A total of ten votes were used to score the current Senate on their views of social and defense related issues. Senators that were defeated in the 2004 or 2002 election were not scored, and Senators elected in 2004 did not have a voting record to be scored. Senators Salazar (Colorado), Martinez (Florida), Isakson (Georgia), Obama (Illinois), Vitter (Louisiana), Burr (North Carolina), Coburn (Oklahoma), DeMint (South Carolina), and Thune (South Dakota) are therefore not included. Senators that were elected in 2002 were scored based only on the votes they could have voted for. This means that Senators Murkowski (Alaska), Pryor (Arkansas), Coleman (Minnesota), Talent (Missouri), Sununu (New Hampshire), Lautenberg (New Jersey), Alexander (Tennessee), and Cornyn (Texas) were scored on eight votes, not ten. If a Senator was in office it was assumed he could have voted on the legislation and not-voting was scored the same as voting against the position favored by the scorecard. This contributed to the extremely low score of Senator Kerry, who spent most of his time campaigning instead of being a Senator.

Vote 1- USA PATRIOT Act: On October 25, 2001 the Senate quickly voted on the USA PATRIOT Act, with several members not even bothering to read it. The legislation was pushed through the Congress by the President Bush, Attorney General Ashcroft, and their Republican allies in Congress. Although now many Senators have voiced their opposition to the Patriot Act, only one voted against it originally: Senator Feingold (D-WI).

Vote 2- Authorization of Force in Iraq: On October 11, 2002 the Senate granted President Bush a blank check to invade Iraq without no restrictions or prerequisites. By handing over their constitutional ability to declare war, the Senate allowed the United States to enter into an occupation which currently has no exit strategy and no signs of ending. The authorization, which passed 77-23, is on this scorecard with the “no” position graded favorable.

Vote 3- Amendment to the Treaty of Moscow: On March 6, 2003 Senator Levin (D-MI) offered an amendment to the Treaty of Moscow, an arms control treaty signed with Russia. Although the treaty went on to being unanimously approved by the Senate, many were concerned that the treaty’s text did not contain any restrictions on the ability of either party to withdraw from the treaty. The Senate, through its constitutional role in approving treaties, has the ability to add on additional amendments. Senator Levin’s amendment would restrict the ability of the President to withdraw from the treaty without consulting Congress. The amendment failed 44-50, but is included on this scorecard because of its role in defining the relationship between the Senate and the President.

Vote 4- Partial Birth Abortion Ban: On March 13, 2003, the Senate approved the Partial Birth Abortion Ban by a vote of 64-33. This vote was included on the scorecard because it is viewed as an attack on federalism and states, not the national government, have the rights to regulate and restrict late term abortions.

Vote 5- Government Surveillance Powers: The Senate passed, on May 8, 2003, the “Lone Wolf” Act that would expand the government’s surveillance powers by a vote of 90 to 4. Like the Patriot Act, this is viewed as an unnecessary and dangerous invasion of the privacy granted to all American citizens by the 4th Amendment.

Vote 6- Reporting on Guantanamo Bay Detainees: On July 16, 2003, the Senate voted to table a measure that would have made public the names of persons at Guantanamo Bay and provide information on when and whether they would be charged with a crime or sent back to their home countries. The vote to table the measure, which was successful 52-42, is included and the “no” vote is favored by the scorecard.

Vote 7- Missile Defense: Senator Levin of Michigan introduced an Amendment on June 22, 2004 that would shift $515.5 million in the defense authorization bill from national missile defense to nuclear nonproliferation programs and other anti-terrorism programs. This vote was included because it judges the type of defense the Senator favors, while the Economic scorecard contained a vote concerning defense related pork. The scorecard favors an emphasis on homeland security and proven measures to protect Americans and not fanciful science fiction. The amendment was rejected 44 to 56.

Vote 8- Secrecy of the Intelligence Budget: An amendment was proposed to the 9/11 Commission Recommendation Act that would have reduced public access to information regarding intelligence funding. This amendment was tabled on October 4, 2004, by a vote of 55 to 37. The scorecard opposed this amendment because it would restrict the public’s ability to oversee and check the sometimes questionable activities of intelligence agencies.

Vote 9- Assault Weapons Ban Renewal: Senator Feinstein (D-CA) introduced an amendment on March 2, 2004 that would have renewed the assault weapons ban. This scorecard opposed efforts to renew the ban because of the broad nature of the guns bans, the lack of evidence for it discouraging crime, and its violation of the 2nd Amendment. The amendment passed 52 to 47, and the scorecard grades in favor of the “no” position.

Vote 10- Federal Marriage Constitutional Amendment: The Senate voted 48 to 50 on July 14, 2004 on a cloture motion against forcing a vote on the amendment known as the Federal Marriage Constitutional Amendment. This amendment would deny the right to marry to all same-sex couples and undermine other same-sex unions created by state law. The scorecard supported voting against this motion.

Because of the inclusion of the Patriot Act only one Senator had the possibility of scoring 100% on the scorecard, Senator Feingold of Wisconsin who was the only Senator to vote against it. In the final result Senator Feingold achieved the highest score by voting with the scorecard on every vote. This was particularly amazing given the inclusion of the Feinstein Amendment that would renew the assault weapons ban. Feingold broke with his party in opposing the Amendment, which was one of the few pieces of legislation backed by a large number of Republicans in this scorecard.

Other high ranking Senators were Senator Durbin of Illinois (80%), Senator Boxer of California (70%), Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes of Maryland (Both 70%), Senators Levin and Stabenow of Michigan (Both 70%), Senator Dayton of Minnesota (70%), Senator Baucus of Montana (70%), Senator Bingaman of New Mexico (70%), Senator Wyden of Oregon (70%), Senator Reed of Rhode Island (70%), Senator Jeffords of Vermont (70%), and Senator Murray of Washington (70%). Senator Durbin, the second highest, deviated only on two votes: the Patriot Act and the Feinstein Amendment.

Most of the mentioned Democratic Senators voted for the Feinstein Amendment, which is a particular concern for the DFC as it works to encourage a more sensible gun rights platform within the Democratic Party. The Democrats that joined Senator Feingold in opposing the Feinstein Amendment were Senator Baucus, Senator Landrieu of Louisiana (60%), Senator Nelson of Nebraska (30%), and Senator Reid of Nevada (60%).

The average for the Senate chamber was 35.41%. The pieces of legislation with the most Senators were opposing the secrecy of the intelligence budget and voting against the assault weapons ban. The least popular was obviously opposing the Patriot Act and opposing an expansion of the government’s surveillance powers. Overall Democrats scored above Republicans, with the average Democrat scoring 58.72% when counting Jeffords as a Democrat and the average Republican scoring 14.53%. The highest Republican Senators were Senator Chafee of Rhode Island (40%) and Senator Sununu of New Hampshire (37.5%). Several Republicans scored a 0%, Senator Warner of Virginia, Senator Smith of Oregon, and Senator Lugar of Indiana. No Democratic Senator scored that low, but Senator Kerry, who spent much of his time campaigning instead of voting, scored 20% because of missing so many votes.

In 2006 one third of the Senate will be up for reelection. The score of these Senators is of particular importance as the voters will soon be able to decide on if they wish to reelect them or not. Four Senators have already declared that they will not run for another term, Senator Sarbanes of Maryland (70%), Senator Dayton of Minnesota (70%), Senator Frist of Tennessee (10%), and Senator Jeffords of Vermont (70%). Several other Senate races are already expected to be battlegrounds, and the following are potentially vulnerable incumbents:

Arizona: Republican Senator Kyl (10%)
Florida: Democratic Senator Nelson (40%)
Michigan: Democratic Senator Stabenow (70%)
Missouri: Republican Senator Bond (10%)
Montana: Republican Senator Burns (10%)
Nebraska: Democratic Senator Nelson (30%)
North Dakota: Democratic Senator Conrad (50%)
Pennsylvania: Republican Senator Santorum (20%)
Rhode Island: Republican Senator Chafee (40%)
Virginia: Republican Senator Allen (10%)
West Virginia: Democratic Senator Byrd (40%)

I have presented the entire scorecard with a breakdown of how each Senator voted in a document file. X's indicate that the Senator was not able to vote. Blanks indicated that the Senator did not vote with the scorecard, either because they cast a vote against the scorecard or were absent. A 10 indicates that the Senator voted with the scorecard. The Total is their raw score, while the Percent indicates their score based on how many possible votes they could have cast.