The freedom index: a congressional scorecard based on the U.S. Constitution.(CONGRESS)(Table)

Our second look at the 110th Congress shows how every, representative and senator voted on key issues, such as the REAL ID Act, foreign aid, the NAFTA Superhighway, and the DREAM Act.

House Vote Description

11 Funding the REAL ID Act (National ID). During consideration of the Homeland Security appropriations bill, Representative Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) offered an amendment to reallocate $150 million of the bill's funding to provide grant money for assisting states in conforming to the REAL ID Act of 2005. The REAL ID Act requires all states to issue standardized driver's licenses that would serve as national ID cards. It was supposed to go into effect three years alter the enactment of the act, but because of resistance from the states, the deadline has been extended to 2010 for states that request an extension. Once enacted, a federal agency would not be allowed to accept for any official purpose a driver's license or ID card issued by a state that fails to meet the act's requirements.

The House rejected the Bilbray amendment by a vote of 155-268 (Roll Call 479) on June 15, 2007. We have assigned pluses to the "nays" because the act would effectively create a national ID card.

12 Foreign Aid. The fiscal 2008 foreign-aid appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) would authorize $34.4 billion for foreign operations and economic assistance. This amount represents another huge increase over similar House-passed appropriations for previous fiscal years--$21.3 billion for 2007, $20.3 billion for 2006, and $19.4 billion for 2005.

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The House passed the bill by a vote of 241-178 (Roll Call 542) on June 22, 2007. We have assigned pluses to the "nays" because foreign aid is unconstitutional.