Joseph Lieberman

[Congressional biography]

Born: February 24, 1942 in Stamford, CT
Died: March 27, 2024 in New York City, NY

Education:

Elected Office:

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Key Senate Vote Data for Joseph Lieberman in 1995

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Lieberman Voted
1995-03-02	Balanced-Budget Amendment [HJRES1]	Defeated (65-35)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to balance the budget by 2002 or two years after ratification, whichever is later. Three-fifths of the entire House and Senate would be required approve deficit spending or an increase in the public debt limit. A simple majority could waive the requirement in times of war or in the face of a serious military threat. The courts would be prohibited from raising taxes or cutting spending unless specifically authorized by Congress. Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole was credited with a favorable vote on this resolution, because his "No" vote was merely a procedural maneuver designed to allow him to call for a re-vote at a later date, should he garner one more favorable vote for the Balanced Budget Amendment.
1995-03-15	Fiscal 1995 Defense Supplemental Appropriations [HR889]	Rejected (58-39)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Kassebaum (R-KS) amendment to block the implementation of a presidential executive order barring federal contractors from permanently replacing striking workers. The executive order had overturned 60 years of established labor law. Three-fifths of the total Senate, or 60 votes, is required to invoke cloture.
1995-03-23	Line-Item Veto [S4]	Passed (69-29)
Passage of the bill to provide for the separate enrollment of each individual spending item in an appropriation bill, targeted tax breaks in a revenue bill, or new entitlement spending, thus allowing the President to veto each item and require Congress to muster a two-thirds vote of each House to override the veto.
1995-05-10	Product Liability Overhaul [HR956]	Passed (61-37)		No Vote
Passage of the bill to rewrite the rules governing product liability suits in federal and state courts. The legislation caps punitive damage awards against small companies and places new limits on such damage awards against larger companies, thereby reducing consumer costs and increasing product availability. The bill also abolishes so-called joint and several liability for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
1995-05-23	Fiscal 1996 Budget Resolution [SCONRES13]	Rejected (31-69)
Gramm (R-TX) amendment to provide tax cuts similar to those passed by the House, including a $500-per-child tax credit, a reduction in the capital gains tax rate, an expansion of Individual Retirement Accounts, the elimination of the marriage penalty in the tax code, an increased allowance for depreciation by small business, and an increase in the amount exempted from estate taxes.
1995-05-24	Fiscal 1996 Budget Resolution [SCONRES13]	Agreed To (56-44)
Kerry (D-MA) amendment to strike the provisions in the resolution that eliminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund that is supported by a check-off on tax returns. Under current law, major party candidates are supported by taxpayer funds. The Senate GOP budget resolution would have ended that. The Kerry amendment sought to continue taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns.
1995-06-07	Anti-Terrorism [S735]	Rejected (38-61)
Kyl (R-AZ) amendment to prohibit federal habeas corpus appeals in state cases if a state has adequate and effective remedies to test the legality of the individual's detention. The habeas corpus appeal is the most commonly-used legal tactic to delay the implementation of the death penalty against convicted murderers.
1995-06-22	Foster Nomination	Rejected (57-43)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the confirmation of President Clinton's nomination of Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr. of Tennessee to be surgeon general. Three-fifths of the total Senate, or 60 votes, is required to invoke cloture.
1995-07-20	Fiscal 1996 Legislative Branch Appropriations [HR1854]	Rejected (36-61)
Gramm (R-TX) amendment to prohibit money in the bill from being used to award federal contracts based on the race, color, national origin or gender of the contractor.
1995-07-27	Ryan White Reauthorization [S641]	Agreed To (76-23)
Kassebaum (R-KS) amendment to prohibit funds from being used to directly promote or encourage intravenous drug use or sexual activity and to clarify that funding is allowed for medical treatment and support services for individuals infected with HIV. The Kassebaum amendment gutted the tougher Helms amendment, which had passed earlier, and would have prevented funds from being used directly or indirectly to promote homosexuality or drug usage. The Helms amendment defined "promote" broadly; the Kassebaum amendment contained no such definition.
1995-08-03	Fiscal 1996 Defense Authorization [S1026]	Agreed To (51-48)
Thurmond (R-SC) motion to table (kill) the Dorgan (D-ND) amendment to cut $300 million from the $671.5 million provided by the bill to fund an anti-missile defense program designed to protect U.S. territory.
1995-09-11	Welfare Overhaul [HR4]	Rejected (32-66)
Helms (R-NC) amendment to require most able-bodied, non-elderly food stamp recipients to work 40 hours during each four-week period.
1995-09-21	Fiscal 1996 Foreign Operations Appropriations [HR1868]	Rejected (43-57)
Helms (R-NC) amendment to prohibit money in the bill for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), unless the President certifies that the UNFPA has terminated all activites in China or no coercive abortions have taken place as the result of policies of the Chinese government.
1995-09-21	Fiscal 1996 Foreign Operations Appropriations [HR1868]	Failed (43-57)
Leahy (D-VT) motion to table (kill) the Helms (R-NC) amendment to require the President to submit within six months a plan to cut $3 billion over four years by abolishing two of the three foreign affairs agencies (The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Information Agency). Under the amendment, the plan goes into effect 60 days after submission unless disapproved by Congress, and if the President fails to submit a plan, all three agencies would be abolished as of March 1, 1997. Subsequently, the Helms amendment was withdrawn.
1995-09-26	Fiscal 1996 VA-HUD Appropriations [HR2099]	Rejected (47-52)
Mikulski (D-MD) amendment to provide $426.5 million for the Corporation for National Service that oversees the AmeriCorps program, which pays so-called "volunteers" to engage in community service and earn stipends for college. The amendment offsets the increase by reducing funding for assisted housing. The bill would terminate the National Service program.
1995-09-29	Fiscal 1996 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations [HR2076]	Failed (39-60)
Gramm (R-TX) motion to table (kill) the Domenici (R-NM) amendment to preserve the Legal Services Corporation, a federal legal assistance service for the poor, by providing the corporation with $340 million, a $130 million increase over the $210 million block grant program established by the bill to provide money directly to the states to run their own legal aid programs for the poor.
1995-09-29	Fiscal 1996 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations [HR2076]	Agreed To (49-41)		No Vote
Kohl (D-WI) amendment to add $80 million for social crime prevention programs and offset the cost by cutting FBI funding by an equal amount.
1995-11-09	Fiscal 1996 Continuing Resolution [HJRES115]	Agreed To (49-47)
Craig (R-ID) substitute amendment to the Simpson (R-WY) amendment to the Campbell (R-CO) amendment. The Craig amendment would bar large organizations that receive federal grants from spending more than $1 million of the first $17 million of their budget on lobbying activity. One percent of their budget over $17 million could also be spent. The Simpson amendment would also prohibit large (so-called 501(c)(4) nonprofits) nonprofit lobbying organizations from receiving federal grants and would require all federal grant recipients other than individuals who receive more than $25,000 to report their lobbying costs. The Campbell amendment would strike all language in the bill that prohibits federal grants to some organizations that lobby the federal government.
1995-11-17	Fiscal 1996 Budget-Reconciliation [HR2491]	Agreed To (52-47)
Motion to recede and concur in the conference agreement to the bill eliminating provisions with a further amendment to strike provisions, favored by doctors, that would relax antitrust rules for provider service networks and exempt physician office laboratories from the 1988 amendments to the Clinical Lab Improvement Act. The conference agreement would reduce projected spending by $894 billion and taxes by $245 billion over seven years to provide for a balanced budget by fiscal 2002. Over seven years, the conference report would reduce projected spending on Medicare by $270 billion, Medicaid by $163 billion, welfare programs by $82 billion, the earned-income tax credit by $32 billion, agriculture programs by $12 billion and federal employee retirement programs by $10 billion. The bill would grant a $500 per-child tax credit for families with incomes up to $110,000, reduce taxes on capital gains income, and expand eligibility for Individual Retirement Accounts. The bill would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska; impose royalties for hardrock mining on federal lands; cap the federal direct student loan program; and increase the federal debt limit from $4.9 trillion to $5.5 trillion.
1995-12-07	Abortion Procedures [HR1833]	Passed (54-44)
Passage of the bill to impose penalties on doctors who perform certain late-term abortions, in which the person performing the abortion procedure partially delivers the fetus before completing the abortion.
1995-12-12	Flag Desecration [SJRES31]	Defeated (63-36)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to grant Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. flag. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required to pass a constitutional amendment.
1995-12-13	Bosnia Troop Deployment [HR2606]	Defeated (22-77)
Passage of the bill to prohibit the use of federal money for the deployment of U.S. ground troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of any peacekeeping operations unless specifically appropriated by Congress.

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).