HOME RUN (H RUN): This Congressperson took a stand for the American people. +10 points

AWOL: This Congressperson was AWOL when the American people needed him/her to take a stand. -5 points  THIS SOMETIMES RESULTS IN OTHERWISE EXCELLENT-SCORING  HOUSE MEMBERS RECEIVING A LOWER SCORE.  FOR INSTANCE, ON THIS CHART, RON PAUL PROBABLY WOULD HAVE RECEIVED A PERFECT SCORE IF HE HAD NOT MISSED HALF OF THE VOTES.  INSTEAD OF 100 POINTS,  HE GOT 25 POINTS, RESULTING IN HIS PERCENTAGE BEING BELOW 70%. 

STRIKE: This Congressperson voted or agreed to an outcome harmful to the American people, freedom and/or democracy. -10 points

STRIKE PRESENT (STRP) and HOME RUN PRESENT (HRP): PRESENT is usually a protest vote.  When the protest vote would make a difference (or if a combination of the AWOLs and PRESENT votes added together would make a difference, as was the case on 1/6/05), it will be counted the same as a strike.  When it is a protest by individuals who know that they are outnumbered and are simply standing up and saying they will not vote on the bill at all, we will give them the home run points.  The vote column will indicate the exact nature of the vote.  In 2005, we counted PRESENT votes as zero. We believe that by taking into account the effect and the intent of the "present" vote on the 2006 chart, it will give a clearer picture of the voting records of the individuals who take this action.  However, if a representative has more than one or two HRPs, researchers should wonder why this individual doesn't  take a clearer position on the issues.  

Total: The accumulated points to date on major votes.

** This indicates that the total and HR Percentage took into account a lengthy leave by individuals for serious health or other major reaons that cannot be atributed to the fault of the individual congressperson.  For example, Lane Evans has Parkinson's disease and has missed most of the votes this year due to his health problems.   Since, it is desirable that the scores accurately reflect where the individuals stand on the issues, their human rights percentage will exclude the time during these special leaves.  Their totals will necessarily be lower because they were not there to accumulate as many good scores as they might have otherwise received.

Human Rights Percentage or HR%: Current percentage of votes in favor of human-rights of all votes related to human rights issues in 2006 rounded to the nearest percentage.  This column will be revised as each ten-vote layer of the chart is completed.  Until each layer of the chart is finished, the HR% will reflect the fiinal score from the previous layer of the chart. 

Perfect scores and bad leadership: At last recorded vote, the only perfect score was that of Congressman Dennis Kucinich.  Subtractions for both the minority leader and minority whip this year have included votes for two pieces of legislation clearing the path towards towards war with Iran, for legislation appearing to call for the overthrow of the legitimate government of the Palestinians,  in support of genocide in Lebanon, for legislation funding Yucca Mountain (a nuclear dumpsite that endangers the food and water supply of California and the nation), a bill to destroy the Internet and prevent young people from organizing online, and legislation giving $513 billion to war profiteers.  The minority leader and whip can be counted on to fund Halliburton and support all future wars at every opportunity because that is how they vote.  If those viewing the charts want to stop war, they need to demand that their legislators pick new leadership that will say "no" to war.

L: (Absent for special reason) On the 2005 Senate Chart, one of the top scorers missed a number of votes after running for and being elected Governor of New Jersey.  Because of deductions for all his missed Senate votes, his Senate score plummeted, making it unrepresentative of how he voted when he was present.  This year, the scores of three indivuduals would be similarly non-reflective of their voting record if period because of extended absenses for important reasons beyond their control if those missed votes were counted against them, and therefore, in fairness, the votes during those specific periods are not being calculated into their scores.   Evans was on leave from a serious illness and missed a great many votes.     Unfortunately, the Georgia elections allow for massive election tampering against which there is no protection. Based upon her past votes on issues of this nature, she likely would have had all home runs on the votes missed and so even the adjusted score is lower probably much lower than she would have received if she had been present.  

Previous votes:  (1/6/05-4/28/05)  (5/5/05-6/9/05)  (6/15/05-7/20/05B)  (7/20/05C-7/28/05C)  (9/14/05-9/29/05D)  (10/07/05-11/09/05B)  (11/17/05-12/19/05A)  (12/19/05B-12/19/05C)  (2/1/06-4/26/06A)  (4/26/06-5/25/06)  (6/07/06A-6/22/06B)   (6/29/06-7/28/06)   (7/29/06-9/26/06C)

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