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1. Earmark Disclosure
S1 (Roll Call 5).  The Senate killed an amendment that would have required the disclosure of the names of Senators requesting special interest earmark spending and expanded the definition of earmarks to include federally-funded non-federal projects.  ACU favors greater transparency in “earmarked” spending and favored this amendment, which was defeated January 11, 2007 by a vote of 46-51.
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2. Regulation of Grassroots Lobbying
S 1 (Roll Call 17).  The Senate adopted an amendment protecting grassroots lobbying organizations from having to reveal the names of their contributors.  ACU favored this amendment, which passed the Senate January 18, 2007 by a vote of 55-43.
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3. Iraq War—Cloture
S 574 (Roll Call 51).  The Senate refused to move to a vote on a resolution disapproving the “surge” of 20,000 additional troops into Iraq.  ACU opposed this resolution.  Although the motion achieved a 56-34 majority on February 17, 2007, 60 votes are required to shut off debate, so the resolution was not approved.
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4. Tax Cuts
SConRes 21 (Roll Call 107).  The Senate rejected an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Resolution that would have permitted the extension of the 2001 tax cuts  ACU favored the amendment, which was defeated March 23, 2007 by a vote of 46-52.
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5. Alternative Minimum Tax
SConRes 21 (Roll Call 108).  The Senate rejected an amendment to the FY 2008 Budget Resolution that would have permitted the repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax, a tax designed to apply only to millionaires, but now affecting 21 million middle-income families.  ACU favors repeal of the AMT and so supported this amendment, which failed March 23, 2007 by a vote of 44-53.
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6. Estate (“Death”) Tax Repeal
SConRes 21 (Roll Call 109).  The Senate rejected an amendment to the FY 2008 Budget Resolution that would have permitted the permanent repeal of the estate tax.  ACU favors elimination of the death tax and supported the amendment, which was defeated March 23, 2007 by a vote of 44-55.
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7. Stem Cell Research
S5 (Roll Call 127).  The Senate passed a bill mandating the use of federal funds in research on embryonic stem cells derived from surplus embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics.  ACU opposes such research and opposed the bill, which passed April 11, 2007 by a vote of 63-34.
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8. Small Business Regulation
S 761 (Roll Call 139).  The Senate killed an amendment allowing small businesses to opt out of the most burdensome reporting provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regulating reporting of publicly-traded companies on the stock exchange.  ACU favors this exemption, but the Senate defeated it April 24, 2007, by a vote of 62-35.
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9. Immigration Overhaul—Cloture
S 1348 (Roll Call 206).  The Senate refused to stop debate and move to a vote on a bill overhauling immigration law, allowing illegal aliens a path to citizenship and instituting new border security measures.  ACU opposed this measure and supported continued debate.  On June 7, 2007 the Senate defeated the cloture motion by a vote of 45-50 (60 votes are required to invoke cloture).
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10. Coastal Drilling for Natural Gas
HR 6 (Roll Call 212).  The Senate rejected an amendment to the Energy Policy Bill that would have allowed Virginia to petition for natural gas exploration and drilling in the state’s coastal waters.  ACU favors development of domestic energy sources and supported this amendment, which was defeated June 14, 2007 by a vote of 43-44.
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11. Energy Policy
HR 6 (Roll Call 226).  The Senate passed legislation imposing massive new regulation on the energy industry, including a rise in automobile mileage to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a ban on the incandescent light bulb, new energy efficiency mandates for appliances, the use of 15 billion gallons of biofuels by 2015, and the taxpayer subsidy of new energy technologies.  ACU opposes this kind of direct government interference in the economy, but the bill passed June 21, 2007 by a vote of 65-27.
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12. Employee Rights—Cloture
HR 800 (Roll Call 227).  The Senate refused to stop debate and move to a vote on a bill that would have stripped workers of the rights to a secret ballot when deciding on unionization.  ACU opposed the bill and supported continued debate.  On June 26, 2007, by a vote of 51-48, a majority of the Senate voted to invoke cloture, but under Senate rules 60 votes are required to stop debate.
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13. Social Security Benefits for Illegal Aliens
HR 2669 (Roll Call 263).  The Senate voted to continue to allow Social Security benefits to be paid for illegal and fraudulent work, including the work of illegal aliens.  ACU opposes such payments and supported the effort to prohibit it.  Although a 57-40 majority of the Senate voted July 19, 2007 to waive the Budget Act and allow a direct vote on the prohibition, under Senate rules 60 votes are required to waive the Budget Act.
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14. New Student Loan Program
S 1642 (Roll Call 273).  The Senate killed an effort to establish a new program of government loans to full-time undergraduate and graduate students.  ACU opposes the creation of new federal subsidies and opposed this amendment, which failed July 23, 2007 by a vote of 37-54.
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15. U.N. Peacekeeping Operations
HR 2764 (Roll Call 317).  The Senate killed an amendment designed to stop an increase in the U.S. share of United Nations peacekeeping costs, which is now 25 percent.  ACU opposes increased assistance to the U.N. The amendment failed September 6, 2007 by a vote of 30-63.
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16. Abortion and Sterilization
HR 2764 (Roll Call 318).  The Senate adopted an amendment that would bar the use of taxpayer money for any organization or program that supports or manages a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.  ACU favors such a limitation, which was approved September 6, 2007by a vote of 48-45.
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17. “Mexico City” Policy
HR 2764 (Roll Call 319).  The Senate adopted an amendment repealing the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits the use of taxpayer funds by organizations that promote or perform abortions.  ACU supports this limitation and opposed the amendment, which passed September 6, 2007 by a vote of 53-41.
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18. Davis-Bacon Requirement
HR 3074 (Roll Call 334).  The Senate voted to kill an amendment prohibiting implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires union rates to be paid on federal construction projects.  ACU opposes Davis-Bacon, and supported the amendment, which was defeated September 12, 2007 by a vote of 56-37.
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19. District of Columbia Congressional Seat—Cloture
S 1257 (Roll Call 339).  The Senate refused to stop debate and vote on legislation increasing the size of the House of Representatives to 437, giving a seat to the District of Columbia and an additional seat to Utah.  ACU opposed this bill, and supported continued debate.  On September 18, 2007, by a vote of 57-42, a majority of the Senate voted to invoke cloture, but under Senate rules, 60 votes are required to shut off debate.
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20. Hate Crimes—Cloture
HR 1585 (Roll Call 350).  The Senate voted to stop debate and vote on an amendment establishing a special category of crime if it was based on the victim's race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability.  ACU opposes efforts to criminalize thought, but on September 27, 2007 the Senate invoked cloture on the amendment by a vote of 60-39, after which the amendment was adopted by voice vote.
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21. Health Insurance Expansion
HR 976 (Roll Call 353).  The Senate passed a major expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) program authorizing $60 billion over five years, increasing subsidies and prohibiting the Department of Health and Human Services from requiring that poor children be covered before other groups.  The costs of the expansion were to be paid from increased tobacco taxes.  ACU opposed this massive expansion of welfare programs, but it was adopted September 27, 2007 by a vote of 67-29.
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22. Energy Policy—Cloture
HR 6 (Roll Call 425).  Although the Senate had earlier voted for new energy regulations (see Vote # 11 above), the House then revised them, and the Senate refused to shut off debate and move to a final vote on the revised bill mandating increased automobile mileage, the production of 36 billion gallons of “biofuels” by 2022, and new energy efficiency standards on appliances, lights, and other consumer goods while increasing taxes on domestic oil and gas companies.  ACU opposes expansion of federal authority into the economy and so opposed this bill.  On December 13, 2007 by a vote of 59-40, a majority of the Senate voted to pass the bill, but under Senate rules, 60 votes are required to invoke cloture, so the bill failed.
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23. Eminent Domain
HR 2419 (Roll Call 429).  The Senate defeated an amendment that would have prohibited federal, state and local governments from using eminent domain to take farmland or grazing land and use it for parks, open space or similar purposes.  ACU opposes misuse of eminent domain, and so supported the amendment.  However, on December 13, 2007, the Senate killed the amendment by a vote of 37-58
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24. Energy Policy
HR 6 (Roll Call 430).  Voting on a  third revision of the Energy Bill (See Vote # 22 above), the Senate this time voted to pass legislation imposing massive new burdens on the energy industry of the United States while rejecting measures to increase domestic supplies of oil and gas.  ACU continued to oppose this intervention in the economy, but on December 13, 2007, the Senate adopted it by a vote of 86-8.
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25. Alternative Minimum Tax Adjustment
HR 2764 (Roll Call 440).  The Senate killed a one-year extension of a provision keeping 21 million middle-income taxpayers from being hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax designed to apply to millionaires.  ACU favors complete repeal of the AMT, and so opposed this stop-gap measure.  The extension was defeated December 18, 2007 by a vote of 48-46.  Although the measure did get a majority of the votes cast, under a unanimous consent agreement, 60 votes were required to pass this bill.
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