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 1990

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Bentsen Voted
1990-02-28	National and Community Service Act [S1430]	Rejected (48-50)
Gramm (R-TX) amendment to state the sense of the Senate that any savings from the "peace dividend" should be used to meet Gramm-Rudman deficit targets (without relying on the Social Security trust fund surplus) or be returned to taxpayers in the form of a refundable child-care tax credit. Also included in the amendement is a repeal of the Social Security earnings test, an increase in the personal exemption, expansion of a permanent research and development tax deduction, a long-term capital gains tax cut, lowering of marginal tax rates, and other savings and investment incentives.
1990-03-01	National and Community Service Act [S1430]	Failed (47-50)
Armstrong (R-CO) motion to table (kill) the Kennedy (D-MA) amendment that prohibits organizations in the District of Columbia from barring any homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual who has been convicted of or charged with a sexual offense involving a minor from coaching, teaching or serving as a role model to minors. Under the Kennedy amendment, a volunteer also could not be barred, based on his or her sexual orientation, from serving as coach, teacher or mentor to a minor even if a parent or guardian of the minor objects to his or her participation.
1990-05-10	Hatch Act Revisions [HR20]	Passed (67-30)
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.
1990-05-23	Omnibus Crime Package [S1970]	Rejected (48-52)
Hatch (R-UT) amendment to remove from the Omnibus Crime Bill a provision prohibiting for three years the making, selling and possessing of nine types of semi-automatic "assault style" weapons.
1990-05-24	Omnibus Crime Package [S1970]	Agreed To (58-38)
Graham (D-FL) amendment to strike provisions in the Omnibus Crime Bill that would have effectively nullified all state and federal death penalty statutes. The provisions the Graham amendment deleted would have restricted the imposition of the death penalty by allowing a defendant to present statistical "evidence" to a court implying that the death penalty had been previously imposed in that jurisdiction in a racially disproportionate manner.
1990-06-06	Americans With Disabilites Act [S933]	Failed (40-53)
Mitchell (D-ME) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) motion to instruct the Senate conferees to agree with the House in allowing 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".
1990-06-21	Housing Programs [S566]	Agreed To (59-39)
Cranston (D-CA) motion to table (kill) the Chafee (R-RI) amendment to exempt projects of less than $1 million from the Davis-Bacon Act which sets wage standards for federal contracts. The Chafee amendment would exempt low cost, low-income housing projects from current Davis-Bacon regulations that obstruct and raise the cost of construction and renovation.
1990-06-26	Constitutional Amendment on the Flag [SJRES332]	Defeated (58-42)
A joint resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag. A two-thirds majority (67 in this case) of both houses was needed to pass the joint resolution.
1990-07-27	Farm Programs Reauthorization [S2830]	Agreed To (64-32)
Helms (R-NC) amendment to prohibit U.S. financial institutions, whose deposits are insured by the American taxpayer, from giving Soviet farmers an unfair advantage by offering them credit at significantly lower interest rates than they offer to American farmers.
1990-07-30	Campaign Finance Overhaul [S137]	Rejected (46-49)
McConnell (R-KY) amendment to eliminate from the Campaign Reform legislation a provision to use taxpayer money to fund Senate election campaigns.
1990-08-02	Fiscal 1991 Defense Authorization [S2884]	Rejected (43-56)
Leahy (D-VT) amendment to cancel $2.75 billion in procurement and advanced procurement funds for the B-2 stealth bomber in fiscal 1991; stop construction on all B-2s aside from the six that will be used for flight testing only; and use $3 billion in unobligated funds for termination costs.
1990-08-03	Fiscal 1991 Defense Authorization [S2884]	Rejected (43-54)
Bumpers (D-AR) amendment to bar closure of any domestic military base in FY 1991 and require any future closures to be proposed as part of a long-term plan. The amendment highlights inconsistencies in liberal policy by attempting to thwart efforts to realistically lower the defense budget while liberal legislators continue to demand cuts in defense appropriations.
1990-08-04	Fiscal 1991 Defense Authorization [S2884]	Agreed To (55-43)
Bingaman (D-NM) and Shelby (D-AL) amendment to change priorities within the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), reducing funds for the so-called "brilliant pebbles" program of space-based interceptor missiles while increasing funds for research on ground-based antimissile systems and long-term technologies. The amendment was an attempt by liberal senators who oppose defending America to preclude any possible near-term deployment of strategic defenses.
1990-09-25	Title X Family Planning Amendments [S110]	Rejected (34-58)		No Vote
Hatch (R-UT) substitute amendment to make Title X of the Public Health Service Act of 1970 a state block grant program, and to exclude private nonprofit organizations such as Planned Parenthood, which perform abortions, from receiving direct federal funding under Title X.
1990-10-02	Souter Nomination	Confirmed (90-9)
Confirmation of President Bush's nomination of David H. Souter of New Hampshire to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1990-10-12	Fiscal 1991 Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations [HR5257]	Passed (76-15)
A bill to appropriate $183,334,110,000 for the departments or Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and related agencies in fiscal 1991, and, in some cases, for subsequent years. This is more than $11.5 billion over what the President requested.
1990-10-19	Fiscal 1991 Budget Reconciliation [HR5835]	Passed (54-46)
The bill containing the modified reconciliation of the Mitchell-Darman budget package to set binding budget levels for FY91. The agreement, a result of the Administration's budget "summit," modestly restricts the growth of spending of some entitlement programs, imposes caps on appropriations for defense, international affairs, and discretionary domestic spending programs, and institutes the largest tax and public fees increase in the history of the United States. The budget agreement was rejected once in the House before the modified second version was passed.
1990-10-19	Fiscal 1991 Foreign Operations Appropriations [HR5114]	Agreed To (74-25)
Leahy (D-VT) amendment to reduce military aid to the government of El Salvador by 50% and link future aid to human rights and progress toward a negotiated peace settlement with the Communist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). The amendment fails to recognize the important role U.S. aid to El Salvador plays in negotiations with the FMLN for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
1990-10-24	Civil Rights Act of 1990 [S2104]	Veto Sustained (66-34)
Passage, over President Bush's Oct. 22 veto, of the Civil Rights Act of 1990 to reverse or modify recent Supreme Court decisions that have reestablished more reasonable standards of proof in discrimination cases. The bill would have shifted the burden of proof onto the accused and effectively forced businesses to adopt quota hiring policies to prevent endless litigation. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting (67 in this case) was required to override the veto.
1990-10-24	Fiscal 1991 Interior Appropriations [HR5769]	Rejected (29-70)
Helms (R-NC) amendment to the committee amendment, to prohibit the National Endowment for the Arts from using federal funds to promote, distribute, disseminate or produce materials that depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual or excretory activities or organs.
1990-10-27	Clean Air Act Reauthorization [S1630]	Agreed To (89-10)
Adoption of the conference report to amend the Clean Air Act that vastly expands excessive and counterproductive federal regulations dealing with auto, manufacturing and utility emissions. The Act would 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 onerous costs and regulations on society.

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).