2002 National Security Scorecard

(Washington, D.C.): The Center for Security Policy today released an important contribution to accountable government — its second annual National Security Scorecard. This scorecard evaluates 20 key votes in each chamber and gives every legislator a CSP rating for the first session of the 104th Congress. Highlights include: the list of Senators and Representatives who received perfect ratings of 100% (nine and eighty-four, respectively); the sizeable number of freshmen Members of Congress who received this distinction (three in the Senate and twenty-seven in the House); and the seven U.S. Senators up for re-election who received a score of less than 30% (Sens. Max Baucus, Joseph Biden, Tom Harkin, John Kerry, Carl Levin, Jay Rockefeller and Paul Wellstone).

National Security Measures: Tallying The Score

The forty key votes tracked for the CSP National Security Scorecard span the spectrum of security policy issues. Among those examined were votes intended to: cut critical defense spending (including funds earmarked for ballistic missile defense, the B-2 stealth bomber, the F-22 advanced tactical fighter aircraft and nuclear weapons research, including critical tritium production); lift the immoral and counter-productive arms embargo against Bosnia; limit the control exerted by the U.N. over U.S. armed forces; strengthen economic sanctions against Cuba and encourage democratic reforms in that communist country; and cut funding for intelligence-related programs.

A CSP National Security rating of 100 indicates that the elected official consistently cast his or her vote in a manner supportive of national security on these representative issues. By contrast, a score of 0 indicates that the member did not support U.S. national security in any of the test votes.

Honor Roll

The nine Senators who received a perfect 100 score — indicating the greatest commitment to the security of our Nation — are: Larry Craig of Idaho, D.M. (Lauch) Faircloth of North Carolina, Phil Gramm of Texas, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, Center Board of Advisors member and recipient of its 1994 "Keeper of the Flame" award Jon Kyl of Arizona, Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Fred Thompson of Tennessee and John Warner of Virginia.

Among those in the House of Representatives receiving a score of 100 are: Center Board of Advisors members Christopher Cox of California and Henry Hyde of Illinois; House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia; Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas; the chairmen of the National Security Committee’s Military Personnel, Military Installations and Facilities and Military Procurement subcommittees (respectively, Bob Dornan of California, Joel Hefley of Colorado and Duncan Hunter of California); and the chairmen of the International Relations Committee’s Western Hemisphere and International Operations subcommittees (respectively, Dan Burton of Indiana and Christopher Smith of New Jersey).

What a Difference a Year Makes!

As it happens, the release of the Center’s National Security Scorecard coincides with the publication in yesterday’s Washington Post of an article suggesting that the large bloc of Republican newcomers to Congress is less committed to robust security policies than were its predecessors. When the standard utilized for evaluating the sentiments of the 104th Congress in these areas is defined properly — namely, in terms of the enhancement and judicious use of U.S. power in the service of protecting Americans’ security at home and advancing their interests abroad — it is clear that this Congress scores very favorably.

For example, only 43 legislators in the 103rd Congress achieved a perfect CSP National Security Rating, in contrast to the 93 who did so in the first session of the 104th Congress. During the 103rd Congress 13 Representatives and Senators — including Reps. Ron Dellums of California and Pat Schroeder of Colorado and Sen. Dale Bumpers of Arkansas — achieved the distinction of garnering a 0 score; during the 104th Congress, 1st Session only two legislators garnered a 0 score: Rep. John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan (the only Member of Congress to score a zero in both scorecards) and retiring Sen. Clairborne Pell of Rhode Island. The average score of all Representatives for the 103rd Congress was 52; in 1995, it rose to 62. The counterpart statistics for the Senate side are 51 in the 103rd Congress and 57 for 1995.

Thus, the trend is clearly in the right direction, although considerable progress remains to be made. The Center for Security Policy hopes to encourage such progress by educating the American people — through the distribution of its National Security Scorecard and via its many other publications — about the records of their representatives with respect to vital national security issues. By so doing, it expects to encourage greater accountability on the part of Members of Congress for their votes in this field and, in turn, to assure better performance in the future.

To view the full version of the 1995 National Security Scorecard click on the following link: Full 1995 Scorecard (PDF)