| Date | Subject | Result | Conserv. Position | Emerson Voted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-01-31 | Fiscal 1996 District of Columbia Appropriations [HR2546] | Failed (180-232) |
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| Dixon (D-CA) motion to recommit to the conference committee the conference report on the bill, with instructions to delete the bill's provisions concerning scholarships for low-income students. | |||||
| 1996-03-07 | Fiscal 1996 Omnibus Appropriations [HR3019] | Agreed To (211-209) |
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| Istook (R-OK) amendment to require private groups that receive federal grants to report the total amount they spend on lobbying the federal government or any state or local government, on advocating the defeat or election of any candidate for public office, or on advocating the defeat or passage of any ballot proposition. The amendment exempts individuals and state, local and tribal governments. The amendment would ensure that taxpayer funds are not used for lobbying or electioneering activities. | |||||
| 1996-03-12 | State Department Authorization [HR1561] | Agreed To (226-172) |
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| Adoption of the conference report on the bill to require the President to abolish one of three international affairs agencies (the Agency for International Development, the U.S. Information Agency or the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency) and to shift its activites to the State Department. The measure would authorize $6.5 billion for fiscal 1996 and $6.5 billion for fiscal 1997 for the State Department, related agencies, and various foreign aid programs. The legislation also would ban funding for the forced repatriation of Indochinese boat people and grant political asylum to refugees fleeing countries with coercive population regimes, like China. | |||||
| 1996-03-14 | Anti-Terrorism and Death Penalty Enforcement [HR2703] | Rejected (135-283) |
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| Watt (D-NC) amendment to strike the bill's habeas corpus provisions that place strict limits on the ability of state death-row and other prisoners to challenge in federal court the constitutionality of their sentence. | |||||
| 1996-03-22 | Assault Weapons Ban Repeal [HR125] | Passed (239-173) |
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| Passage of the bill to repeal the ban on certain semiautomatic so-called "assualt"-style weapons and eliminate the prohibition on selling or manufacturing such guns. The bill also repeals the ban on large-capacity ammunition feeding devices and any combination of parts that could be assembled into a large-capacity ammunition feeding device; requires mandatory minimum prison sentences for committing violent crimes with certain firearms and increases penalties for subsequent offenses; and directs the Justice Department to set up a program enhancing prosecution of violent criminals who use firearms. | |||||
| 1996-03-29 | Product Liability [HR956] | Agreed To (259-158) |
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| Adoption of the conference report to limit punitive damages in product liability cases to two times compensatory damages or $250,000, whichever is greater, with lower limits for small businesses. Under the bill, a plaintiff could bring a lawsuit up to two years after discovering both the cause and the injury itself. The bill would limit the time to file a suit to 15 years after the delivery of a product, but the limit would apply only to some types of products. The bill also would abolish joint-and-several liability for non-economic damages. | |||||
| 1996-04-15 | Tax Limitation Constitutional Amendment [HJRES159] | Defeated (243-177) |
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| Passage of the joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate in order to raise taxes. Congress would be able to waive this supermajority requirement to pass a tax increase during a period of declared war between the United States and another country or when Congress and the President enact a joint resolution stating that the United States is engaged in a military conflict that threatens national security. | |||||
| 1996-05-16 | Fiscal 1997 Budget Resolution [HCONRES178] | Agreed To (225-195) |
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| Adoption of the concurrent resolution to adopt a six-year budget plan that would balance the budget by 2002 by cutting projected spending by $714 billion and cutting taxes by $124 billion, for a net deficit reduction of $592 billion. Projected spending cuts woild come from reductions of $158 billion to Medicare, $72 billion to Medicaid, and $311 billion to discretionary spending. The resolution also calls for the elimination of the Commerce and Energy Departments and more than 130 programs, including the Goals 2000 school reform program, the AmeriCorps national service program, and the Legal Services Corporation. The resolution set binding budget levels for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1997: budget authority, $1,629.9 billion; outlays, $1,618.1 billion; revenues, $1,470.4 billion; and deficit, $147.7 billion. | |||||
| 1996-05-23 | Employee Commuting Act [HR1227] | Agreed To (266-162) |
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| Riggs (R-CA) amendment to increase the minimum wage by 90 cents per hour over two years, thereby raising the minimum wage from its current level of $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour on July 1, 1996, and to $5.15 per hour on July 1, 1997. | |||||
| 1996-05-23 | Employee Commuting Act [HR1227] | Rejected (196-229) |
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| Goodling (R-PA) amendment to exempt employees of businesses with annual gross sales under $500,000 from the minimum wage and overtime law. Current law exempts employees of such firms from the minimum wage, provided they are not involved in interstate commerce. | |||||
| 1996-06-13 | Fiscal 1997 Defense Appropriations [HR3610] | Rejected (190-208) |
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| DeFazio (D-OR) amendment, as amended by the Dicks (D-WA) amendment, to prohibit the use of funds under the National Missile Defense program to procure space-based interceptors or space-based directed-energy weapons. | |||||
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). |