HR 976, the expansion and reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), was vetoed by President Bush, who expressed concerns that the expansion was too expensive and would cover middle-class families. The House on Thursday had a vote to override the veto. The vote failed 273-156 (a 2/3 majority is required to override a veto). Click here to view the posted summary and the vote breakdown. Remember, to view the votes, click "How Members Voted" in the upper right.

For information on other votes in Congress, click below!



HR 3093 is an appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce and Justice and for science and related agencies, including NASA and the decennial census. This bill passed the Senate by a vote of 75-19. One of the more contentious aspects of the bill is that is allocates over $650 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services program (COPS), which provides funding to local law enforcement for hiring and purchasing equipment. For the votes, click here. Expect a summary next week.

H Res 734 passed the House on October 16. This non-binding resolution expresses the sense of the House that the Department of State was wrong to retroactively classify documents believed to implicate members of the government in Iraq in corruption matters. The resolution passed the House by a vote of 395-21. Click here for the vote, and we'll have a summary next week.

The House also passed HR 2102 on October 16. This bill prohibits the federal government or media organizations from compelling journalists to disclose their sources or other information unless the information/source identity is necessary to prevent a terror attack, to help in a criminal investigation, and other similar exceptions. View the vote here, and expect a summary next week.

On October 18, the Senate voted to reject an amendment that would ban the use of funds from being used to provide grants to organizations that perform abortions. View the vote here, and we'll have a summary up for you in a few days. The amendment was S Amdt 3330 to HR 3043. It failed by a vote of 41-52.

If you have any questions about these, or other votes, please send us an email at comments@votesmart.org or call us on our hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART (1-888-868-3762).

Until next time, Informed Voter.

-The Key Votes Department