Lloyd Bentsen

[Congressional biography]

Born: February 11, 1921 in Mission, TX
Died: May 23, 2006 in Houston, TX

Education:

Military Service:

Career:

Elected Office:

Other notes:

Key Senate Vote Data for Lloyd Bentsen in 1992

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Bentsen Voted
1992-01-23	Elementary and Secondary Education [S2]	Rejected (38-55)
Helms (R-NC) amendment to the Pressler (R-SD) amendment, to express the sense of the Senate that the Supreme Court should reverse its earlier rulings prohibiting voluntary school prayer.
1992-01-23	Elementary and Secondary Education [S2]	Rejected (36-57)
Hatch (R-UT) amendment to authorize $30 million for six demonstration projects to provide low-income parents with money to pay for enrolling their child at the public or private school of their choice, including religious schools.
1992-02-27	National Cooperative Research [S479]	Rejected (44-54)
McCain (R-AZ) motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to the Sasser (D-TN) point of order against the McCain amendment to give the President the power to veto appropriated funds by line item. Subsequently, the Sasser point of order was upheld and the McCain amendment fell.
1992-03-13	1992 Tax Bill [HR4210]	Rejected (36-61)
Kasten (R-WI) motion to waive the budget act with respect to the Bentsen (D-TX) point of order against the Kasten amendment for reducing revenue below the level set by the budget resolution. The Kasten amendment would strike tax increases, freeze discretionary spending and cut defense to levels in the President's budget. Subsequently, the Bentsen point of order was upheld and the Kasten amendment fell.
1992-03-26	Eliminate Budget Fire Walls [S2399]	Rejected (50-48)
Mitchell (D-ME) motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the motion to proceed to the bill to modify the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act to knock down the walls that prohibit the shifting of funds between defense and domestic appropriations.
1992-04-30	Campaign Finance [S3]	Agreed To (58-42)
Adoption of the conference report to limit spending in congressional campaigns by providing incentives to candidates to agree to voluntary spending limits, restricting money that candidates can accept from political action committees (PACs) and restricting "soft money" raised and spent by state parties in federal elections.
1992-05-21	Fiscal 1992 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations [HR5132]	Rejected (36-63)		No Vote
Nickles (R-OK) amendment to waive the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act, which sets wage standards for federal contracts, with respect to any construction or repair project which receives funding under the bill. These regulations will force federal contractors in the Florida hurricane and Los Angeles riot areas to pay high union wages and decrease money actually available for disaster relief.
1992-06-03	Corporation for Public Broadcasting Authorization [S1504]	Rejected (22-75)
Lott (R-MS) amendment to freeze funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by providing an authorization of $275 million in each of fiscal 1994, 1995 and 1996, instead of the $310 million in 1994, $375 million in 1995 and $425 million in 1996 as provided in the bill.
1992-06-16	Striker Replacement [S55]	Rejected (57-42)
Mitchell (D-ME) motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the committee substitute to forbid employers from hiring permanent replacements for striking workers but allow employers to replace strikers if the employers agreed to accept a third-party mediation panel's recommendations and the workers rejected the recommendations.
1992-06-30	Government-Sponsored Enterprises [S2733]	Rejected (33-63)
Kasten (R-WI) amendment to the Seymour (R-CA) amendment, to require a three-fifths majority vote of Congress to raise taxes beyond the rate of growth of national income.
1992-06-30	Government-Sponsored Enterprises [S2733]	Rejected (56-39)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Seymour (R-CA) amendment to propose a constitutional amendment limiting deficit spending and requiring a balanced budget.
1992-07-30	Fiscal 1993 District of Columbia Appropriations [HR5517]	Failed (41-51)
Adams (D-WA) motion to table (kill) the Lott (R-MS) amendment to prohibit the District of Columbia from using any funds in the bill to extend employment, health or governmental benefits to homosexual or unmarried heterosexual couples on the same basis that such benefits are extended to legally married couples.
1992-08-06	Fiscal 1993 Interior Appropriations [HR5503]	Agreed To (60-35)
Adams (D-WA) motion to table (kill) the Gorton (R-WA) amendment to allow salvage timber sales in the northern spotted owl's habitat unless such salvage adversely affected the spotted owl's habitat as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
1992-08-07	Voting Rights Language Assistance [HR4312]	Passed (75-20)
Passage of the bill to extend for 15 years through 2007 the provisions of law that require certain language minority populations to be provided with language assistance to effectively participate in the electoral process.
1992-08-12	Urban Aid and Tax Bill [HR11]	Rejected (37-57)
Mack (R-FL) motion to waive the budget act with respect to the Bentsen (D-TX) point of order against the Mack amendment for violating budget law provisions that prohibit consideration of legislation that would result in revenue falling below the revenue floor contained in the most recent budget resolution. The Mack amendment would have provided for a maximum long-term capital gains rate of 15 percent, among other things.
1992-09-10	Product Liability [S640]	Rejected (58-38)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the motion to proceed to the bill to reduce lawsuits involving products that cause injuries to consumers by establishing nationwide standards on how victims should be compensated. This bill would provide incentives to avoid litigation.
1992-09-17	Fiscal 1993 Defense Authorization [S3114]	Rejected (48-50)
Bumpers (D-AR) amendment to provide $3.3 billion for the Strategic Defense Initiative in fiscal 1993. The committee bill would provide $4.3 billion; the administration requested $5.4 billion.
1992-09-18	Fiscal 1993 Defense Authorization [S3114]	Agreed To (55-40)
Hatfield (R-OR) amendment to the Cohen (R-ME) amendment. The Hatfield amendment imposed a nine-month moratorium on nuclear testing until July 1, 1993; allowed limited testing between July 1, 1993, and Jan. 1, 1997; required reports to Congress on the remaining weapons in the U.S. stockpile, proposed safety improvements and tests, and plans for a comprehensive test ban by Sept. 30, 1996; and, contingent upon certain factors, prohibited nuclear tests after Sept. 30, 1996, unless a foreign state conducted a test. The Cohen amendment imposed a three-month moratorium, allowed limited testing until 1998, and then imposed a test ban in 1998, with the proviso that the President could waive that ban for one year in order to negotiate a comprehensive test ban.
1992-09-22	National Motor-Voter Registration [S250]	Veto Sustained (62-38)
Passage, over President Bush's July 2 veto, of the bill to require states to permit voter registration simultaneously with applying for public certificates such as a driver's license, marriage license or hunting permit.
1992-09-22	Fiscal 1993 Defense Appropriations [HR5504]	Rejected (49-49)
Helms (R-NC) amendment to require the Office of Personnel and Management to exclude from the Combined Federal Campaign, which collected and disbursed donations from federal employees to charities, any charity that withdrew support for the Boy Scouts of American because that organization disagreed with the Boy Scouts' admission policy barring homosexuals or atheists.
1992-09-24	Family and Medical Leave [S5]	Veto Overridden (68-31)
Passage, over President Bush's Sept. 22 veto, of the bill to require employers with more than 50 employees to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies.
1992-09-29	Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty [TREATYDOC102-20AND22]	Rejected (16-83)
Wallop (R-WY) amendment to require the President to certify that all [Russian] intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with multiple warheads and all launchers were eliminated.
1992-10-01	Family Planning Amendments [S323]	Veto Overridden (73-26)
Passage, over President Bush's veto Sept. 25, of the bill to reauthorize Title X of the Public Health Service Act through fiscal 1997. The bill overturned the administration's "gag rule" and thus allowed abortion counseling at federally funded clinics. This would allow taxpayer-funded clinics to promote abortions.
1992-10-02	Crime Bill [HR3371]	Rejected (55-43)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the conference report to mandate a five-day waiting period and a background check for handgun purchases; authorize $3.3 billion for federal, state and local law enforcement; codify the "good-faith" exception to the exclusionary rule; extend the federal death penalty to 53 crimes; and limit federal death row habeas corpus appeals to ones filed within one year from when a petitioner had exhausted all direct appeals. In addition to making law-abiding citizens wait to purchase handguns, this bill would weaken existing laws regarding federal death row appeals.
1992-10-05	Cable Television Reregulation [S12]	Veto Overridden (74-25)
Passage, over President Bush's Oct. 3 veto, of the bill to cap basic cable rates and improve competition in the cable industry by having the FCC set rates for basic cable service and giving broadcasters the right to charge cable operators for the use of over-the-air signals.

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).