Every year Family Research Council (FRC) Action issues a report card
detailing how our elected officials in Congress vote on pro-family
issues. Defense/foreign-policy conservatives have had ratings for quite
some time, as have economic conservatives. Only recently has there been
a ratings-system for family issues. Its most recent scorecard details
the first session of the 110th Congress
FRC Action rated seven votes in the Senate, including those on embryonic
stem-cell research, hate crimes, preventing funding for international
groups which support coercive abortion and sterilization. Only twenty
seven Republicans in the Senate scored 100% on pro-family issues. Only
a few states, such as Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South
Carolina and Wyoming, have two Senators with perfect scores.
Having the appellation "Republican" attached to a Senator's name is
rarely an indication of how the Senator will vote. In Arizona, for
example, Senator Jon Kyl scored 100%. But his colleague, Senator John
S. McCain, III received a disappointing 42% rating. Some Republican
Senators did not score as well as Democrats. Senators Susan Collins and
Olympia B. Snowe, both Republicans from Maine, scored 28%. Meanwhile,
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) scored highest among the Democrats, at 85%.
After that, Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Robert
P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) received a 42% rating. Most Democrats had a 0%
rating.
In the House of Representatives, FRC Action rated sixteen votes,
including bills on funding for abortions, homosexual marriage, embryonic
stem-cell research, human cloning, needle exchange programs, hate crimes
and the Fairness Doctrine. There were 119 Representatives with 100%
votes. All three Republicans from Nebraska, its entire delegation,
scored perfectly. Representative Brad Ellsworth of Indiana had the
highest Democratic score, at 81%. As a side note, the new Governor of
Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, a Republican, received a score of 85%. He was
unable to vote on two issues because he was campaigning for Governor.
Years ago when we established ratings of all House votes for the
Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, I actually had several
Members of Congress who wanted to argue with me about their voting
record. They wanted a higher rating. One of the calls I received was
from Edward I. Koch, then a Democratic Representative from New York and
later Mayor of New York City. I had labeled him the most liberal
Congressman in the House in 1975. He didn't like that and wanted to
argue for a higher score.
Now that FRC Action is publishing this excellent ratings system, Members
of Congress may argue for a higher score. And they should. In doing so
they could discuss with voters their motivation for voting as they did
on important social issues. One can hope that this will provide more
transparency and accountability among our politicians. The American
public will be the primary beneficiary if Members show concern about
their pro-family voting records and begin to address the issues
forthrightly.
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