UE's
1998
Congressional
Scorecard

The second session of the 105th Congress — one of the least productive and most anti-labor sessions in recent history — concluded in December shortly after the House of Representatives voted to press ahead with the two articles of impeachment against President Clinton.

How bad was it? As far as working people are concerned, the sooner the 105th Congress adjourned, the better. But the 106th Congress, just now getting underway in Washington, D.C., is likely to be even less productive. UE members will have to remain vigilant — many of the unsuccessful attacks launched against working people last year will be back on the Congressional calendar in 1999.

The Issues We Used

Here are the issues we used to rate members of Congress for 1998 ... and UE's position on each:

• Fast Track Authorization
• Blacklisting 'Salting' Bill
• Social Security
• House: Trade Bill
  Senate: IMF Funding
• House: Overtime Repeal
  Senate: Minimum Wage Increase

FT - Fast Track Authorization

"Fast Track" authorization would give the President the power to negotiate trade agreements and require Congress to act on those deals with virtually no debate and without amendments.

The Senate voted (68-31) in November 1997 to end debate on Fast Track (S 1269). Debate ended when more than 60 Senators voted to cut-off debate. An "X" indicates a correct vote against ending the debate, thereby holding up a vote to pass the bill.

The House of Representatives voted on September 25, 1998 on the Fast Track bill (HR 2621), which failed 180-243, killing the bill in that session of Congress.

NOTE: As the Senate took no vote on Fast Track in 1998, use of the 1997 Senate vote (see: the "NAFTA Expansion" column) gives UE members a complete picture of how the 105th Congress voted on this key issue.

BL - Blacklisting 'Salting' Bill

In an effort to make it legal for companies to refuse to hire, or to even fire union members, union sympathizers, or just those who are suspected of harboring pro-union feelings, the House of Representatives passed the so-called "anti-salting" bill 202-200 (HR 3246) on March 26, 1997. "Salting" refers to the construction union tactic of asking union members to obtain jobs in unorganized workplaces with the aim of recruiting new members to the union. The Senate version of the bill (S 1981) died by a vote of 52-42 on September 14th, 1998, when the required 60 votes could not be found in order to end debate. An "X" indicates a correct vote against this disgraceful bill.

SS - Social Security

Two Congressional votes cast during 1998 point to the dangers ahead for our Social Security retirement system. On April 29 the House of Representatives voted 413-8 (HR 3546) to create a bogus, bipartisan commission to "study" Social Security. Nearly every member of the commission favors some kind of privatization! On April 1, the Senate voted 51-49 (SCR 86) to require the Senate Finance Committee to report back legislation that would privatize a portion of our Social Security system. An "X" indicates a correct vote against both of these attempts to open up a privatization raid on our Social Security system.

TR - House: Trade Bill
Senate: IMF Funding

House: On March 11, 1998, the House of Representatives passed the so-called Sub-Saharan Trade Bill (HR 1432) by a vote of 233-186. The bill would establish free-trade sweatshop zones in 48 countries on the African continent. Workers could earn as little as pennies per hour; products would be imported into the United States. The bill was never considered by the Senate. An "X" indicates a correct vote against this attempt to destroy good U.S. jobs by creating vast "misery zones" on the African continent.

Senate: On March 26, 1998, the Senate voted 84-16 (S 1768) to provide an additional $17.9 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Almost $4 billion of this bill were earmarked to bail-out international bankers and speculators who have lost money in their wild and reckless dealings in Asia, Russia, and South America. An "X" indicates a correct vote to oppose bail-outs of billionaire bankers.

WG - House: Overtime Repeal
Senate: Minimum Wage Increase

House: In what may be the most disgraceful vote of the entire year, the House of Representatives voted 261-165 (HR 2888) to repeal overtime and minimum wage requirements for more than 500,000 sales workers. Claiming that new technology makes overtime and minimum wage "obsolete," big business pushed hard for this rip-off bill. (The bill should also be considered an attempt to build momentum to repeal overtime for the rest of us.) An "X" indicates a correct vote against this attack on workers’ living standards. The bill was not considered by the Senate.

Senate: During debate on bankruptcy legislation, Sen. Kennedy (D., Mass.) offered an amendment that would have increased the minimum wage by $1 an hour over the next two years, for a total of $6.15. The Senate voted 55-44 (S 1301) to kill the minimum-wage amendment on September 22, 1998. An "X" is a correct vote against killing the amendment.

Heroes!

The following 5 lawmakers posted a perfect 100% pro-worker voting record on the 1998 UE Congressional Scorecard. They deserve recognition and thanks for their efforts in support of working people!

Total Zeros!

A total of 31 members of Congress failed to support working people even once in 1998, as measured by the UE Scorecard.