Thomas Harkin

The Senate voted on the nomination of Vivek Murthy to be Surgeon General. ACU opposed the nomination of Murthy, whose primary qualification was founding the group "Doctors for Obama" and who has said that gun control should be a health care issue. The Senate confirmed the Murthy nomination on December 15, 2014 by a vote of 51-43.

This 1,600 page bill uses $19 billion in budget gimmicks to comply with spending caps, increases funding for pork barrel programs such as Community Development Block Grants and includes hundreds of pages of bills that have nothing to do with appropriations and that have not been voted on by either the House or Senate. ACU opposes these bills that are written in secret with no amendments allowed and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on December 13, 2014 by a vote of 56-40.

The Coburn motion to the National Defense Authorization Act would have removed 100 unrelated bills that affected federal land. ACU opposed including federal land acquisition bills in the defense bill and supported this motion. The Senate defeated the motion on December 12, 2014 by a vote of 18-82.

The Senate voted on the nomination of Victor Allen Bolden to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. ACU opposed the nomination of Bolden whose primary qualification seems to be as a political activist with the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Senate voted to confirm Bolden on November 20, 2014 by a vote of 49-46.

This bill would have authorized the construction of the Keystone pipeline from Canada that has already been approved by the State Department. ACU supports abundant, affordable energy and supported this bill and the motion to invoke cloture (limit debate). The senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on November 18, 2014 by a vote of 59-41 (60 votes were necessary to pass).

This constitutional amendment would have overturned the Supreme Court's rulings on freedom of political speech in the Citizens United and other cases. ACU supports the expansion of political speech and opposed this amendment and the motion to invoke cloture (limit debate). The senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on September 11, 2014 by a vote of 54-42 (60 votes were necessary to pass).

This bill would have spent over $4 billion over and above the agreed on spending levels in order to deal with unaccompanied children entering the country illegally. A key vote came on a motion to waive all budget requirements for the bill. ACU opposes this type of "emergency" spending without comparable reductions and opposed this motion. The Senate defeated the motion to waive budget requirements on July 31, 2014 by a vote of 50-44 (60 votes were required to pass).

This bill would have eliminated a tax deduction for business expenses if the relocated a business outside the U.S. while offering a tax credit for 20 percent of business expenses incurred for relocating a business to the U.S. if they increased the number of fulltime employees in the U.S. ACU opposes these punitive tax measures while doing nothing to reduce the highest corporate tax in the world and opposed this bill as well as the motion to invoke cloture (limit debate). The Senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on July 30, 2014 by a vote of 54-42 (60 votes were necessary to pass).

This bill amended the House bill so that an extension of current transportation funding would expire in December, 2014 instead of May, 2015. ACU opposed this deadline as it would have allowed a lame duck Congress to consider major legislation, including tax increases, when there is the least accountability to the taxpayers and opposed the bill. The Senate passed the bill on July 29, 2014 by a vote of 79-18.

The Coburn amendment would give flexibility for collecting mandatory increased premiums in the event of more than $1 billion in losses due to terrorism. ACU supported the amendment, agreeing with Coburn that the bill is so unrealistic concerning premium collection that the taxpayers would ultimately foot the bill for losses. The Senate defeated a procedural motion that would have allowed a vote on the amendment on July 17, 2014 by a vote of 48-49 (60 votes were necessary to pass).

This bill would have modified provisions in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that protects employers from providing insurance coverage that is against their beliefs. ACU opposes measures that imposes government mandates regardless of religious beliefs and opposed this bill as well as the motion to invoke cloture (limit debate). The Senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on July 16, 2014 by a vote of 56-43.

The Flake amendment to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act would increase accountability measures for this government program by allowing a Governor to intervene in a failing program after one year instead of waiting for three years. ACU supports performance standards for government programs and supported this amendment. The Senate defeated the amendment on June 25, 2014 by a vote of 33-63.

This bill would have fixed interest rates for student loans regardless of the market price. ACU opposes price fixing and opposed this bill and the motion to invoke cloture (limiting debate). The Senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on June 11, 2014 by a vote of 56-38 (60 votes were needed to pass).

This bill would have tasked the Obama Administration to create new energy standards for buildings and then use taxpayer funds to promote them. It also created new subsidies for electric motor controls and transformers approved by the government. ACU opposes the expansion of these government programs and opposed this bill and the motion to invoke cloture (limiting debate). The Senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on May 12, 2014 by a vote of 55-36 (60 votes were needed to pass).

This bill would increase the federal minimum wage. ACU opposes these artificial wage minimums that that cost jobs among those who need them most, such as inexperienced workers and students and opposed this bill and the motion to invoke cloture (limiting debate). The Senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on April 30, 2014 by a vote of 54-42 (60 votes were needed to pass).

This bill would place the burden of proof to charges of sex discrimination on the employer. ACU opposes legislation that makes employers "guilty until proven innocent" and opens the door to expensive lawsuits and so opposed this bill and opposed the motion to invoke cloture (limiting debate). The Senate defeated the motion to invoke cloture on April 9, 2014 by a vote of 53-44 (60 votes were needed to pass).

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to use an unrelated House bill to pass a plan to extend unemployment benefits even though it had been defeated once before. ACU opposed this subterfuge but the Senate voted to invoke cloture (limit debate) on April 3, 2014 by a vote of 61-35.

The Vitter amendment to the unemployment compensation bill would prevent people who are receiving Disability Insurance Benefits from claiming unemployment compensation at the same time. ACU supports this type of government reform and supported this amendment and opposed a motion to table it. The Senate voted to table, or kill, the amendment on April 2, 2014 by a vote of 67-29.

This motion would have invoked cloture (limiting debate) on the nomination of Debo Adegbile as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Adegbile received bipartisan opposition due to his activities on behalf of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. ACU opposed the nomination and opposed the cloture motion. The Senate defeated the motion by a vote of 47-52.

This motion would waive budget rules for a veterans' benefits bill that require new spending to be offset by reductions in other spending in order to adhere to the agreed upon spending levels. ACU supports the spending caps and opposed this motion. The Senate defeated the motion on February 27, 2014 by a vote of 56-41 (60 votes were required for passage).