Our 2009-2012 Senate Voting Record is now up. If you’re unfamiliar with our scorecard, we analyze congressional votes as one measurement of Senators’ and Representatives’ positions on key national security issues. This task has become more difficult in past years as the Senate has avoided controversial votes.
Over the past two years, there have been only four votes that provide a good indication of where Senators stand on defense and foreign policy topics. As a result, we have combined key votes over the past four years to produce our voting record, including a number of key votes during Senate consideration of the New START nuclear reductions treaty in 2010.
Although these votes provide a good measure of where Senators stand on key national security issues, they are only one measure of a Senator’s positions, ideology and effectiveness. Also important are their work in committee, leadership on issues and ability to build coalitions and secure majorities.
With this imperfect measuring stick, we have listed votes of Senators in office. For those with up to 12 votes, we calculated a percentage “right.” For those in office only two years, we did not list a score; four votes is not a sufficient sample of key issues.
Of those Senators in office all four years covered by this voting record, 22 Democratic and Independent Senators scored a perfect 100%. Though most Republican Senators finished with a zero, six scored a 50% or above.
Senators with a 100% score:
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Al Franken (D-MN)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
John Rockefeller (D-WV)
Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Mark Udall (D-CO)
Tom Udall (D-NM)
The highest Republican scores were:
Richard Lugar (R-IN) 83%
ScottBrown (R-MA) 67%
SusanCollins (R-ME) 58%
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 58%
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) 58%
Bob Corker(R-TN) 50%
These results point to a clear need to elect additional Senators who will support and advocate further cuts in nuclear weapons, expanded non-proliferation programs to safeguard and secure all nuclear weapons and materials across the globe and ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
How did your Senators do on our voting record? Click here to find out.
