Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:
Vote Smart provides a summary of the version of the bill text associated with each selected key vote. Our summaries are written by Vote Smart's staff and interns, who adhere to our strict policies and procedures in order to guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. They do not necessarily reflect the content of the final version of the bill, but rather the version voted on in that stage. While many procedural votes take place before a full chamber vote, our voting stages reflect the final reading of each chamber vote. Each key vote selection is reviewed by the project's community of advisors, who are political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.
For more information about the legislative process, see here.
| Date | State | Bill No. | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2014 | National | H Amdt 679 | Prohibits Funds from Being Used to Implement the New START Treaty | Amendment Adopted - House (233 - 191) |
| May 22, 2014 | National | HR 4435 | Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 | Bill Passed - House (325 - 98) |
| May 21, 2014 | National | H Amdt 669 | Amends Intercontinental-Range Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) Laws | Amendment Adopted - House (222 - 196) |
| Sept. 18, 2013 | National | H Amdt 463 | Amends the Definition of "Strategic and Critical Minerals" | Amendment Rejected - House (187 - 241) |
| Sept. 18, 2013 | National | H Amdt 466 | Requires Mine Operators to Include the Cost of Cleanup in Financial Insurance | Amendment Rejected - House (191 - 235) |
| Sept. 18, 2013 | National | HR 761 | National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - House (246 - 178) |
| July 24, 2013 | National | H Amdt 413 | Prohibits the National Security Agency from Collecting Records Under the PATRIOT Act | Amendment Rejected - House (205 - 217) |
| July 24, 2013 | National | HR 2397 | Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014 | Bill Passed - House (315 - 109) |
| July 23, 2013 | National | H Amdt 375 | Prohibits the Use of Funds to Appoint Chaplains Without an Endorsing Agency | Amendment Adopted - House (253 - 173) |
| June 14, 2013 | National | HR 1960 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 | Bill Passed - House (315 - 108) |
| June 14, 2013 | National | H Amdt 167 | Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen | Amendment Adopted - House (236 - 188) |
| June 14, 2013 | National | H Amdt 168 | Establishes Framework for the Closing of the Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by December 1, 2014 | Amendment Rejected - House (174 - 249) |
| June 6, 2013 | National | HR 2217 | Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014 | Bill Passed - House (245 - 182) |
| June 4, 2013 | National | H Amdt 84 | Authorizes Funds for the Construction of United States Prison for Prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba | Amendment Rejected - House (170 - 254) |
| April 18, 2013 | National | HR 624 | Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act | Bill Passed - House (288 - 127) |
| March 21, 2013 | National | HR 933 | Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (318 - 109) |
| March 6, 2013 | National | HR 933 | Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 | Bill Passed - House (267 - 151) |
| Dec. 20, 2012 | National | HR 4310 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 | Conference Report Adopted - House (315 - 107) |
| Sept. 13, 2012 | National | HR 6365 | National Security and Job Protection Act | Bill Passed - House (223 - 196) |
| Sept. 12, 2012 | National | HR 5949 | FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 | Bill Passed - House (301 - 118) |
| July 19, 2012 | National | HR 5856 | Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2013 | Bill Passed - House (326 - 90) |
| May 18, 2012 | National | HR 4310 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 | Bill Passed - House (299 - 120) |
| May 18, 2012 | National | H Amdt 1140 | Prohibits Reductions to Strategic Nuclear Arms Required by New START | Amendment Adopted - House (238 - 162) |
| May 18, 2012 | National | H Amdt 1127 | Repeals Indefinite Military Detention Provisions | Amendment Rejected - House (182 - 238) |
| May 17, 2012 | National | H Amdt 1103 | Limits Funding for War in Afghanistan to the Withdrawal of U.S. Forces | Amendment Rejected - House (113 - 303) |