The People
Group Ratings
National Journal Ratings
Election Results
Campaign Finance
Key Votes

The Almanac of American Politics is designed to be self-explanatory. The following guide provides a brief description of each section and a list of sources from which information was derived, both of which serve as a road map to understanding the meaning behind the figures. In addition some of the data, such as interest group ratings and key votes of the 107th Congress, will be updated regularly on the Almanac website. This website is for the exclusive use of purchasers of the 2002 edition of The Almanac. For information on how to subscribe to this free service, please see the insert card towards the middle of the book.

Unemployment. All unemployment figures are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20210, 202-691-5200, www.bls.gov. These figures represent the average rate of unemployment for each state for 2000.

Registered Voters. Registered voter numbers are from the individual states' election bureaus or political parties, and represent the number of voters officially registered as close as possible to the November 2000 election. Some states have no voter registration.

Political Lineup. This block includes the names of top state officials as well as a breakdown by party of the state legislative bodies. The names of U.S. senators and a party breakdown of the state's congressional delegation are also provided.

Presidential Vote. The 1996 and 2000 presidential vote is included for each state and congressional district. Presidential vote by congressional district was derived from state, county and precinct results as compiled by the staff of the National Committee for an Effective Congress (NCEC), 122 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, 202-638-8300, www.ncec.org. The 1996 presidential vote by congressional district was recalculated in eight states to reflect redistricting (remapping) changes. The eight states are: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Results of the presidential primaries were provided by the states and the FEC; caucus results are not provided. The general election returns for the states were compiled from official state election results. The total of the congressional district votes may not add up to the total state vote, because some votes (overseas, military) cannot be assigned to a congressional district. By June 2000, the third party vote for Texas was unavailable at the congressional district level. While the vote totals for Bush and Gore are correct, the percentages could vary slightly with the addition of the third party data; the additional data will be posted on our website when it becomes available.

Biography. This section lists when each governor, senator and representative was elected or appointed, date and place of birth, home, college education and degrees obtained (if any), religion, marital status and, if applicable, spouse's name. The number of terms listed reflects full, elected terms. Also listed is a brief outline of the politician's past elected offices, professional career and military service and his or her office addresses and telephone numbers. Committee and subcommittee assignments, as of June 15, 2000, are provided as well. (Note: On many committees, the chairman and ranking minority member are ex officio members of each subcommittee on which they do not hold a regular assignment.)

Ratings
Group Ratings. The congressional rating statistics of 11 interest groups provide an idea of a legislator's general ideology and the degree to which the legislator represents different groups' interests. Not just a record of liberal/conservative voting behavior, these ratings come from a range of groups concerned with everything from single issues (environmental concerns) to the political interests of a particular sector (e.g., businesses). The order of the groups is such that the more "liberal" groups are on the left and the more "conservative" are on the right. Four groups, ACLU, ITIC, NTLC and CHC provide one rating for the two-year congressional session. Following is a general description of each organization, its address and telephone number.

ADA - Americans for Democratic Action
1625 K St., N.W., #210, Washington, D.C. 20006, 202-785-5980, www.adaction.org.
   Liberal: Since its founding in 1947, ADA members have pushed for legislation designed to reduce inequality, curtail rising defense spending, prevent encroachments on civil liberties and promote international human rights. The ADA uses a broad spectrum of issues for its vote analysis.

ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union
122 Maryland Ave., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202-544-1681, www.aclu.org.
   Pro-individual liberties: ACLU seeks to protect individuals from legal, executive and congressional infringement on basic rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The ACLU ratings are published for every Congress; the 2000 ratings include the years 1999 and 2000.

AFS - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
1625 L St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, 202-429-1000, www.afscme.org.
   Liberal Labor: As the nation's largest public employee and health care workers union, representing more than 1.3 million members, AFSCME is committed to achieving dignity and improving working conditions through collective bargaining. The AFSCME voting records are based on a representative sample of roll call votes from the First and Second Sessions of the 106th Congress.

LCV - League of Conservation Voters
1920 L St., N.W., #800, Washington, D.C. 20036, 202-785-8683, www.lcv.org.
   Environmental: Formed in 1970, LCV is the national, non-partisan arm of the environmental movement. LCV works to elect pro-environmental candidates to Congress. LCV ratings are based on key votes concerning energy, environment and natural resource issues, selected by leaders from major national environmental organizations.

CON - Concord Coalition
1819 19th St., N.W., #800, Washington, D.C. 20006, 202-467-6222, www.concordcoalition.org.
   Pro-Balanced Budget: The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to eliminating the federal budget deficit and reforming entitlement programs. The Coalition, with members and active chapters in all 50 states, is determined to educate the American public about the dangers of the federal deficit.

ITIC - Information Technology Industry Council
1250 I Street, N.W., #200, Washington, DC 20005, 202-737-8888, www.itic.org.
   High Technology Industry: ITI represents the leading U.S. providers of information technology products and services. ITI's mission is to help shape policies that advance electronic commerce, open new markets, rely on market-based solutions, and foster innovation. ITI's High Tech Voting Guide ratings are based on key votes that encourage productivity and innovation and sustain U.S. economic growth and leadership in the Information Age.

NTU - National Taxpayers Union
108 N. Alfred St., Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-683-5700, www.ntu.org.
   Pro-Taxpayer Rights: NTU is the nation's largest and oldest taxpayers' rights group, representing 300,000 members in all 50 states. NTU analyzes every roll call vote taken during both sessions of Congress that significantly affects federal taxes, spending, debt, or regulatory impact.

COC - Chamber of Commerce of the United States
1615 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20062, 202-659-6000, www.uschamber.org.
   Pro-business: Founded in 1912 as a voice for organized business, COC represents local, regional and state chambers of commerce in addition to trade and professional organizations.

ACU - American Conservative Union
1007 Cameron St., Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-836-8602, www.conservative.org.
   Conservative: Since 1971, ACU ratings have provided a means of gauging the conservatism of members of Congress. Foreign policy, social and budget issues are their primary concerns.

NTLC - National Tax-Limitation Committee
151 North Sunrise Ave., #901, Roseville, CA 95661, 916-786-9400, www.limittaxes.org.
   Pro-tax limitation: NTLC was organized in 1975 to seek constitutional and other limits on taxes, spending and deficits at the state and federal levels. NTLC actively pursues a balanced budget/tax limitation amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These ratings are based on budget issue votes and bills which would have a major impact on long-term government taxing and spending programs.

CHC - Christian Coalition
499 South Capitol Street, S.W., #615, Washington, D.C. 20003, 202-479-6900, www.cc.org.
   Conservative: Pro-family citizen organization and national lobby founded in 1989 working for family-friendly public policy on a local, state and national level with over 1.5 million members and activists.

National Journal Ratings
National Journal's rating system establishes an objective method of analyzing congressional voting. A panel of National Journal editors and staff initially compiled a list of congressional roll call votes and classified them as either economic, social or foreign policy-related. The interrelationship of these votes was shown by a statistical procedure called "principal components analysis," which revealed which "yea" votes and which "nay" votes fit a liberal or a conservative pattern. The votes in each of the three subject areas were computer-weighted to reflect the degree they fit the common pattern. All members of Congress who participated in at least half of the votes in each area received ratings; those who missed more that half the votes were not scored (shown as *). Absences and abstentions were not counted.
   Members of Congress were then ranked according to relative liberalism and conservatism. Finally, they were assigned percentiles showing their rank relative to others in their chamber. Percentile scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 99. Because some members voted liberal or conservative on every roll call, however, there are ties at the liberal and conservative ends of each scale. For that reason, the maximum percentiles often turn out to be less than 99.

Election Results
Listed for each member of the House are results of the 2000 general, runoff and primary elections, as well as the 1998 general elections (results of any special elections are also listed). Gubernatorial and senatorial results are presented in a like manner. Votes and percentages are included, indicating the margin of victory (due to the process of rounding up and rounding down, some totals may equal more or less than 100%). Candidates receiving less than 4% of the total vote are grouped together and listed as "Other." Dollar amounts listed to the right of the vote totals are campaign expenditures as reported by the candidate to the Federal Election Commission. Election returns were collected from the individual states.

Campaign Finance
All data are derived from candidates' campaign finance reports and party reports available from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), 999 E St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20463, 202-694-1000 (toll free, 1-800-424-9530). The dollar figure, in parentheses to the right of the election results, represent the candidates net disbursements (expenditures) for the period beginning January 1, 1997, and ending December 31, 1998. These figures may not include candidate loans which have been repaid, nor does it include any corrections or amendments filed with the FEC after May 1, 1999.

Key Votes
The Key Votes section attempts to illustrate a legislator's stance on important votes where he or she must vote for or against a national issue. The process grossly oversimplifies the legislative system where months of debate, amendment, pressure, persuasion, and compromise go into a final floor vote. However, the voting record remains the best indication of a member's general ideologies and position on specific issues. Following is a list of key votes used. A member who was absent, voted present, or who was not in office at the time of a particular vote receives an "X". Roll-call data were drawn from Congressional Observer Publications at www.proaxis.com/cop, a private legislative tracking company.

House Votes, 106th Congress:

1. Patient Bill of Rights (HR 2723) Establish a patients' "bill of rights" in dealing with health maintenance organizations. Oct. 7, 1999. (275-151) (D: 206-2; R: 68-149; I: 1-0)

2. Accelerate Min. Wage (HR 3846) Increase the minimum wage by $1.00 in two years, rather than three years as reported by the House committee. March 9, 2000. (246-179) (D: 203-5; R: 42-173; I: 1-1)

3. Strike Ban on Ergo. Stnd. (HR 4577) Strike ban on federal standard for ergonomic protection. June 8, 2000. (203-220) (D: 188-16; R: 14-203; I: 1-1)

4. Ovrd. Estate Tax Veto (HR 8) Override President Clinton's veto of phase-out of estate and gift taxes. Sept. 7, 2000. (274-157; failed to receive the required two-thirds) (D: 53-155; R: 220-1; I: 1-1)

5. Bar RU-486 $ for FDA (HR 1906) Bar funding for Food and Drug Administration review of the RU-486 drug for the chemical inducement of abortion. June 8, 1999. (217-214) (D: 36-173; R: 181-40; I: 0-1)

6. Display 10 Commandments (HR 1501) Permit state and local governments to display the Ten Commandments on public property. June 17, 1999. (248-180) (D: 45-164; R: 203-15; I: 0-1)

7. Gun Show Bkgrnd. Checks (HR 2122) Require certain gun show dealers to perform background checks within three days. June 17, 1999. (193-235) (D: 159-49; R: 33-186; I: 1-0)

8. Ban Part.-Birth Abortion (HR 3660) Ban partial-birth abortions. April 5, 2000. (287-141) (D: 77-132; R: 209-8; I: 1-1)

9. NATO War in Serbia (HConRes 42) Authorize deployment of U.S. military forces in the NATO peacekeeping operation planned for Kosovo. March 11, 1999. (219-191) (D: 174-18; R: 44-173; I: 1-0)

10. Perm. Trade with China (HR 4444) Authorize permanent trade relations with China. May 24, 2000. (237-197) (D: 73-138; R: 164-57; I: 0-2)

11. Debt Relief for 3rd World (HR 4811) Provide debt relief for heavily-indebted nations. July 13, 2000. (216-211) (D: 189-16; R: 26-194; I: 1-1)

12. Drop Cuba Econ. Embargo (HR 4871) Drop enforcement of U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. July 20, 2000. (174-241) (D: 149-52; R: 24-188; I: 1-1)

1. Educ. Savings Accts. (S 1134) Establish tax-free education savings accounts for children in public or private schools. March 2, 2000. (61-37) (D: 9-35; R: 52-2)

2. Prescrip. Drug Benefit (SConRes 101) Procedural vote to establish a prescription-drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. April 5, 2000. (51-49; failed to receive the required 60 votes) (D: 45-0; R: 6-49)

3. Delay Ergo. Standards (HR 4577) Delay federal standards for ergonomic protection for one year. June 22, 2000. (57-41) (D: 3-40; R: 54-1)

4. Phase Out Estate Tax (HR 8) Phase out estate and gift taxes from the income tax code. July 14, 2000. (59-39) (D: 9-35; R: 50-4)

5. Review Movie Violence (S 254) Require federal review of violence in movies or television shows produced on federal property. May 19, 1999. (66-34) (D: 16-29; R: 50-5)

6. Gun Show Bckgrnd. Checks (S 254) Require background checks on persons who buy guns at gun shows. May 20, 1999. (51-50; Vice President Gore broke tie) (D: 44-1; R: 6-49)

7. Ban Part.-Birth Abortion (S 1692) Approve ban on late-term procedure known as partial-birth abortion. Oct. 21, 1999. (63-34) (D: 14-31; R: 48-3)

8. Broaden Hate Crimes List (S 2549) Broaden coverage of federal hate crimes. June 20, 2000. (57-42) (D: 44-1; R: 13-41)

9. NATO War in Serbia (SConRes 21) Authorize Clinton to wage aircraft and missile operations as part of the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia. March 23, 1999. (58-41) (D: 42-3; R: 16-38)

10. Table Cuba Travel Ban (S 1234) Table proposal to bar presidential regulation of U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba. June 30, 1999. (55-43) (D: 12-33; R: 43-10)
11. Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Oct. 13, 1999. (48-51) (D: 44-0; R: 4-51) (Bob Smith (NH) technically voted as an Independent.)

12. Perm. Trade with China (HR 4444) Authorize permanent trade relations with China. Sept. 19, 2000. (83-15) (D: 37-7; R: 46-8)

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