Ralph Hall

[Congressional biography]

Born: May 3, 1923 in Fate, TX
Died: March 7, 2019 in Rockwall, TX

Military Service:

Elected Office:

Other notes:

Key House Vote Data for Ralph Hall in 1990

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Hall Voted
1990-02-06	Voter Registration [HR2190]	Passed (289-132)
The so-called "Motor Voter" bill, to automatically register to vote anyone applying for, renewing, or changing an address on a driver's license. Had it become law, the bill would have greatly increased the possibility of voter fraud.
1990-03-28	Department of Environmental Protection [HR3847]	Passed (371-55)
Passage of the bill to elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet-level by renaming it the Department of Environmental Protection; restrict the contracting out of "inherently governmental" functions; authorize a National Academy of Sciences study; and establish specific departmental offices, including an independent Bureau of Environmental Statistics and a Commission on Improving Environmental Protection. The result is an addition of one more level of waste and bureaucracy to the federal government.
1990-03-29	Child Care [HR3]	Rejected (195-225)
Stenholm (D-TX) substitute amendment to provide expanded funding for Head Start and for the Social Services Block Grant program and to increase the existing earned income tax credit for poor working families with children. The Stenholm substitute would generally provide smaller increases than were included in the Democratic leadership bill to require states to impose child-care standards in certain areas and to authorize a new school-based program for before and after-school care. The Democrats' bill would overly regulate and license existing child-care arrangements, including requiring the licensing of grandmothers providing child care.
1990-05-01	Fiscal 1991 Budget Resolution [HCONRES310]	Rejected (90-334)
Dellums (D-CA) substitute amendment to slash defense funding by $56.4 billion in authority and $27.4 billion in outlays from the current inflation-adjusted level, and reallocating the funds to domestic programs.
1990-05-10	Parental and Medical Leave Act [HR770]	Passed (237-187)
A bill to force public and private employers to give employees unpaid leave to care for a new child or a sick child, parent, or spouse, or to use as medical leave due to a serious health condition. On top of the onerous cost to small businesses, the unintended effect of the bill is to reduce employment opportunities for young married women.
1990-05-17	Americans With Disabilities Act [HR2273]	Agreed To (199-187)
Chapman (D-TX) amendment to allow employers to move an employee with a communicable disease (including AIDS) out of a food-handling position, provided that the employer offers an alternative position in which the employee would sustain no economic damage. This amendment would allow common-sense employee transfers without being subjected to charges of "discrimination".
1990-05-22	Fiscal 1990 Foreign Aid Supplemental Appropriations [HR4636]	Agreed To (250-162)
Moakley (D-MA) amendment to suspend 50 percent of El Salvador's military aid planned for fiscal years 1990 and 1991, depending on actions by the Salvadoran government or by the leftist guerrillas. The amendment would link future aid to human rights and progress towards a negotiated peace settlement with the Communist FMLN. It fails to recognize the important role that U.S. aid to El Salvador plays in negotiations with the FMLN for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
1990-05-23	Clean Air Act Reauthorization [HR3030]	Passed (401-21)
Passage of the bill to amend the Clean Air Act to attain and maintain national ambient air quality standards, require reductions of emissions in motor vehicles, control toxic air pollutants, reduce acid rain, establish a system of federal permits and enforcement, and otherwise improve the quality of the nation's air. The Act could throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work for the sake of marginally reducing emissions, increase utility costs for consumers, increase the price of gasoline, reduce American competitiveness and put other burdensome costs and regulations on society.
1990-05-24	Fiscal 1990 Supplemental Appropriations [HR4404]	Agreed To (246-160)
Whitten (D-MS) motion that the House recede from its disagreement with a Senate amendment to procure a fish farming laboratory in Arkansas. Approval was necessary to allow the House to consider an amendment to provide $6 million to procure a fish and wildlife refuge in central Iowa.
1990-06-06	Export Administration Act Reauthorization [HR4653]	Rejected (90-304)
Hunter (R-CA) amendment to prohibit the export of machine tools to the Soviet Union. High technology American machine tools give the Soviets the capabilities to outmaneuver our defense systems and to further develop their offensive military systems.
1990-06-12	Hatch Act Revisions [HR20]	Agreed To (334-87)
Ford (D-MI) motion to suspend the rules and vote on a bill to overhaul the 1939 Hatch Act which bars federal employees from engaging in political activities. Under the new law, federal employees (even including IRS agents) would be able to campaign, raise funds and run for partisan elected office. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting (281 in this case) was required for passage under suspension of the rules.
1990-06-21	Flag Protection Act [HJRES350]	Failed (254-177)		No Vote
Brooks (D-TX) motion to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting (288 in this case) was required for passage under suspension of the rules.
1990-07-17	Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment [HJRES268]	Failed (279-150)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution to require a balanced budget, mandating that federal outlays not exceed estimated receipts in any fiscal year unless Congress approved a specific excess expenditure by a three-fifths vote. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting (286 in this case) was required for passage of a joint resolution.
1990-07-26	Frank Reprimand [HRES440]	Failed (141-287)
Gingrich (R-GA) motion to recommit the resolution to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct with instructions to report back a recommendation of censure instead of reprimand. Congressman Frank was guilty of improperly using his political influence and abusing his congressional authority. He put misleading statements favorable to his personal assistant, Stephen Gobie, in a memorandum concerning Gobie's promotion, and had 33 D.C. parking tickets dismissed that were not incurred on official House business.
1990-08-03	Civil Rights Act of 1990 [HR4000]	Passed (272-154)		No Vote
Passage of the bill to reverse or modify six recent Supreme Court decisions that narrowed the reach and remedies of job discrimination laws and to authorize monetary damages under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Court decisions had established more reasonable standards of proof in discrimination cases. This bill will shift the burden of proof onto the accused, require employers to keep track of their employee's religions, and effectively force businesses to adopt quota hiring policies to prevent endless litigation.
1990-09-18	Fiscal 1991 Defense Authorization [HR4739]	Rejected (83-338)
Dornan (R-CA) amendment to increase funding for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) by $1.3 billion to $4.2 billion by proportionally reducing all other defense accounts in the bill and adding the reductions to the SDI account.
1990-09-18	Fiscal 1991 Defense Authorization [HR4739]	Agreed To (225-189)
Bennett (D-FL) amendment to slash $600 million of SDI spending. The amendment was an attempt by liberal Congressmen to move away from strategic defense programs with near-term deployment capabilities.
1990-10-04	Fiscal 1991 Budget Resolution [HCONRES310]	Failed (179-253)
Adoption of the conference report on the bill to set binding budget levels for fiscal 1991: budget authority, $1.49 trillion; outlays, $1.24 trillion; revenues, $1.73 billion; deficit, $64 billion, by incorporating the spending and revenue targets announced Sept. 30 by the budget "summit". This bill would have modestly restricted the growth of spending in some entitlement programs, while instituting the largest tax and public fees increase in the the history of the United States.
1990-10-05	Crime Bill [HR5269]	Rejected (204-215)
Sensenbrenner (R-WI) amendment to strike provisions in the Omnibus Crime Bill that would have effectively nullified all state and federal death penalty statutes. The provisions the Sensenbrenner amendment would have deleted prohibit the execution of death row prisoners who claim that evidence demonstrates that the death penalty had been previously imposed in that jurisdiction in a racially disproportionate manner.
1990-10-11	Fiscal 1991-95 NEA Authorization [HR4825]	Rejected (175-248)
Rohrabacher (R-CA) amendment to prohibit the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) from funding child pornography; obscenity or material prohibited from broadcast under Federal Communications Commission definitions of indecency; works denigrating the beliefs or objects of a religion; works denigrating an individual on the basis of race, sex, handicap or national origin; works desecrating the U.S. flag; or works that contain any part of a human embryo or fetus.
1990-10-16	Fiscal 1991 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act [HR5835]	Passed (226-203)
Passage of the bill containing the modified budget reconciliation agreement to set binding budget levels for Fiscal Year 1991. This second budget includes even higher tax increases and fewer spending cuts than the first.
1990-10-17	Fiscal 1991 Intelligence Appropriations [HR5422]	Agreed To (207-206)
Separate vote at the request of Hyde (R-IL), on the Solarz (D-NY) amendment to suspend military aid to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) -- a rebel group fighting the Marxist Angolan government -- if the government of Angola agrees to accept a cease-fire and a political settlement for the conflict in Angola and offers free and fair multiparty elections in which UNITA is free to participate. Before being adopted, the amendment was amended by Miller (R-WA), to prohibit the Angolan government from receiving military aid from the Soviet Union.

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).