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 1989

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Bentsen Voted
1989-02-28	Senate Committee Funding [SRES66]	Agreed To (50-47)
Ford (D-KY) motion to table (kill) the Wilson (R-CA) amendment to the Senate Committee Funding Resolution. The Wilson amendment would have set a spending cap on the free mailing privileges (the use of the "frank") enjoyed by senators.
1989-03-09	Tower Nomination	Rejected (47-53)
Confirmation of President Bush's nomination of John Tower of Texas to be Secretary of Defense.
1989-04-12	Minimum-Wage Increase [S4]	Agreed To (61-38)
Mitchell (D-ME) motion to table (kill) the Nickles (R-OK) amendment to provide that the Davis-Bacon Act -- which sets wage standards for federal contracts -- apply only to contractors and subcontractors whose annual gross income is more than $500,000.
1989-04-13	Contra Aid [S760]	Agreed To (73-25)
Leahy (D-VT) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to allow the provision of fuel and aircraft spare parts under the category of humanitarian aid to the Nicaraguan democratic resistance, and to state Congress' intention to consider providing up to $50 million in military aid to the Contras at an "appropriate" time after Feb. 28, 1990.
1989-05-17	Minimum-Wage Increase [HR2]	Agreed To (63-37)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to raise the minimum wage from $3.35 an hour to $4.55 over three years, and to provide for a 60-day training wage -- equal to 85 percent of the minimum -- for workers who have not worked a total of 60 days.
1989-06-22	Child Care [S5]	Agreed To (63-37)
Mitchell (D-ME) substitute to authorize $1.75 billion in child-care subsidies to parents and day-care providers; to require states to set standards for child care; to increase the dependent child-care tax credit and make it refundable; to create a new tax credit for health-insurance premiums paid to cover a worker's children; to make permanent the 3 percent telephone excise tax; and to revamp Section 89 of the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits discrimination in employee benefits.
1989-07-20	Fiscal 1990 State Department Authorization [S1160]	Agreed To (59-39)
Robb (D-VA) substitute for the Murkowski (R-AK) amendment, to allow the President to seek authorization for military aid for the anti-Communist resistance forces in Cambodia. The Murkowski amendment does not provide for the possibility of military aid for the resistance forces.
1989-08-01	Fiscal 1990 National Defense Authorization [S1352]	Agreed To (61-39)
Exon (D-NE) motion to table (kill) the Levin (D-MI) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Levin amendment would have reduced research and development authorizations for the MX missile rail garrison program by $502 million.
1989-08-02	Fiscal 1990 National Defense Authorization [S1352]	Agreed To (53-44)
Nunn (D-GA) motion to table (kill) the Bond (R-MO) amendment providing $100 million for deployment of an Accidental Launch Protection System (ALPS), a ground-based missile defense system.
1989-09-07	Disabled Anti-Discrimination [S933]	Passed (76-8)		No Vote
Passage of the bill to bar discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public services, public accommodations, transportation and telephone communication. This would vastly expand the federal government's role in regulating and determining discrimination in the workplace. In the name of protecting the disabled from discrimination, the bill would effectively force businesses to hire some persons who are fundamentally unfit to hold a job, including recovered drug addicts, psychotics and AIDS carriers.
1989-09-19	Fiscal 1990 VA, HUD Appropriations [HR2916]	Agreed To (58-42)
Mikulski (D-MD) motion to table (kill) the Nickles (R-OK) amendment to allow contractors building or repairing federally subsidized homes or shelters to hire tenants and homeless people, and to pay them less than required by prevailing-wage laws and regulations, including the Davis-Bacon Act. The Nickles amendment would have provided training and skills for public-housing tenants who are unemployed or on welfare by exempting them from federal regulations that obstruct or raise the cost of construction and renovation.
1989-09-20	Fiscal 1990 Foreign Aid Appropriations [HR2939]	Agreed To (74-24)
Leahy (D-VT) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. The Helms amendment would ensure that funds provided by the Act benefit the private sector in Poland and Hungary, and would prohibit any assistance to enterprises controlled by the Communist Party.
1989-09-21	Fiscal 1990 Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations [HR2990]	Failed (13-85)
Cranston (D-CA) motion to table (kill) the Humphrey (R-NH) amendment to the Appropriations Committee amendment, to bar funding for the production or distribution of materials for schoolchildren that promote or encourage homosexuality, or use words stating that homosexuality is normal, or natural, or healthy.
1989-09-28	Fiscal 1990 Defense Appropriations [HR3072]	Agreed To (53-47)
Stevens (R-AK) amendment to increase to $4.3 billion the amount authorized for the Defense Department share of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
1989-09-29	Fiscal 1990 Defense Appropriations [HR3072]	Agreed To (62-35)		No Vote
Mitchell (D-ME) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to instruct the Senate conferees on the fiscal 1990 Interior Department appropriations bill to insist on a Senate-passed provision barring the use of federal funds for obscene or indecent "art" work.
1989-10-05	Omnibus Drug Bill [S1711]	Agreed To (74-25)
Nunn (D-GA) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to authorize the President to use U.S. military forces to oust Panamanian dictator Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega.
1989-10-26	Death Penalty for Terrorists [S1798]	Passed (79-20)
Specter (R-PA) bill to authorize the imposition of the death penalty for persons found guilty of terrorist murders of U.S. citizens abroad.
1989-11-01	Fiscal 1990 Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations [HR2991]	Agreed To (53-45)
Hollings (D-SC) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to impose sanctions against China for its suppression of pro-democracy forces. The Helms amendment was a protest against the June massacre of pro-democracy forces in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
1989-11-02	Military Retired Pay Protection [S1816]	Passed (78-17)
Helms (R-NC) bill to overturn a legal ruling which would deprive Lt. Col. Oliver North of his Marine Corps retirement pay.
1989-11-09	Fiscal 1990 Transportation Appropriations [HR3015]	Rejected (40-51)		No Vote
Coats (R-IN) motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act to let the Senate consider, without a referral to the Budget Committee, the Coats amendment to provide that presidential rescission of appropriations go into effect unless specifically disapproved by Congress. This would effectively provide the President with a legislative line item veto on appropriations measures.
1989-11-15	Capital Gains Tax Cut [HR3628]	Rejected (51-47)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Packwood (R-OR) substitute amendment to exclude capital gains from taxable income in the amount of 5 percent for each full year an asset is held (to a maximum of 35 percent) and to make Individual Retirement Accounts available to all taxpayers with varying tax benefits.
1989-11-15	Fiscal 1990 Foreign Operations Appropriations [HR2939]	Agreed To (52-44)
Leahy (D-VT) motion that the Senate disagree to the House amendment to the Senate amendment, to prohibit any U.S. contribution to the U.N. Population Fund unless the President certifies to Congress that the fund does not provide support for nor participate in the management of a program of coercive abortions or involuntary sterilizations in China. A vote for this motion was a vote in support of a $15 million contribution to the U.N. fund.
1989-11-17	Government Pay-and-Ethics Package [HR3660]	Agreed To (65-34)
Mitchell (D-ME) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment which would strike the congressional pay raise and restore the system of honoraria phased out by the pay raise legislation.

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).