Votes in the House

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The House conducted 949 roll-call votes in 2011 and the Senate 235. This report boils that activity down to 24 key votes that show lawmakers’ stands on many of the major issues that sharply divide Democrats and Republicans as a presidential and congressional election year gets under way. Several of the spotlighted votes occurred on issues advocated by Tea Party members.

In the House

1. Climate-Change Science: Voting 184-240, members on April 6 refused to embrace the Environmental Protection Agency’s “scientific findings ... that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for public health and welfare.” A yes vote backed the amendment to HR 910.

2. Greenhouse Gases: Members on April 7 passed, 255-172, a bill denying the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) power to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions linked to climate change and challenging the science upon which those regulations are based. A yes vote was to pass HR 910.

3. The Paul Ryan Budget: Members on April 15 passed, 235-193, a GOP budget for 2012 and later years that would gradually privatize Medicare, raise the Medicare eligibility age, convert Medicaid to a block-grant program, reduce annual deficits and permanently extend the Bush-era tax cuts. A yes vote backed a fiscal plan authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. (HCR 34)

4. Expanded Offshore Drilling: Members on May 12 approved, 243-179, energy drilling in several Outer Continental Shelf regions where it is now barred for environmental reasons. A yes vote backed a bill (HR 1231) to start drilling, in part, off much of the Atlantic Coast, southern California and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

5. Derivatives Regulations: Members on June 16 voted, 231-189, to delay for at least one year what would be the first federal regulation of the derivatives trading at the heart of the 2008 financial collapse. The rules are part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. A yes vote was to delay regulation. (HR 2112)

6. Patent-Law Overhaul: Members on June 23 approved, 304-117, the first overhaul of U.S. patent law since 1952, a bill that switched from “first to invent” to “first to file” the rule for giving priority to competing applications. A yes vote backed a bill to help the United States Patent and Trademark Office reduce its backlog of 700,000 applications. (HR 1249)

7. Libya Funds Cutoff: Members on June 24 defeated, 180-238, a bill to end funding for direct U.S. military involvement in the NATO-led war over Libya, which was then in progress. A yes vote was to end funding of U.S. operations except search-and-rescue and aerial-refueling missions. (HR 2278)

8. Consumer Protection Bureau: Members on July 21 voted, 241-173, to make it easier for a Treasury oversight board to block actions by the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A yes vote was to pass a bill (HR 1315) enabling the board to kill rules by majority votes instead of the two-thirds majorities required by present law.

9. Budget Control Act: Members on Aug. 1 passed, 269-161, a bill that raised the national-debt ceiling by $2.7 trillion to $17 trillion when it became law the next day, while requiring at least $2.7 trillion in deficit reduction by 2021. A yes vote was to pass the Budget Control Act, which effectively barred tax increases as tools for reducing deficits. (S 365)

10. Curbs on Unions: Voting 238-186, members on Sept. 16 voted to amend the National Labor Relations Act to make it easier for companies to shift work to non-union locales. A yes vote backed a bill (HR 2587) to repeal certain remedies against firms that move work to other states or overseas to punish legitimate union activities.

11. U.S.-South Korea Free Trade: Members on Oct. 12 passed, 278-151, a bill approving free trade between the U.S. and South Korea. A yes vote was to send the Senate what would be the largest U.S. trade agreement since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (HR 3080)

12. Balanced-Budget Amendment: Members on Nov. 18 failed, 261-165, to reach a two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget unless three-fifths majorities in both chambers were to vote to waive the standard. A yes vote backed the constitutional amendment (HJ Res 2).