Key Votes

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Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:

  1. The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue
  2. The vote should be clear for any person to understand
  3. The vote has received media attention
  4. The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin
  5. Occasionally, if a specific bill is consistently inquired about on the Voter's Research Hotline, the vote will be added

Vote Smart provides a summary of the version of the bill text associated with each selected key vote. Our summaries are written by Vote Smart's staff and interns, who adhere to our strict policies and procedures in order to guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. They do not necessarily reflect the content of the final version of the bill, but rather the version voted on in that stage. While many procedural votes take place before a full chamber vote, our voting stages reflect the final reading of each chamber vote. Each key vote selection is reviewed by the project's community of advisors, who are political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.

For more information about the legislative process, see here.


results per page:
Date State Bill No. Title Outcome
Sept. 12, 1996 National HR 3816 Appropriations bill FY97, Energy and Water Development Conference Report Adopted - House (383 - 29)
Sept. 17, 1996 National HR 3816 Appropriations bill FY97, Energy and Water Development Conference Report Adopted - Senate (92 - 8)
July 25, 1996 National H Amdt 1359 Energy Research Appropriation Amendment Amendment Rejected - House (198 - 211)
July 25, 1996 National H Amdt 1360 Renewable Energy Research Amendment Amendment Adopted - House (279 - 135)
July 31, 1996 National S 1936 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996 Bill Passed - Senate (63 - 37)
May 21, 1996 National HR 3415 Repeal Gas Tax bill Bill Passed - House (301 - 108)
Date No. Title Outcome
9/12 HR 3816 Appropriations bill FY97, Energy and Water Development Conference Report Adopted - House (383 - 29)
9/17 HR 3816 Appropriations bill FY97, Energy and Water Development Conference Report Adopted - Senate (92 - 8)
7/25 H Amdt 1359 Energy Research Appropriation Amendment Amendment Rejected - House (198 - 211)
7/25 H Amdt 1360 Renewable Energy Research Amendment Amendment Adopted - House (279 - 135)
7/31 S 1936 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996 Bill Passed - Senate (63 - 37)
5/21 HR 3415 Repeal Gas Tax bill Bill Passed - House (301 - 108)

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