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 1982

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Tower Voted
1982-02-04	Busing Lawsuits [S951]	Agreed To (58-38)
Helms (R-NC)-Johnston (D-LA) amendment to prevent the Department of Justice from bringing any legal action that could lead directly or indirectly to court-ordered busing; bar federal courts from ordering busing except in narrowly defined circustances; and allow the Attorney General to reopen existing busing orders imposed in violation of the standards set out in the amendment.
1982-03-24	Petroleum Allocation Act Veto Override [S1503]	Veto Sustained (58-36)
Passage, over President Reagan's March 20 veto, of the bill to authorize the President to allocate petroleum supplies in a severe shortage.
1982-05-12	Titan Missile Funds [S2248]	Rejected (40-54)
Dole (R-KS) amendment to eliminate $80 million in fiscal 1983 for retention, operation and maintenence of Titan II intercontinental ballistic missiles.
1982-05-13	Targeted Defense Contracts [S2248]	Agreed To (48-45)
Moynihan (D-NY) amendment to direct the Secretary of Defense to continue a test program allowing waivers of the "Maybank amendment", thus permitting the preferential awarding of contracts to firms in high-unemployment areas, if the price differential on each contract did not exceed 1.5 percent and the total value of such contracts did not exceed $3 billion.
1982-05-19	Defense Spending Cuts [SCONRES92]	Agreed To (53-44)
Baker (R-TN) motion to table (kill) the Kassebaum (R-KS) amendment to reduce defense programs by $35.3 billion in budget authority and $13.9 billion in outlays in fiscal 1983-85. ACU favored tabling this proposal which would make our country less safe.
1982-05-20	Repeal Tax Cut [SCONRES92]	Rejected (32-68)
Hollings (D-SC) amendment to increase revenues in fiscal 1983-85 by expressing the sense of the Congress that the third year of the President's 5-10-10 tax cut be repealed.
1982-07-22	Capital Gains Indexing [HR4961]	Agreed To (64-32)
Armstrong (R-CO) amendment to index the value of assets subject to capital gains taxes to reflect inflation, beginning in 1985.
1982-08-04	Balanced Budget Amendment [SJRES58]	Passed (69-31)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution to require a balanced budget at the beginning of each fiscal year unless a three-fifths majority of Congress agreed to deficit spending. The amendment could be waived during the time of a declared war.
1982-08-11	Reaffirm Monroe Doctrine [HR6863]	Agreed To (68-28)
Symms (R-ID) amendment to state that it would be U.S. policy to oppose Cuban expansionism in the Western Hemisphere by any means necessary, including the use of force; to prevent the creation of an externally supported military capability in Cuba that could endanger U.S. security; and to support the aspirations of the Cuban people for self-determination.
1982-08-12	Illegal Alien Amnesty [S2222]	Rejected (17-82)
Helms (R-NC)-East (R-NC) amendment to the immigration bill, to delete provisions granting amnesty to illegal aliens already in the United States.
1982-08-19	Tax Increases [HR4961]	Agreed To (52-47)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to increase revenues by $98.3 billion in fiscal 1983-85 and reduce projected spending by $17.5 billion in fiscal 1983-85 in compliance with the fiscal 1983 budget resolution.
1982-09-10	Override Appropriations Veto [HR6863]	Veto Overridden (60-30)		No Vote
Passage, over President Reagan's Aug. 28 veto, of the bill to appropriate $14,578,111,924 in new fiscal 1982 budget authority for federal military and civilian pay raises, and to rescind $400,846,000 in previously appropriated funds.
1982-09-15	Federal Funds for Abortions [HJRES520]	Agreed To (47-46)
Hayakawa (R-CA) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment designed to ban abortion, which was an amendment to the Helms amendment (stripping the Supreme Court of jurisdiction to review any case involving voluntary prayers in public schools) to the committee version of the bill.
1982-09-23	Increase Debt Limit [HJRES520]	Passed (50-41)
Passage of the joint resolution increasing the temporary federal debt limit to $1.29 trillion and extending the limit through Sept. 30, 1983.
1982-09-29	Union Dues for Political Purposes [HJRES599]	Agreed To (61-37)
Hatfield (R-OR) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to require the Federal Election Commission to prepare and implement regulations to enforce court decisions barring use by labor organizations for political purposes of union dues or other money required as a condition of employment.
1982-09-29	Davis-Bacon [HJRES599]	Agreed To (52-44)
Hatfield (R-OR) motion to table (kill) the Nickles (R-OK) amendment, to establish in law certain regulatory changes proposed by the Labor Department, but blocked by court order, in the costly Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law; the provisions would increase the minimum size of federal contracts affected by the law to $100,000 from $2,000, and make certain changes in the way local prevailing wages were calculated, for example barring use of urban wage scales in rural areas.
1982-09-29	New Public Works Program [HJRES599]	Agreed To (60-37)
Goldwater (R-AZ) motion to table (kill) the Kennedy (D-MA) amendment to establish a new federal public works program, funded at an amount equal to 5 percent of annual federal unemployment compensation costs, to provide jobs to the unemployed.
1982-12-22	Gas Tax Increase [HR6211]	Agreed To (54-33)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to authorize $71.2 billion over four years for highway construction and repairs and mass transit, and to increase gasoline and other highway taxes.

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).