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VOTING NO: Foxx, Coble, McHenry

U.S. SENATE

* FIVE-YEAR FARM BILL: The Senate on Thursday voted, 81 for and 15 against, to send a $288 billion, five-year farm bill (HR 2419, above) to President Bush, who has promised a veto on grounds its subsidies are excessive at a time of high crop prices. To qualify for federal payments under the bill, farmers must have individual nonfarm incomes below $500,000 and individual farm incomes below $750,000. Direct payments and subsidies account for less than 15 percent of spending in the bill, while food safety net and nutrition programs account for about 67 percent. The bill eases and indexes for inflation the means tests one must pass to qualify for Food Stamps and other nutrition programs. A yes vote was to approve the conference report.

VOTING YES: Elizabeth Dole, R; Richard Burr, R

* FLOOD INSURANCE EXPANSION: Voting 92 for and six against, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 3121) to reform the National Flood Insurance Program by such measures as requiring larger deductibles, ending subsidized premiums for vacation homes and businesses, requiring wider participation by at-risk homeowners and raising penalties on lenders that fail to require coverage in specified areas. The FEMA-run program insures 5.5 million policyholders in 20,000 communities. The bill would forgive the $17.5 billion FEMA borrowed from the Treasury to pay claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina and other storms in 2005. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

VOTING YES: Dole, Burr

* STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: The Senate on Tuesday adopted, 97 for and one against, an amendment to S 2284 (above) requiring the administration to suspend its filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the end of the year or when the price of crude drops consistently below $75 per barrel, whichever occurs first. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., cast the negative vote. The House passed an identical measure. No senator spoke against the amendment. A yes vote backed the amendment.

VOTING YES: Dole, Burr

* GOP ENERGY PLAN: Voting 42 for and 56 against, the Senate on Tuesday failed to reach 60 votes for advancing a Republican-sponsored energy addition to HR 3121 (above). In part, the measure sought to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, end the federal ban on Outer Continental Shelf drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, suspend until the end of the year the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, authorize oil-shale extraction on federal land in the West and step up federal support of efforts to convert coal to liquid fuel. A yes vote backed the GOP energy package.

VOTING YES: Burr

VOTING NO: Dole

* POLICE, FIREFIGHTER UNIONS: Voting 69 for and 29 against, the Senate on Tuesday agreed to debate a bill (HR 980) granting limited union rights to police, firefighters, corrections officers and other public-safety personnel in all states. The bill, which remained in debate, empowers state and local first responders to bargain over wages, benefits and working conditions but prohibits strikes by unions and lockouts by employers. At least 20 states now deny collective-bargaining rights to public employees. A yes vote was to advance the bill.

VOTING NO: Dole, Burr

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