James Collins

[Congressional biography]

Born: April 29, 1916 in Hallsville, TX
Died: July 21, 1989 in Dallas, TX

Education:

Military Service:

Career:

Key House Vote Data for James Collins in 1979

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Collins Voted
1979-03-13	Taiwan Relations [HR2479]	Failed (110-295)
Bauman (R-MD) motion to strike the enacting clause (thus killing the bill). illing this bill would have forced the Carter Administration to prepare a bill with stronger guarantees for the continued freedom of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
1979-03-15	Public Debt Limit [HRES157]	Agreed To (201-199)
Bolling (D-MO) motion to order the previous question (thus ending debate) on the adoption of the rule providing for House floor consideration of the bill. The proposed rule prohibited the offering of an amendment to require a balanced budget which would have returned meaning to the concept of debt limits.
1979-05-02	Food Stamps [HCR107]	Rejected (146-276)
Symms (R-ID) amendment to the Simon (D-IL) amendment, to reduce the proposed increase for food stamps to $515 million in budget authority from $650 million and to $465 million in outlays from $600 million, representing continuation of the "cap" on food stamp expenditures. This would have forced increased efficiency and reduced fraud in a program that has been fraught with abuse and mismanagement.
1979-05-16	Alaska Lands [HR39]	Passed (360-64)
Passage of the bill to create 125.4 million acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and national forests in Alaska. By locking up so much of this territory, the federal government has prohibited Alaska from developing its land as it best sees fit.
1979-06-13	Congressional Pay Raise [HRES312]	Failed (126-292)
Moakley (D-MA) motion to order the previous question (thus ending debate) on adoption of the rule providing for House floor consideration of the bill to appropriate $952,878,400 for the House and related congressional agencies in fiscal 1980. The proposed rule would have prohibited members from voting for a salary freeze, as it provided them only with the options of a 5.5% increase or a 70% [sic] increase. In an era when Congress cannot balance the budget, congressional pay increases are not warranted.
1979-06-21	Panama Canal Implementation [HR111]	Failed (210-216)
Bauman (R-MD) motion to recommit the bill to the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee with instructions to report the bill back to the House with the original text of the Hansen (R-ID) amendment to require Panama to pay all U.S. costs in implementing the canal treaties. The Hansen amendment would have saved U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars and negated the preposterous proposal that the U.S pay Panama for the privilege of receiving the Canal.
1979-06-27	OSHA Budget [HR4389]	Rejected (177-240)
Symms (R-ID) amendment to reduce by $10.3 million the appropriation for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This amendment would have prevented an increase in OSHA's fiscal year 1980 budget over the agency's FY 1979 level.
1979-06-28	Windfall Profits Tax [HR3919]	Failed (186-229)
Conable (R-NY) motion to recommit with instructions to add a "plowback" that would give oil companies a credit for 75 cents of every dollar reinvested in energy development in excess of historic investment patterns. This action would have somewhat reversed the negative efforts of the Carter energy package and would have allowed Congress to act further on the side of energy independence by providing incentives to energy producers.
1979-06-28	Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Sanctions [HR4439]	Rejected (147-242)
Broomfield (R-MI) amendment to terminate the existing sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia by Dec. 1, 1979, and to provide for a continuation of the sanctions past that date if Congress approved a presidential request for an extension. At the time of the vote, Zimbabwe had completed free and fair elections to provide majority rule, and the new government needed international trade to support its continued existence.
1979-07-11	Department of Education [HR2444]	Passed (210-206)
Passage of the bill to establish a separate federal Department of Education. This bill, which would lead to increased federal domination of education, included provisions to allow for voluntary prayer and to prohibit the use of Department funds for abortion, racial quotas and busing of school children (these provisions were later deleted).
1979-07-13	Private School Regulations [HR4393]	Agreed To (297-63)
Ashbrook (R-OH) amendment to prohibit the IRS from using any funds appropriated in the bill to formulate or carry out any rule or policy that would cause the loss of tax-exempt status of any private, religious or church-operated school, unless such rule or policy was in effect prior to Aug. 22, 1978. Such regulations would force private schools out of existence and consequently do great harm to the plurality of American education.
1979-07-16	Davis-Bacon Waivers [HR3951]	Rejected (127-260)
Ashbrook (R-OH) amendment to waive the Davis-Bacon Act wage requirements for laborers and mechanics for work performed on the Washington, D.C. rapid rail system. Adoption of this amendment would have allowed contractors to pay normal wages to workers rather than the higher labor-determined "prevailing wages" which inflated the price of this construction project by an estimated 3.4% or $10.3 million.
1979-07-19	Health "Planning" Agencies [HR3917]	Rejected (203-211)
Preyer (D-NC) amendment to the Satterfield (D-VA) amendment, to require state health planning agencies to receive comment on and publish their criteria for reviewing certificate-of-need applications for approval of medical service changes and to prohibit any conditional approvals that do not conform to the published review criteria. The Satterfield measure is a step in the right direction toward clamping down on the "health planning" bureaucracy, which adds to health care costs while often impeding the delivery of modern health care through excessive regualtion. The Preyer amendment would have limited the power of the Satterfield amendment in controlling these bureaucracies.
1979-07-24	School Busing Amendment [HJR74]	Defeated (208-216)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit compelling students to attend a school other than the one nearest their home to achieve racial desegregation. Busing, as a means of achieving racial desegregation and improving the quality of education, has proved to be a wasteful and unproductive exercise.
1979-08-01	Gasoline Rationing [S1030]	Passed (263-159)
Passage of the bill to authorize the President, with the consent of Congress, to require rationing of gasoline during a 20 percent oil shortage and to impose conservation measures on uncooperative states during a 10 percent oil shortage. This bill frustrates efforts by the Administration and Dept. of Energy bureaucrats to impose rationing or force conservation on their own terms. It makes the possibility of either action less likely and preserves the rights of Congress to veto any such rationing/conservation scheme.
1979-09-05	Foreign Aid [HR4473]	Agreed To (281-117)
Young (R-FL) amendment to bar use of funds in the bill for indirect aid as well as direct aid to Angola, the Central African Empire, Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam. This was a proper attempt to bar funds from our enemies who are among the worst human rights violators. The Senate later deleted this provision.
1979-09-06	Aid to Nicaragua [HR4473]	Rejected (189-221)
Bauman (R-MD) amendment to prohibit any aid to Nicaragua without prior congressional approval. This amendment would have allowed congressional involvement in decisions to grant aid to the Sandinista regime, which replaced the Somoza government and pursues Castro-oriented policies.
1979-09-19	Defense Spending [HCR186]	Rejected (191-221)
Stratton (D-NY) amendment to increase 1980 defense spending to $141.2 billion in budget authority and $129 billion in outlays -- an increase of $3 billion and $400 million respectively over the levels recommended by the House Budget Committee. These increases were sorely needed to upgrade ailing U.S. defenses.
1979-09-19	Balanced Budget [HCR186]	Rejected (181-224)
Rousselot (R-CA) amendment to set 1980 budget levels as follows: budget authority, $600 billion; outlays, $518 billion; revenues, $518 billion. This amendment, by establishing a balanced budget for fiscal year 1980, would have dramatically reduced inflation and returned fiscal responsibility to the federal government.
1979-09-27	Department of Education [S210]	Agreed To (215-201)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to create a new cabinet-level Department of Education. During conference, House provisions allowing for voluntary prayers, prohibiting funds for busing, quotas and abortion were deleted from the bill.
1979-10-17	Election Financing [S832]	Agreed To (217-198)
Obey (D-WI) amendment to limit the amount a House candidate may receive from political action committees (PAC) during a two-year election cycle to $70,000 and to $85,000 if the candidate also faced a runoff election; limit the amount a PAC could contribute to a House candidate to $6,000 for primary and general elections combined, and $9,000 for a primary, runoff and general election; and prohibit a House candidate from using campaign funds to repay a personal loan of more than $35,000 from the candidate to his campaign. This bill, which further involves the federal government in the entire election process, is a backdoor way of achieving public financing of elections and protecting incumbents.
1979-10-24	Gasoline Allocation and Price Controls [HR3000]	Rejected (189-225)
Courter (R-NJ) amendment to prohibit the use of funds to allocate or control the price of gasoline. This was an attempt to forbid bureaucrats from interfering with gasoline price and availability and permitting a free-market approach to allocation and pricing.
1979-11-01	Energy Mobilization Board [HR4985]	Passed (299-107)
Passage of the bill to establish an Energy Mobilization Board (EMB) to expedite construction of priority energy projects. One of the most ominous of Carter's energy proposals, the EMB would have almost unprecedented power to override businesses, states and other units of government in determining the fate of energy projects, and represents a massive placement of authority into the hands of a small group of political appointees.
1979-11-01	"Gag" Rules [HRES465]	Agreed To (202-181)
Adoption of the rule providing for House floor consideration of the bill to establish a national minimum for welfare benefits, require states to provide coverage to two-parent families with children, reduce state costs, and make administrative changes designed to reduce benefits to some recipients. The proposed "closed" rule would have not allowed consideration of amendments other than those proposed by the Democrat-controlled Ways and Means Committee. Closed or "gag" rules, by preventing members from proposing floor amendments to legislation that has cleared the liberal-dominated committees, undermine the legislative responsibilities of the House and are a step towards legislation by committee.
1979-11-07	Welfare Reform [HR4904]	Failed (200-205)
Archer (R-TX) motion to recommit the bill to the Ways and Means Committee, with instructions to report it back with an amendment establishing a demonstration program providing eight states and three counties with block grants to run welfare programs according to their own design, and to allow all states to establish their own work requirements for welfare recipients, as long as they did not require work from parents who were caring for children under six years old, unless adequate day care was available.
1979-11-07	Guaranteed National Income [HR4904]	Passed (222-184)
Passage of the bill to establish a national minimum welfare benefit, require states to provide coverage to unemployed two-parent families with children, reduce state costs, and make administrative changes designed to reduce benefits to some recipients. The Carter Administration's bill federalizes and expands the current welfare system rather than providing for true reform.
1979-11-15	Hospital Cost Containment [HR2626]	Agreed To (234-166)
Gephardt (D-MO) substitute amendment to the Commerce Committee substitute, to establish for three years a national study commission on hospital costs, and to authorize $10 million in fiscal 1980 and sums as needed for fiscal 1981-82 for state hospital cost control programs. This measure nullified Carter Administration attempts to impose mandatory price controls on America's hospitals, and also gave the support of Congress to the "Voluntary Effort", a state-by-state program of the health care industry to restrain health costs on its own.
1979-11-28	Hospital Staff Unionization [HR2222]	Defeated (167-227)
Passage of the bill to bring housestaff (interns and residents) in non-public hospitals under the National Labor Relations Act, thus giving them the right to organize and bargain collectively. This bill would have posed a new threat to public health and safety while further adding to high health costs.
1979-12-06	Uncontrollable Spending [HR4962]	Rejected (152-226)
Stockman (R-MI) amendment to authorize $3.15 billion for fiscal 1980-82 for new health services and broadened eligibility under Medicaid for children and pregnant women. The authorization would replace a proposed permanent entitlement, under Medicaid, for the new coverage. Entitlement programs are one of the greatest drains on the public treasury because their budgets are uncontrolled and are repeatedly used as an excuse for not approving balanced budget measures.
1979-12-11	Medicaid Abortions [HR4962]	Agreed To (235-155)
Bauman (R-MD) amendment to prohibit payments for abortions from federal Medicaid funds, except for abortions to save the life of the mother, and to stipulate that nothing in Title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) shall be construed to require any state funds to be used to pay for any abortions. In addition to providing strict anti-abortion language, this amendment strengthened states' rights on this issue.
1979-12-11	Parental Consent for Abortions [HR4962]	Rejected (163-225)
Dannemeyer (R-CA) motion to recommit the bill to the House Commerce Committee with instructions to report it back to the House with an amendment requiring parental consent before family planning services authorized by the bill could be dispensed to minors. This was an important step toward reasserting the primacy of the family and parental authority.
1979-12-18	Chrysler Bailout [HR5860]	Passed (271-136)
Passage of the bill, as amended, to authorize $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees for the Chrysler Corp., to be matched by $1.93 billion from other sources, including $400 million in wage concessions by the company's unionized workers and $100 million by other employees. This bill sets a dangerous precedent for government interference in private business and further undermines the ability of the free market to operate properly.

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).