Kay Bailey Hutchison

[Congressional biography]

Born: July 22, 1943 in Galveston, TX

Education:

Career:

Elected Office:

Key Senate Vote Data for Kay Bailey Hutchison in 1997

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Hutchison Voted
1997-03-04	Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment [SJRES1]	Defeated (66-34)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to balance the budget by the year 2002 or two years after ratification by three-fourths of the states, whichever is later.
1997-03-18	Spending-Limit Constitutional Amendment [SJRES18]	Defeated (38-61)
Passage of the joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to allow Congress and the states to set reasonable limits on campaign spending. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo case that restricting campaign spending infringed on the First Amendment rights of free speech.
1997-04-24	Chemical Weapons Treaty [SRES75]	Agreed To (74-26)
Adoption of the resolution of ratification of the treaty to prohibit development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer or use of chemical weapons. This treaty violated U.S. constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure, ceded U.S. sovereignty to international agencies, and threatened U.S. defense forces.
1997-05-08	Supplemental Fiscal 1997 Appropriations [S672]	Agreed To (62-38)
Stevens (R-AK) motion to table (kill) the Gramm (R-TX) amendment to reduce all non-defense discretionary spending by the percentage necessary to offset the non-defense budget authority provided by the bill.
1997-05-20	Abortion Procedure Ban [HR1122]	Passed (64-36)
Passage of the bill to impose penalties on doctors who perform certain abortion procedures, in which the person performing the abortion partially delivers the fetus before completing the abortion. An exception would be granted where the procedure was necessary to save the life of the woman. The bill was amended to clarify the definition of the procedure and to allow an accused doctor a hearing before a state medical board prior to trial.
1997-05-21	Fiscal 1998 Budget Resolution [SCONRES27]	Agreed To (68-31)
Lautenberg (D-NJ) motion to table (kill) the Gramm (R-TX) amendment to limit non-defense discretionary spending to the levels proposed by President Clinton in his fiscal 1997 budget request and allow for a net tax cut of $161 billion over five years.
1997-05-22	Fiscal 1998 Budget Resolution [SCONRES27]	Rejected (41-58)
Ashcroft (R-MO) motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to the Lautenberg (D-NJ) point of order against the Ashcroft (R-MO) amendment to require a three-fifths vote of both houses of Congress for any deficit spending after fiscal 2002. Subsequently, the chair upheld the Lautenberg point of order, and the amendment fell.
1997-05-23	Fiscal 1998 Budget Resolution [SCONRES27]	Agreed To (73-27)
Domenici (R-NM) motion to table (kill) the Gramm (R-TX) amendment to freeze non-defense discretionary spending and to require that the $225 billion in anticipated revenue receipts resulting from revised estimates of the Congressional Budget Office be applied equally to deficit reduction and tax relief.
1997-06-04	Compensatory Time, Flexible Credit [S4]	Rejected (51-47)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow private-sector employees to choose compensatory time off or flexible credit hour programs instead of overtime pay. This legislation was strongly opposed by Big Labor.
1997-06-19	Fiscal 1988 Intelligence Authorization [S858]	Rejected (43-56)
Torricelli (D-NJ) amendment to require the President to release the aggregate appropriation and budget request for all intelligence and intelligence-related activities. The intelligence budget currently is classified.
1997-06-25	Fiscal 1998 Budget Reconciliation [S947]	Rejected (39-61)
Kerrey (D-NE) amendment to strike from the children's health initiative the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions except in case of rape, incest or threat to a woman's life.
1997-06-27	Fiscal 1998 Budget Reconciliation [S949]	Rejected (46-54)
Gramm (R-TX) amendment to eliminate the requirement that the $500-per-child tax credit be invested in a tuition program or education individual retirement account. The Gramm amendment would allow parents to make their own decisions on how to use the tax credit.
1997-06-27	Fiscal 1998 Budget Reconciliation [S949]	Agreed To (59-41)
Coverdell (R-GA) amendment to expand the proposed education individual retirement account and allow tax credits to be spent penalty-free on elementary and secondary education expenses. This amendment was later dropped under President Clinton's threat to veto the entire balanced budget over this one provision.
1997-06-27	Fiscal 1998 Budget Reconciliation [S949]	Rejected (41-57)
Allard (R-CO) amendment to require capital gains to be indexed for inflation.
1997-07-11	Fiscal 1998 Defense Authorization [S936]	Rejected (43-56)
Bingaman (D-NM) amendment to reduce the amount available for the space-based laser program by $118 million.
1997-09-11	Fiscal 1998 Labor-HHS Appropriations [S1061]	Failed (49-51)
Jeffords (R-VT) motion to table (kill) the Gorton (R-WA) amendment that would require the Secretary of Education to award many funds for elementary and secondary educaiton directly to local agencies to use as they see fit.
1997-09-11	Fiscal 1998 Labor-HHS Appropriations [S1061]	Agreed To (58-42)
Nickles (R-OK) amendment to limit the use of taxpayer funds for any future Teamsters union leadership election.
1997-09-11	Fiscal 1998 Labor-HHS Appropriations [S1061]	Agreed To (87-13)
Gregg (R-NH) amendment establishing that the National Assessment Governing Board has exclusive authority over all policies for creating and implementing voluntary national tests for fourth-grade English reading and eighth-grade mathematics.
1997-09-17	Fiscal 1998 Interior Appropriations [HR2107]	Rejected (23-77)
Ashcroft (R-MO) amendment to eliminate funding for programs and activities carried out by the National Endowment for the Arts.
1997-09-18	Fiscal 1998 Interior Appropriations [HR2107]	Agreed To (57-42)
D'Amato (R-NY) motion to table (kill) the Hutchinson (R-AR) amendment to require congressional approval before President Clinton could implement the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, which he established by executive order. The Clinton executive order, which was not authorized by Congress, would forward an environmentalist agenda to the detriment of private property rights.
1997-09-30	Fiscal 1998 District of Columbia Appropriations [S1156]	Rejected (58-41)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Coats (R-IN) amendment that would allocate $7 million in fiscal 1998 for educational scholarships to allow low-income kindergarten through 12th grade students from the District of Columbia to attend private schools or public schools in the Virginia or Maryland suburbs.
1997-10-07	Campaign Finance Overhaul [S25]	Rejected (52-48)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Lott (R-MS) amendment that would require labor organizations, banks or corporations to secure voluntary authorization from their members before using any membership dues, initiation fees or other payments to fund political activities.
1997-10-08	Campaign Finance Overhaul [S25]	Rejected (52-47)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the bill to revise financing of federal political campaigns. The legislation would ban "soft" money contributions; bar political parties from making coordinated expenditures on behalf on a Senate candidate who does not agree to limit his or her spending to $50,000 per election; and change the Supreme Court definition of "express advocacy" to restrict the First Amendment rights of independent groups.
1997-11-04	Education Savings Accounts [HR2646]	Rejected (56-44)
Motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the bill to allow parents to invest up to $2,500 annually in savings accounts designated for education-related expenses. Withdrawals of both principal and interest from such accounts could be made without incurring tax liability.

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).