The Foreign Service Journal, October 2006

members participate in this part of the legislative process. The scorecard, then, should only serve to provide a gen- eral impression of an individual’s engagement and views. In addition, most votes, including many of those we have selected, are complex and subject to a variety of fac- tors. A vote against funding for contributions to interna- tional organizations, for example, may be due to princi- pled objections to that organization, or to a desire simply to reduce government spending, or even to principled support coupled with a desire to preserve the legislative process by placing such funding only in annual appropria- tions, rather than in an emergency supplemental. We encourage you, then, to visit your representative and sen- ators’ Web sites, if possible, or write them and ask why they voted a certain way and what their motivating princi- ples of action truly are. Ideally, the AFSA scorecard should be influential, but not decisive, as you determine for whom you will cast your ballot. The scorecard for the 109th Congress is the result of significant work on the part of three legislative affairs interns: Laura Aylward (AFSA, spring 2006), Chris Aresu (COLEAD, summer 2006) and Andrew Rohrbach (AFSA, summer 2006). Their timely and valuable effort on this report is much appreciated. In conclusion, we strongly encourage all eligible mem- bers of AFSA and their families to vote this November. AFSA’S 109TH CONGRESS VOTING PROFILE SENATE 1. FAMILY PLANNING FY06 & 07 Foreign Relations Authorization/Family Planning (S. 600): Amendment to overturn a regulation preventing personnel at clinics that receive USAID fund- ing from discussing or providing abortions. VOTE: 52-46, 04/05/05 (R: 8-46; D: 43-0; I: 1-0). 2. CUBA BROADCASTING FY06 & 07 Foreign Relations Authorization/Cuba Broadcasting (S. 600): Motion to table (kill) an amend- ment to end TV broadcasting to Cuba (TVMarti). VOTE: 65-35, 04/06/05 (R: 53-2; D: 12-32; I: 0-1). 3. U.N. PEACEKEEPING FY06 & 07 Foreign Relations Authorization/U.N. Peacekeeping (S. 600): Amendment to freeze for two years the level of U.S. contributions to U.N. peacekeeping missions at 27.1 percent of aggregate international contri- butions, rather than allow it to automatically decrease to 25 percent. VOTE: 40-57, 04/06/05 (R: 0-54; D: 39-3; I: 1-0). 4. TRADE LAWS FY06 Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations/Trade Laws (H.R. 2862): Amendment to prohibit U.S. trade negotiators from agreeing to any deal which would alter certain U.S. trade laws that act as economic safeguards, including those which prevent foreign companies from flooding American markets with artificially-priced goods. VOTE: 39-60, 09/15/05 (R: 8-47; D: 31-12; I: 0-1). 5. STATE DEPARTMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATION FY06 Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations/ Conference Report (H.R. 2862): Appropriation of approximately $9.7 billion for the Department of State. VOTE: 94-5, 11/16/05 (R: 53-2; D: 40-3; I: 1-0). 6. HUMAN RIGHTS FY07 Budget Resolution/Human Rights (S. Con. Res. 83): Amendment to transfer $4 million to border security from support for the U.N. Human Rights Council. VOTE: 50-50, 03/16/06 (R: 48-7; D: 2-42; I: 0-1). 7. FOREIGN-HELD U.S. DEBT Debt Ceiling Increase/Foreign-Held Debt (H. J. Res. 47): Amendment to require the Secretary of the Treasury to study the effect of foreign entities holding U.S. debt. VOTE: 44-55, 03/16/06 (R: 0-55; D: 43-0; I: 1-0). 8. IRAQ FY07 Defense Authorization/Iraq (S. 2766): Amend- ment to require the beginning of withdrawals of U.S. S C O R E C A R D 54 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 6