Tom Cotton On The Record
Senator (R), Arkansas
Data taken from https://thenewamerican.com/freedom-i...gislator/17573
Tom Cotton voted NO on SCRes5 [bad vote] - A concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2021 and setting forth the appropriate budge. We support Senator Paul's substitute amendment. Runaway, deficit-laden federal spending, most of which is unconstitutional, must be brought under control, and Paul’s proposal would have been a step in the right direction.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR1799 [bad vote] - Paycheck Protection Program Extension - The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to bail out or lend funds to business.
Tom Cotton voted YES on TD 116-1 [bad vote] - Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of the Republic of North Macedonia Oppose. The United States should stay out of entangling alliances like NATO. Also, the NATO provision that obligates the United States to go to war if any NATO member is attacked undermines the U.S. Constitution’s assignment to Congress the power to declare war.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR1158 [bad vote] - Omnibus Appropriations I - Many programs within this defense-related minibus are unconstitutional. This bill also is fiscally irresponsible, considering the $26 trillion national debt and projected $3.8 trillion budget deficit.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR5430 [bad vote] - USMCA - Congress is not authorized by the Constitution to surrender our national sovereignty to any transnational regional government, including the nascent North American Union.
Tom Cotton voted NO on SJRes68 [bad voted] - War Powers - According to the U.S. Constitution, only Congress may declare war. It is unfortunate that Congress has to pass a resolution enforcing this, but doing so puts a check on the war powers assumed by recent presidents.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR748 [bad vote] - $3.2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus - Nowhere in the Constitution is Congress authorized to bail out businesses, industries, and people.
Tom Cotton voted NO on HR6172 [bad voted] - FISA - We support Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to the bill. The amendment would limit FISA authorities and place specific surveillance powers in the hands of non-FISA courts.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR6172 [bad voted] - FISA - While many of the proposed FISA modifications positive from a freedom and privacy standpoint, Congress should have instead voted to not reauthorize the FISA and let it expire. Despite the program’s title, the act permits surveillance of Americans who are not charged with any crime.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR1957 06/15/2020 [bad vote] - Public Lands - Profligate spending needs to be immediately brought under control and deficits eliminated to avoid fiscal disaster. Congress is failing to address its fiscally and constitutionally irresponsible spending habits that yielded an annual federal deficit of $3.1 trillion in fiscal 2020.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR1957 06/17/2020 [bad voted] - Public Lands - This bill irresponsibly increases the federal deficit and diverts energy royalties from being spent for needed constitutional purposes. Additionally, the Constitution does not authorize Congress to purchase private property except “for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings.” Moreover, the federal government already owns a huge percentage of land directly —about 28 percent of the nation — and is a demonstrably poor steward of public lands.
Tom Cotton voted YES on S4049 07/01/2020 [bad voted] - Defense Bill - We oppose the Senate's decision to table Senator Paul's amendment. It is long past time to bring the troops home. The AUMF that the amendment would repeal has been used broadly by presidents to send troops into foreign conflicts, despite the fact that under the Constitution only Congress may declare war.
Tom Cotton voted YES on S4049 07/21/2020 [bad vote] - Defense Bill - Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government authorized to subsidize private businesses. If such subsidies are allowed, then any business could potentially be subsidized at the expense of any other, with the government essentially picking winners and losers in the marketplace, causing great economic distortion.
Tom Cotton voted YES on S47 [bad vote] - Public Lands - The Constitution does not authorize Congress to purchase private property except “all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings.”
Tom Cotton voted NO on SJRes7 [bad vote] - Yemen - Support, because Congress has the power to declare war, and it has not authorized any intervention or war in Yemen. Nor should Congress do so since the civil war in Yemen does not threaten the U.S.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR2157 [bad vote] - Disaster Supplemental Appropriations - The federal government has no constitutional authority to rebuild areas stricken by natural disasters. Such activity should be undertaken by private companies and charities first, and, as a last resort, handled by local or state governments. Disasters would arguably be handled more effectively this way compared to the feds.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR3401 [bad vote] - Supplemental Border Appropriations - We support Senator Rand Paul’s amendment and oppose the Senate’s vote to kill it. Nowhere in the Constitution is Congress authorized to fund the foreign aid funding that Paul sought to eliminate, and which had nothing to do with border appropriations. These types of programs should be handled privately, not with U.S. taxpayers’ money.
Tom Cotton voted NO on S1790 [bad vote] - War Authorization - We support Senator Udall's amendment. Hostilities conducted against a sovereign nation – in this case Iran – constitute an act of war and, thus, constitutionally requires a declaration of war by Congress.
Tom Cotton voted NO on HR4378 [bad vote] - Spending Cut / Short-term Appropriations - We support Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to the bill. Most of the bill’s spending falls outside the scope of constitutionally authorized federal powers. Also, the federal government must reduce its spending and debt to avert future fiscal disaster. Although 2% might seem small, modest cuts are still better than none at all.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR4378 [bad vote] - Spending Cut / Short-term Appropriations - We oppose. Congress is failing to address its fiscally- and constitutionally-irresponsible budgeting and appropriating process that is yielding annual federal deficits of about $1 trillion. This directly contributes to the national debt’s growth.
Tom Cotton voted YES on S139 [bad vote] - Warrantless Surveillance - During consideration of the bill (S. 139) reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) introduced an amendment to end NSA collection of communications data that is neither to nor from an approved foreign target, but rather communications “about” a foreign target entirely between American citizens. It would prohibit the FBI and intelligence agencies from searching the NSA database for information on U.S. citizens without first obtaining a warrant.
Tom Cotton voted YES on PN1857 [bad vote] - On the Nomination PN1857: Haspel Nomination In March 2018, President Trump nominated Gina Haspel to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who opposed Haspel’s nomination, explained why in a Politico Magazine article: “Haspel ran a secret [CIA ‘black site’] center in Thailand where prisoners were tortured”; “Haspel participated in and helped develop the program that our own government has labeled torture”; and “she helped destroy the very evidence of this program.”
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR5515 06/13/2018 [bad vote] - NATO, Indefinite Detention - During consideration of the Defense authorization bill (H.R. 5515), Senator Jack Reed (DR.I.) moved that Senate members in the House-Senate conference committee insist that the final version of the bill reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance. Under the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO, member nations “agree that an armed attack against one or more of them … shall be considered an attack against them all.”
Tom Cotton voted NO on SCRes3 [bad vote] - Balancing the Budget and Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid - During consideration of the congressional budget for fiscal 2017 (Senate Concurrent Resolution 3) on January 4, 2017, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pointed out in a speech on the Senate floor that this proposed budget would add nearly $10 trillion to our national debt over the next 10 years without ever balancing the budget. He added: I'm not for it. That's not why I ran for office. It's not why I'm here. It's not why I spend time away from my family and from my medical practice.
Tom Cotton voted NO on SJRes42 [bad vote] - Motion: Blocking U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia - Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced this bill (Senate Joint Resolution 42) to block the sale of "certain defense articles" to Saudi Arabia, including laser-guided weapons systems and fighter aircraft. Paul has opposed selling arms to Saudi Arabia because the regime oppresses its own people, is engaged militarily in the civil war in Yemen, and has supported ISIS. "Who in their right mind would give money, arms, or share our technology with a country that has been supporting ISIS?" Paul asked.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR636 04/07/2016 [bad vote] - On Passage of the Bill H.R. 636: FAA Reauthorization - During consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 636), Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced an amendment that would authorize funding for additional Transportation Security Administration (TSA) teams for fiscal 2016 and 2017.
Tom cotton voted YES on HR636 04/19/2016 [bad vote] - On Passage of the Bill H.R. 636: FAA Reauthorization - During consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 636), Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced an amendment that would authorize funding for additional Transportation Security Administration (TSA) teams for fiscal 2016 and 2017.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR2028 [bad vote] - H R 2028: Continuing Appropriations - This bill (H.R. 2028) perpetuates Congress’ growing habit of avoiding hard decisions about the level of federal spending by kicking the can down the road into the middle of the new fiscal year, with a continuing resolution that would provide funding for federal government operations at the fiscal year 2016 level through April 28, 2017 at an annualized “discretionary” rate of $1.07 trillion.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR1314 [bad vote] - H R 1314: Raising the Spending Cap and Suspending the National Debt - This bill (H.R. 1314) would suspend the national debt limit until March 15, 2017, at which time the ceiling on how much money the federal government is allowed to borrow would be re-established at the size of the federal debt at that time. The bill would also raise caps intended to limit “discretionary” federal spending by $50 billion for fiscal 2016 and $30 billion for fiscal 2017.
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR4152 [bad vote] - H R 4152: To provide for the costs of loan guarantees for Ukraine - Ukraine Aid. The Senate version of this legislation - offered in the form of a substitute amendment to the House version, H.R. 4152 would provide $150 million for direct aid to Ukraine. It would also provide for loan guarantees (meaning that the U.S. taxpayers would be stuck holding the bag if the loans are not paid).
Tom Cotton voted YES on HR624 [bad vote] - H R 624: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection (CISPA) Act - Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). This legislation (H.R. 624) would further legalize the massive sharing of private-user online data by Internet companies with federal government agencies, such as the National Security Agency (NSA), that has already been happening for years.
____
For a list of all potential candidates:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...nd-Information
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us