000 for several federal departments and agencies to stimulate the creation of jobs and to aid the depressed auto and construction industries (the President had requested $2,042,700,000). This support of increased government spending and bureaucracy was not in the best interests of the taxpayer.
1975-04-25	Vietnam Evacuation [HR6096]	Agreed To (46-17)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to authorize funds for humanitarian assistance and evacuation programs in South Vietnam and to authorize the President to use U.S. troops if necessary for the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Vietnamese.
1975-04-29	Deficit Reduction [HR4481]	Rejected (21-69)
Buckley (C-NY) amendment to cut the Budget Committee's recommended $365 billion in total outlays for fiscal 1976 by $25 billion, with a resulting deficit of $34.7 billion instead of the Budget Committee's $67.2 billion deficit.
1975-05-06	Wage-Price Council [S409]	Passed (67-20)
Passage of the bill to extend the Council on Wage and Price Stability to June 30, 1976, give the council power to require reports and subpoena records and require Senate confirmation of future council directors.
1975-05-14	Gun Control [S200]	Failed (27-67)
Ribicoff (D-CT) motion to table the McClure (R-ID) amendment to prohibit the Consumer Advocacy Agency from intervening in federal proceedings with the intention of limiting the sale, manufacture or posession of firearms or ammunition. A "yes" vote is support of gun control.
1975-05-15	Consumer Protection Agency [S200]	Passed (61-28)
Passage of the bill to set up an independent Agency for Consumer Advocacy to represent consumer interests before other federal agencies and courts, and to gather and disseminate consumer information. This bill creates another layer of bureaucracy and another regulatory agency at enormous cost to taxpayers.
1975-06-05	B-1 Bomber [S920]	Rejected (32-57)
McGovern (D-SD) amendment to eliminate $840.5 million in the bill for continued development of the B-1 strategic bomber.
1975-06-10	Food Stamp Eligibility [S1662]	Agreed To (61-35)
Dole (R-KS) amendment to provide for immediate temporary certification of food stamp applicants, with penalties for fraud, and to set other standards for speedy processing of food stamp applications. This would increase the size and expense of the food stamp program, which is already riddled with waste and corruption.
1975-06-11	"Emergency" Housing Act [HR4485]	Agreed To (72-24)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to provide temporary subsidies for purchases of homes by middle-income families and to provide federal loans to unemployed homeowners unable to meet mortgage payments. The bill was a wasteful and unnecessary subsidy for temporarily unemployed home buyers.
1975-07-17	Co-ed Physical Education [HR5901]	Agreed To (65-29)
Brooke (R-MA) motion that the Senate insist on its amendment to delete from the education appropriations bill a House-passed amendment that would prohibit the Department of Health, Education and Welfare from requiring schools to integrate by sex their physical education classes and from requiring professional and honorary fraternities and sororities to integrate their membership by sex.
1975-07-29	Public Works [S1587]	Passed (65-28)
Passage of the bill to authorize $2,125,000,000 for acceleration of work on state and local public works projects and to authorize open-ended appropriations for grants to assist state and local governments with high unemployment rates. This would further increase federal government control over local communities, will not significantly decrease unemployment, and will be inflationary.
1975-07-29	Congressional Pay Increase [HR2559]	Passed (58-29)
Passage of the bill to authorize establishment of a job safety program for postal workers and to provide automatic annual cost of living pay increases for members of Congress and top-level legislative, executive and judicial branch officials. This undeserved pay increase will only make Congressmen and Senators further immune to the harsh realities of inflation and recession that have primarily been caused by Congress' deficit spending.
1975-08-01	Defense Spending [HR6674]	Rejected (42-48)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to authorize $31,120,000,000 for weapons procurement in fiscal 1976 and the three-month transition period. The bill was defeated on an anti-defense recommendation by Senator Muskie (D-ME) that the conference report be disapproved because it exceeded the new Senate Budget Committee's spending limit.
1975-09-10	Education Appropriations [HR5901]	Veto Overridden (88-12)
Passage, over the President's July 25 veto, of the bill making fiscal 1976 and advance fiscal 1977 appropriations of $7,480,312,952, plus $464,683,000 for the three-month transition period, for education programs operated by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and related agencies. Parallel to increased federal spending on new education programs has been a lowering in students' test scores. The bill will also increase the federal deficit and be inflationary.
1975-09-18	OSHA Exemptions [HR8069]	Rejected (44-44)
Curtis (R-NE) amendment to prohibit any funds in the bill from being used to pay Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors who inspected firms employing five or fewer persons. Most OSHA standards impose costly requirements and paperwork that are prohibitive for small business.
1975-09-24	Busing Funds [HR8069]	Agreed To (51-45)
Byrd (D-WV) amendment to the Scott (R-PA)-Humphrey (D-MN) amendment that would prohibit the Department of Health, Education and Welfare from requiring students to be bused to a school farther than the one closest to their home, unless it was necessary to provide a particular curriculum sought by the student. A "yes" vote is a vote against forced busing.
1975-10-07	School Lunch Program [HR4222]	Veto Overridden (79-13)
Passage, over the President's Oct. 3 veto, of the bill to amend and extend the federal school lunch and other child nutrition programs. The school lunch program is in desperate need of reform since many of the recipients are from non-needy families. Without reform the program will cost taxpayers almost $4 billion over the next five years.
1975-10-08	Oil/Gas Ownership Restrictions [S2310]	Rejected (45-54)
Abourezk (D-SD) amendment to the Bentsen (D-TX)-Pearson (R-KS) substitute amendment for the bill, to require major oil and gas companies to divest themselves of vertically integrated holdings within five years, so that they operate in only one area -- production, refining, transportation or marketing. This anti-free enterprise amendment would have made energy exploration more costly and increased prices for consumers.
1975-10-22	Natural Gas Regulations [S2310]	Agreed To (50-41)
Pearson (R-KS)-Bentsen (D-TX) substitute for the text of S 2310 as originally proposed, providing for an emergency 180-day exemption from federal natural gas price regulations for curtailed high-priority natural gas customers and providing for the eventual deregulation of new natural gas prices. Deregulation is vital to overcome current natural gas shortages caused by federal price controls which have encouraged over-consumption by setting artificially low prices.
1975-11-06	Military Base Construction [HR10029]	Agreed To (51-44)
Culver (D-IA) amendment to bar expenditure of all funds in the bill to be appropriated for a refueling facility at Diego Garcia, the Indian Ocean island where the United States has a naval base, until July 1, 1976. The Diego Garcia base is vitally needed by the U.S. to offset the growing Soviet military presence in the Indian Ocean and encroachment in the Middle Eastern oil region.
1975-11-18	Safeguard ABM [HR9861]	Agreed To (52-47)
Kennedy (D-MA) amendment to dismantle the Safeguard anti-ballistic missile site in North Dakota with the exception of the Perimeter Acquisition Radar system. Dismantling the $6 billion ABM site will make U.S. cities and ICBM bases completely vulnerable to a Soviet nuclear first strike.
1975-11-18	Common Situs Picketing [HR5900]	Agreed To (62-37)
Kennedy (D-MA) motion to invoke cloture (cut off debate) on the bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow labor unions in the construction trades to strike and picket contractors and subcontractors engaged on the same construction job at a common site. Since most construction disputes concern the hiring of non-union employees, it would limit construction companies to hiring only union members.
1975-12-05	New York City Bailout [HR10481]	Passed (57-30)
Passage of the bill to authorize federal loans of up to $2.3 billion a year through June 30, 1978 to help New York City meet its seasonal cash flow needs. President Ford compromised on his earlier opposition to New York City aid, even though no major steps were taken or guarantees made to balance New York City's budget.
1975-12-15	Revenue Adjustment Act [HR5559]	Passed (73-19)
Passage of the bill to cut federal income taxes by approximately $8 billion in 1976 by extending 1975 tax reductions through June 30, 1976. This is another form of tax rebate without an equivalent reduction in federal spending, and thus increases the federal deficit and generates inflationary pressures.
1975-12-17	Oil Price Controls [S622]	Agreed To (58-40)
Jackson (D-WA) motion to concur in the House amendments in the conference version of the bill setting up a national energy policy, which included standby emergency powers for the President, creation of a national strategic oil reserve, mandatory fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, and continuation of oil price controls. Continuation of price controls will inhibit production of domestic oil while increasing U.S. dependence on the foreign oil cartel.

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).