UE's
2002
Congressional
Scorecard

The 107th Congress is over — a Congress that did little to promote security for working people in the face of a relentless big business assault and a recession dragging on into its third year.

During 2002, the second session of the 107th Congress failed completely to pass any meaningful legislation to address the corporate crime wave. Instead, lawmakers staged hearings and press conferences denouncing the culprits but leaving them with little fear of prosecution. Millions of ordinary stockholders and pensioners have yet to find any Congressional will to prosecute corporate lawbreakers and swindlers and win restitution of the stolen billions.

NO SECURITY FROM CONGRESS

Instead of legislation preventing plant closures, Congress passed the job-killing "fast track" scheme. Rather than address the needs of working people and the millions of unemployed, Congress rushed to create a massive new security agency as well as handing war-making authority over to President Bush. Legislation to confront the big-money flood of political campaign money did make it through Congress, but is already endangered by a blizzard of lawsuits launched primarily by big business.

For all the talk of "Homeland Security," working people are demonstrably less secure at the end of this Congress than at the beginning. The November 2002 elections also reinforced the political stagnation in Washington, D.C.

The 108th Congress now convenes with a slim but complete Republican majority under the complete control of big business, and a dwindling minority of Democrats willing to confront the corporate hold on our national political system. These are, unfortunately, times of homeland insecurity.

The Issues We Used

Here are the issues we used to rate members of Congress for 2002 ... and UE's position on each:

• Fast Track on Trade
• Campaign Finance Reform
• Use of Force
• Homeland Security
• Prescription Drugs
• Confronting Big Business

TR - Fast Track on Trade

The Senate voted by a 64-34 margin on Aug. 1 to grant "fast-track" trade negotiating authority to President Bush. The House of Representatives voted by a 215-212 margin on July 27 to pass this big business scheme (HR3009). Fast Track will allow the Bush Administration to negotiate trade deals that speed the closure of U.S. manufacturing plants and further erode state and local tax bases. An "X" in this column indicates a correct vote against this job-killing legislation. (Note: Due to the destructive consequences of this bill it is counted twice for purposes of tabulating 2002 percentage rankings.)

CF - Campaign Finance Reform

The Senate voted 60-40 on March 20, and the House of Representatives 240-189 on Feb. 14, to enact legislation reforming the financing of our political campaign process (HR2356.). Under great public pressure President Bush signed the bill into law shortly after. Referred to as the "McCain-Feingold" bill after its Senate sponsors, this imperfect but necessary bill will slow down the flood of special interest money into our national political campaigns. An "X" in this column indicates a correct vote for this overdue legislation.

UF - Use of Force

The Senate voted 77-23 on Oct. 11, and the House of Representatives 296-133 on Oct. 10, for the "Use of Force" bill sought by President Bush (HJR114). Caught in the heat of a pro-war media frenzy just before the November elections, a majority of lawmakers rushed to abdicate their Constitutional war-making responsibility. This legislation allows the President to prepare for and launch all-out war against Iraq on the flimsiest of pretexts. An "X" in this column indicates a correct vote against this legislation.

HS - Homeland Security

The Senate voted 90-9 on Nov. 19, and the House of Representatives 299-121 on Nov. 13, for the so-called "Homeland Security" bill (HR5710/5005). The bill creates a monstrous new federal department by merging 22 existing and disparate agencies into one super-agency in charge of national security. Rather than study what aspects of our national security really failed on September 11, Congress threw together a massive new bureaucracy possibly less effective than the system it replaces! The bill also was used by President Bush and anti-labor elements in Congress to attack the collective bargaining rights of many federal employees. An "X" in this column indicates a correct vote against this legislation.

RX - Prescription Drugs

The Senate voted 56-43 on July 18 to amend a prescription drug bill (S812) to force pharmaceutical companies to offer the same group discount to citizens and groups that they offer to state Medicaid organizations. The amendment passed, but died because of no further action by the Senate on this critical issue. The House of Representatives failed to pass by a 204-223 margin on June 28 a motion (HR4954) that would have sent the House prescription drug bill back to committee, with instructions that a bill be produced that set up a Medicare-financed drug program with small deductibles and premiums. An "X" in this column indicates a correct vote for these bills.

BB - Confronting Big Business

SENATE: The Senate voted 49-47 on May 23 to kill an amendment (HR3009) to "fast track" trade legislation that would have prevented U.S. trade agreements from forcing signatory countries to privatize significant government services as part of the trade agreement. Big business is eager to use this sort of mechanism to coerce trading partners into opening up their public services and utilities to the corrupt privatization process.

HOUSE: The House of Representatives, in a 184-232 vote Sept. 18, failed to adopt an amendment to a larger bill (HR1701) that would have prevented rent-to-own companies from charging customers a total of any more than twice the given rental item's actual cash price. Big business furiously resisted this attempt to stop such gouging of working people. An "X" in this column indicates a correct vote for these amendments.

Heroes!

The following 42 lawmakers posted a perfect 100% pro-worker voting record on the 2002 UE Congressional Scorecard. They deserve recognition and thanks for their efforts in support of working people!

Total Zeros!

A total of 39 members of Congress failed to support working people even once in 2002, as measured by the UE Scorecard.