http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_ ... s_id=17824Concurrent Budget Resolution
Key Votes:
S Con Res 70: Concurrent Budget Resolution
S Amdt 4347: Earmark Moratorium
S Amdt 4299: Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription Drugs
S Amdt 4233: Codifying the Definition of a Child Eligible for SCHIP
S Amdt 4231: Immigration Enforcement and Border Fence Amendment
S Amdt 4259: Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment
Issues: Budget, Spending and Taxes, Defense, Health Issues, Military Issues, Senior and Social Security Issues, Welfare and Poverty
Date: 03/14/2008
Sponsor: Sen. Conrad, Kent (D-ND)
Record Vote Number 85
Resolution Passed
(Senate)
How members voted
(51 - 44)
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a concurrent resolution that recommends that for fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 the total federal revenues be $13.59 trillion, the total new budget authority be $15.95 trillion, and the total budget outlays be $15.95 trillion.
NOTE: THIS IS A NON-BINDING CONCURRENT BUDGET RESOLUTION THAT SETS THE FUNDING LEVEL FOR DISCRETIONARY SPENDING. IT IS NOT SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT AND THEREFORE DOES NOT HOLD THE WEIGHT OF LAW, BUT IS USED AS A GUIDE FOR CONGRESS AS IT PASSES THE ANNUAL APPROPRIATION AND OTHER BILLS.
Official Title of Legislation:
S Con Res 70: An original concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2009 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2008 and 2010 through 2013.
Highlights:
-Recommends the following new budget authorities for specific categories in fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013:
-$3.56 trillion for National Defense
-$2.79 trillion for Medicare
-$2.49 trillion for Income Security
-$2.03 trillion for Health
-$577.28 billion for Veterans Benefits and Services
-$479.81 billion for Transportation
-$155.31 billion for Social Security
-Provides a total of $4.52 trillion for Social Security Revenues in fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 (Sec. 102).
-Prohibits the consideration in the Senate of bills, joint resolutions, amendments, motions, or conference reports that would produce an increase in deficits in any of the four 10-year periods after the adoption of the most recent budget resolution, unless approved by a three-fifths majority (Sec. 201).
-Sets discretionary spending limits at $1.01 trillion in new budget authority and $1.11 trillion in outlays for fiscal year 2009 (Sec. 211).
-Mandates that budget resolutions in the Senate must contain debt disclosure sections that specify the effect that the budget resolution would have on the gross federal debt, as well as the amounts from the Social Security surplus that the budget resolution projects will be spent on things other than Social Security (Sec. 223).
-Discloses that this budget resolution will increase the gross federal debt by $2 trillion -- representing an increase of $6,440 per citizen -- during the period from fiscal years 2008 to 2013 (Sec. 224).
-Discloses that this budget resolution projects $800 billion of the Social Security surplus (which represents 70 percent of the surplus) will be spent on things other than Social Security during the period from fiscal years 2009 to 2013 (Sec. 224).
-Allows the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to revise budget levels to extend tax credits; to provide economic assistance to needy families, needy children, or the unemployed; to provide housing assistance; to reinstate pre-1993 rates for the Alternative Minimum Tax for individuals; or to repeal the 1993 increase of the income tax on Social Security benefits, provided that such revisions would not increase the budget deficit (Secs. 301, 309-310).
-Allows the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to revise budget levels to provide increased funding for education, education-related programs, or education reform efforts, provided that such revisions would not increase the budget deficit (Secs. 302, 329).
-Allows the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to revise budget levels to provide for investment in "clean energy," environmental preservation efforts, or efforts to increase energy efficiency, provided that such revisions would not increase the budget deficit (Secs. 304, 311).
-Allows the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to revise budget levels to provide for medical care and other benefits and programs for veterans; to provide for the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); to expand Medicare; to fund traumatic brain injury programs; or to fund efforts to increase Americans' access to "quality and affordable health insurance," provided that such revisions would not increase the budget deficit (Secs. 305-306, 319, 331).
-Allows the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to revise budget levels to fund immigration reform, enforcement of immigration laws, and border security efforts, provided that such revisions would not increase the budget deficit (Secs. 312-313).
-Expresses the Senate's strong support for legislation that would legalize the importation of prescription drugs from "highly industrialized countries with safe pharmaceutical infrastructures" and expresses the Senate's desire to have an up or down vote to pass such legislation during 2008 (Sec. 336).
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http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_ ... s_id=13409Immigration Act of 2007
Key Votes:
S 1348: Immigration Act of 2007
S Amdt 1151: Declaring English the National Language
S Amdt 1169: Guest Worker Number Reduction Amendment
S Amdt 1184: Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes
S Amdt 1202: Point Based Immigration Expiration Date
S Amdt 1250: Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa Applications
S Amdt 1316: Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker Program
S Amdt 1333: Barring Immigrants with Certain Criminal Histories
S Amdt 1384: English as the Common Language
Issues: Immigration
Date: 06/07/2007
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry (D-NV)
Record Vote Number 204
Cloture Not Invoked
(Senate)
How members voted
(34 - 61)
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote on a motion to invoke cloture on a bill that establishes and amends laws related to immigration in the United States.
NOTE: INVOKING CLOTURE REQUIRES A THREE-FIFTHS MAJORITY OF THE SENATE. IT IS NOT A VOTE ON THE PASSAGE OF THE PIECE OF LEGISLATION, BUT RATHER LIMITS FURTHER DEBATE TO 30 HOURS. CLOTURE IS TYPICALLY USED TO END A FILIBUSTER. A FAILED CLOTURE VOTE OFTEN PREVENTS THE LEGISLATION FROM EVER COMING TO A VOTE.
Official Title of Legislation:
A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes
Highlights:
-Increases the number of full-time border patrol positions by 11,600 by 2012 [Sec. 101].
-Authorizes the construction of 370 miles of border fencing, as well as 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the border between the United States and Mexico [Sec. 106].
-Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to require aliens departing the United States to provide fingerprints, as well as their immigration status, and authorizes the Secretary to use such data in determining admission status of aliens [Sec. 128].
-Authorizes the governor of any state along the southern land border of the United States to order National Guard units to duty for the purpose of securing the border [Sec. 133].
-Extends the deadline for implementing the Western Hemispheric Travel Initiative, which requires a passport or passport card for all travel to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean, to June 1, 2009 [Sec. 135].
-Provides criminal penalties ranging from five to twenty five years in prison for those who illegally produce or use immigration documents, marry for the purpose of avoiding immigration law, or attempt in any way to defraud immigration law [Sec. 208].
-Provides for the monitoring and criminal prosecution of employers who hire undocumented aliens [Sec. 303-305].
-Establishes the H2C visa, allowing the Secretary of State to authorize up to 200,000 non-immigrants per year who demonstrate an intention to perform certain types labor or services [Sec. 403].
-Establishes a "special immigrant status" for those aliens directly affected by Hurricane Katrina [Sec. 541-545].
-Allows for the adjustment to Permanent Resident status for illegal aliens who have been in the United States for a period exceeding five years, and employed for three of the established five [Sec. 601].
-Establishes a Deferred Mandatory Departure status, granted to undocumented aliens who have presented materials establishing them as having been and employed in the United States since January 7, 2004. [Sec. 601].
-Establishes a pilot program issuing "blue cards" to undocumented agricultural workers that provide for ten months of temporary residence [Sec. 611-614].
-Provides for undocumented minor graduates of high schools or recipients of a General Education Degree to receive conditional permanent resident status, allowing for six years of residency. Allows for the immigrant to receive federal educational financial aid [Sec. 621-632].
-Establishes a grant fund to assist legal residents in achieving citizenship, and establishes the U.S. Citizenship Foundation with the goal of helping people achieving citizenship [Sec. 643].
-Provides that non-citizens should not be denied the opportunity to serve in the armed forces, and that non-citizens who serve will receive citizenship after two years of active-duty service and demonstration of basic citizenship skills [Sec. 751]
-Declares English as the National Language of the United States of America and provides for its sustainability [Sec. 765].
-Instructs the Department of the Interior to open access to the public, with reasonable security regulations, to the Statue of Liberty [Sec. 776].
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