Kentucky Ornithological Society

KOS Action!
Voting Summaries 1999 - 2000
Kentucky's Delegation to the U.S. Senate

ANTI = Anti-environment vote
PRO = Pro-environment vote

22 - On October 12, 2000, the Senate voted to keep two anti-environmental riders in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding bill (HR 4635). These riders would delay a new health standard for arsenic in drinking water and put off alerting communities that their air is too dirty to meet health standards. One rider would prohibit the EPA from officially listing localities with unhealthy smog levels until the end of June 2001. This rider delays the process for cleaning up our air and denies the public critical information about the quality of the air in their community. The rider sets a dangerous precedent and delays implementation of the Clean Air Act. Another rider could delay the EPA's efforts to set a new standard to decrease levels of arsenic, a known cancer-causing poison, in America's drinking water. The new standard is needed to protect millions of Americans from cancer or other health risks. Research by the National Academy of Sciences found that the current standard is insufficient to protect public health and that it should be strengthened as "promptly as possible." Sen. Boxer (D - CA) offered an amendment (S.AMDT. 4308) to strike the arsenic and clean-air riders from HR 4635. The amendment failed on a vote of 63 to 32. Both Kentucky Senators (Bunning & McConnell) voted against the environment and to keep the arsenic and clean-air riders in HR 4635.

    21 - On October 12, 2000, the Senate voted to an anti-environmental rider in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding bill (HR 4635). This rider would stall cleanup of toxic pollution in streams by weakening the EPA's ability to clean up many of the thousands of miles of our nation's rivers, lakes, and bays that are contaminated with toxic waste, including 200 miles of the Hudson River in New York and Connecticut that General Electric contaminated with more than 1 million pounds of PCBs. Sen. Boxer (D - CA) offered an amendment (S.AMDT. 4309) to remove the river clean-up rider from HR 4635. The amendment failed on a vote of 56 to 39. Both Kentucky Senators (Bunning & McConnell) voted against the environment and to keep the river clean-up rider in HR 4635.

20 - On 2 October, 2000, the Senate voted 57 - 37 to approve H.R. 4733, an energy and water appropriations bill. This $23.6 billion package, loaded with scores of home-district projects, blocks the Army Corps of Engineers from reforming Missouri River dam operations so that three federally protected species (the interior least tern, the pallid sturgeon, and the piping plover) may be saved from extinction, blocks efforts to save the endangered silvery minnow [a provision  attached by Sen. Domenici (R-NM)], and eliminates funding for the California Bay-Delta Restoration program. President Clinton has indicated that he will veto this bill. A NO vote was the pro-environment vote. Both Kentucky Senators (McConnell and Bunning) voted YES.

19 - On September 7, 2000, the Senate voted  to keep a rider (S. AMDT. 4081) on the FY'01 energy and water spending bill (HR 4733) that would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from altering Missouri River flows to "replicate the natural flow of the river" and restore habitat essential to the survival and recovery of three listed species: the pallid sturgeon, Least Tern, and
          Piping Plover. YES was the pro-environment vote. Both Jim Bunning & Mitch McConnell voted NO.

18 - On July 18, 2000, Senator's Richard Bryan (D-NV) and Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) offered an amendment that would reduce subsidies for the National Forest System's timber sale program by $30 million and redirect $15 million to the Wildland Fire Management program. It would allocate the remaining funds to the Treasury department for debt reduction. The Bryan/Fitzgerald amendment to the Department of Interior Appropriations bill (H.R. 4578), supported by the Sierra Club, failed in the Senate 45 to 54. YES was the pro-environment vote. Both Kentucky Senators (McConnell & Bunning) voted NO.

17 - On July 18, 2000, during consideration of the Senate Interior Appropriations bill, Senator Don Nickles (R-OK) introduced a damaging amendment to strip the President's authority to designate national monuments. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, the President has the ability to create protected areas on lands owned by the federal government. For example, the current administration has designated the 328,000-acre Giant Sequoia National Monument in northern California to safeguard century-old trees from development. Sen. Nickles's proposed rider would have curtailed the President's powers to protect open spaces, exercised by nearly every President since Teddy Roosevelt's designation of the Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908. The environmental community was strongly opposed to the Nickles amendment, which was defeated by a vote of 49-50. A NO vote was the pro-environment vote. Both Kentucky Senators (McConnell & Bunning) voted YES.

16 - On Wednesday, July 12, 2000, during consideration of the Senate Interior Appropriations bill, a pro-environment amendment, sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), was defeated by a vote of 38 - 62. Sen. Durbin’s amendment would strike a provision allowing the Bureau of Land Management to renew grazing permits without environmental review. Automatic renewal of grazing permits is not necessary, as the BLM will complete the processing of all permits set to expire in 2001 by the end of that year. Further, this provision could actually encourage permit holders with poor environmental records to delay compliance with permit requirements in order to take advantage of this automatic renewal. Senator Durbin moved to strike this provision from the Interior bill, however, supporters of the language insisted the backlog of permits still existed and defeated his motion. YES was the pro-environment vote. Both Kentucky Senators (McConnell & Bunning) voted NO.

15 - On Tuesday, May 2, the U.S. Senate rejected a measure (by a vote of 64-35) to override President Clinton's April 25, 2000, veto of the nuclear waste bill to send high-level nuclear waste to a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. NO was the pro-environment vote. Both Kentucky Senators, Bunning & McConnell, voted YES. In what is likely the last showdown of the year on the nuclear waste issue, proponents of the bill were not able to garner the two-thirds support needed to override Clinton's long promised veto of S. 1287.

S. 1287, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2000, threatened the construction of a safe permanent nuclear waste facility by delaying the setting of standards for radiation exposure at the proposed Yucca Mountain facility and puts communities across the nation at risk from a transport accident. In fact, the legislation would have mandated up to 100,000 shipments of nuclear waste, traveling through 43 states and within half a mile of 50 million Americans over 25 years beginning as soon as 2007. The Nevada Congressional delegation and the adminstration fought diligently to keep nuclear waste out of Yucca Mountain and to ensure high protective standards for radiation.

14 - On April 6, 2000, Senators Roth (R-DE) and Boxer (D-CA) attempted to remove a provision in the Senate FY 2001 budget resolution that assumed $1.2 billion in anticipated revenue from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This provision is a backdoor attempt at opening the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge by Big Oil's Senate allies. Senator Murkowski (R-AK) lead big oil's fight to kill the bipartisan measure. The amendment number 2295 to Sen. Con. Res. 101 was tabled, or killed, in the Senate 51 to 49. A NO vote was the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

13 - On February 10, 2000, the U.S. Senate voted 64-34 to approve legislation to send high-level nuclear waste to a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. S. 1287, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999, would mandate the premature shipment of nuclear waste to Nevada as early as 2006. Specifically, the legislation threatens the construction of a safe permanent nuclear waste facility by delaying the setting of standards for radiation exposure from the facility and puts communities across the nation at risk from a transport accident. In fact, the legislation would mandate up to 100,000 shipments of nuclear waste, traveling through 43 states and within half a mile of 50 million Americans over 25 years. NO is the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

12 - On November 18th, Senators Robert Byrd (D-WV), Larry Craig (R-ID), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attached an anti-environment mining rider (S.AMDT. 2780) to H.J.Res. 82 (and this amendment was co-sponsored by Sen. Jim Bunning), one of the continuing resolutions to keep the government funded. This rider would have given mountaintop coal mines an exemption from federal environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, for dumping mining waste in streams and rivers. The rider would also have prevented the federal government from issuing new regulations for hardrock mines on public lands. Finally, it would have prevented the federal government from limiting the amount of mining waste that can be dumped on federal lands (click here for additional information). The Byrd-McConnell rider passed the Senate by a vote of 56-33. (Fortunately, because the President signed a second CR, or H.J.Res. 83, the Byrd-McConnell rider did not become law.) A No vote on the Byrd-McConnell amendment was the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell voted YES (*Jim Bunning did not vote but was a co-sponsor & obviously supported the amendment).

11 - On November 3, 1999, a bill (H.R. 434) was passed (76 - 19) by the Senate that will extend favorable trade preferences to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean and seeks to promote private investment in both regions. An amendment (S. AMDT. 2483) sponsored by Senator Hollings (D-SC) that would have required that nations negotiate side agreements to protect the environment prior to receiving trade preferences was tabled (killed) by a vote of 57-40 on November 2, 1999. A No vote on the motion to table the amendment was the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

10 - On 23 September, the Senate approved by a vote of 51 - 47 an amendment (S. AMDT. 1603) offered by Texas Senator Hutchison to delay implementation of new rules for computing royalties on oil pumped on federal (public) lands. The new rules would significantly increase royalties to the U.S. Treasury and the states where the drilling occurs. Oil companies, of course, benefit from the current rules (with much lower royalities). A yes vote was the pro-oil industry vote. A NO vote was the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

9 - On 15 September, the Senate rejected by a vote of 40 - 55, an amendment to HR 2466 (S. AMDT. 1677) relating to fuel economy standards for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, and light trucks. A yes vote, the pro-environment vote, was to advocate a fuel-efficiency study of SUVs, minivans, & light trucks. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted NO.

8 - On September 14, the Senate rejected an amendment to cut millions of dollars from the U.S. Forest Service's timber management budget and shift the money to benefit fish and wildlife programs. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Bryan (D-NV), Fitzgerald (R-IL) and Wyden (D-OR), would have cut $34 million in subsidies for logging road construction and timber sales management from the Forest Service budget and redirect $23 million to other parts of the Forest Service budget to pay for road maintenance, wildlife and fisheries habitat management, threatened and endangered species habitat management and debt reduction. A motion from Sen. Craig (R-ID) to table (kill) the pro-environment Bryan amendment passed by a vote of 54-43. NO is the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

7 - On 13 September, the Senate voted 55-40 to continue to delay implementation of new rules for computing royalties on oil pumped on federal (public) lands. The new rules would significantly increase royalties to the U.S. Treasury and the states where the drilling occurs. Oil companies, of course, benefit from the current rules (with much lower royalities). A yes vote was the pro-oil industry vote. A NO vote was the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

6 - On September 9, the Senate approved by a vote of 54 - 44 a revised Sec. 340 rider (S. AMDT. 1621 proposed by Sen Lott) to HR 2466 that would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from taking any action to prohibit mining activities in the watersheds of the Current, Jack Fork, and the Eleven Point rivers in the Missouri Ozarks until June 2001. A NO vote is the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

5 - Sen. Durbin (D-IL) proposed an amendment to HR 2466 (S. AMDT. 1591) that would replace bill language that would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to renew expiring grazing permits under the same terms and conditions as the old permit, with new language that would allow the BLM to modify conditions of grazing permits when they are up for renewal. The amendment was defeated Sept. 9 by a vote of 58-37. A NO vote supports the Durbin amendment & is the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

4 - On September 9, three Senators offered an amendment to strip the Interior Appropriations bill of a pro-logging rider. Senators Robb (D-VA), Cleland (D-GA) and Bingaman (D-NM) offered an amendment to delete section 329 from the bill. Section 329 would allow the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to revise and carry out resource management plans and authorize other management activities, including timber sales, on federal lands without first doing new surveys to determine the impact of the proposed activities on sensitive forest species. Essentially, the BLM would be allowed to bypass new scientific data about wildlife when it carries out land management activities. Proponents of the anti-environment rider used two recent court case decisions to help gain support. These decisions ordered the Forest Service to postpone 34 timber sales in the Pacific Northwest because they had failed to do these surveys. According to the court rulings, the Forest Service must first complete new wildlife surveys prior to approving new management plans for national forests. The rulings, which are temporary injunctions, have effectively halted logging in those national forests pending completion of new surveys. The timber industry worked hard to bypass the court rulings and pass this rider so timber sales throughout the country can proceed without species surveys. The amendment failed by a vote of 45-52. YES is the pro-environment vote. Section 329 remains in the Senate Interior Bill. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted NO.

3 - The U.S. Senate voted on July 27, 1999, to attach an anti-environmental mining rider to the FY2000 Interior Appropriations bill. This rider would allow unlimited dumping of toxic mining waste on public lands. Opposing the measure, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced a pro-environment amendment to strike this rider. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AL) moved to table (kill) the Murray/Durbin amendment. The Senate voted 55-41 to table the Murray/Durbin amendment and to allow the original anti-environmental rider to be included in the Appropriations bill. The pro-environment vote on the Stevens motion to table was NO. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

2 - Fossil energy use and production are responsible for more than 95 percent of air pollution and most greenhouse gas emissions, while commercial nuclear power plants produce the majority of radioactive waste. Development of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass would lower air pollution and other environmental impacts associated with energy generation. Furthermore, development of renewables would reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil and expand the U.S. economy through technological advances, domestic job creation and export markets. In its proposed fiscal year 2000 budget, the Clinton administration sought to increase funding for the Energy Department’s renewable energy programs, but the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to cut the administration’s budget request by 22 percent—$18 million less than Congress approved for renewable energy programs in fiscal 1999. During Senate consideration of the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT) was prepared to offer an amendment that would have added $62 million to the Energy Department’s solar and renewable energy programs. Opponents of the Jeffords amendment claimed that it violated Senate budget rules because it did not provide a valid “offset” (compensating spending reduction) for its funding increase. On June 16, 1999, in a procedural vote called by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate voted 60 – 39 to block the Jeffords amendment from being considered by the full Senate. NO is the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted YES.

1 - Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the largest protected marine ecosystem on the Pacific coast of North America. Since its establishment in 1925, it has offered opportunities for both public enjoyment and scientific study while at the same time preserving unique glacial formations and marine life. Glacier Bay has the world’s largest concentration of tidewater glaciers, and its waters support a variety of marine life including three different types of whales, as well as harbor seals, porpoises and sea otters. Until recently, however, these values and resources were threatened by commercial fishing. In October 1998, as part of the omnibus appropriations package, Congress and the Clinton administration reached an agreement to phase out commercial fishing in the Bay, while authorizing fishing in park waters outside of the actual Bay. This agreement resolved more than a decade of controversy over the issue. However, during consideration of the February supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 1999, Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) offered an amendment to prohibit any expenditure of federal funds to implement the phase-out, pending a court decision on a state of Alaska lawsuit questioning federal jurisdiction of submerged lands. Murkowski’s amendment would have had the effect of reopening the Bay to commercial fishing and was opposed by the Clinton administration, the Park Service and environmentalists. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) offered a motion to table the Murkowski amendment. The Senate rejected the motion 40-59. YES on the motion to table is the pro-environment vote. Mitch McConnell & Jim Bunning voted NO.

% Pro-environment votes during this & previous sessions of Congress
(as compiled by the League of Conservation Voters)

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