12/13
NA HR 2082
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
Conference Report Adopted
- House
(222 - 199)
11/15
NA HR 3773
Electronic Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Review Act
Bill Passed
- House
(227 - 189)
11/08
NA PN 958
Michael B. Mukasey, Attorney General
Nomination Confirmed
- Senate
(53 - 40)
10/16
NA HR 2102
Reporter's Source Confidentiality Guidelines
Bill Passed
- House
(398 - 21)
10/04
NA HR 2740
Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007
Bill Passed
- House
(389 - 30)
9/19
NA S Amdt 2022
Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United States
Cloture Not Invoked
- Senate
(56 - 43)
6/19
NA S Amdt 1519
Preventing Petroleum Export Organizations (NOPEC Act of 2007)
Amendment Adopted
- Senate
(70 - 23)
6/06
NA S Amdt 1384
English as the Common Language
Amendment Adopted
- Senate
(58 - 39)
6/06
NA S Amdt 1151
Declaring English the National Language
Amendment Adopted
- Senate
(64 - 33)
6/06
NA S Amdt 1184
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes
Amendment Rejected
- Senate
(46 - 51)
6/06
NA S Amdt 1333
Barring Immigrants with Certain Criminal Histories
Amendment Adopted
- Senate
(66 - 32)
5/22
NA HR 2264
Preventing the Organization of Petroleum Export Groups
Bill Passed
- House
(345 - 72)
5/22
NA S 214
United States Attorneys Act of 2007
Bill Passed
- House
(306 - 114)
5/03
NA HR 1592
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007
Bill Passed
- House
(237 - 180)
3/20
NA S 214
United States Attorneys Act of 2007
Bill Passed
- Senate
(94 - 2)
3/14
NA HR 985
Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007
Bill Passed
- House
(331 - 94)
About the Selection and Descriptions of Key Votes
Project Vote Smart provides easy access to Congressional and State voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Key votes typically include the initial passage of legislation and final conference report vote versions (the compromised versions of bills passed in separate House and Senate versions). Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:
- The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue
- The vote should be clear for any person to understand
- The vote has received media attention
- The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin
- Occasionally, if a specific bill is consistently inquired about on the Voter's Research Hotline, the vote will be added
Descriptions of the votes are written by Vote Smart staff and based on information included in the Congressional Record, State House Journals, or Senate Journals, with additional background information from newspapers, magazines, etc. Vote Smart provides summaries for each selected key vote. The summary does not necessarily reflect the final version of the bill.
The Key Votes Program follows Project Vote Smart's strict policies, procedures and structure that guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. In order to ensure that all Key Votes are non-partisan in their selection and language, each is approved by a group of over 160 political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.