Senate Report Card: Arlen Specter R-PA

Arlen Specter is the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania and widely known member of the Republican Party. Serving his fifth term in the Senate since being elected in 1980, Specter has announced he will seek a sixth term in 2010. He is the longest serving Senator in Pennsylvania's history.

Sometimes referred to by conservatives as "Republican in Name Only," Specter is seen as a moderate in the Republican Party. Specter is generally pro-choice on abortion and supports civil unions for gay couples. This straddling of the ideological divide has provided successful for Specter serving so many terms in a moderate state. He also supports affirmative action and voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1990. He is one of only four Republicans to vote against the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, and is viewed as not being beholden to any corporation. He supports a raise in the minimum wage. Specter voted against CAFTA. He's remained fairly popular during terms that have been less than successful for some Republican colleagues.

Although moderate, Specter stands by his views staunchly, voting against the Brady weapons bill as well as the ban on assault weapons and background checks at gun shows. He's a backer of the death penalty.

Senator Arlen Specter serves on the Appropriations, Veterans' Affairs, Aging, and the Judiciary of which is the ranking member. He is also the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.

Specter famously opposed President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, breaking ranks with his Republican colleagues and thus hindering the nomination. During the Clarence Thomas nomination hearings, he aggressively questioned Anita Hill. He has garnered a reputation of being a hard no-nonsense character in the Senate, criticizing both Democrat and Republican alike.

He's a stem cell research supporter as well as a member of The Republican Majority for Choice and Republicans for Environmental Protection. In polling, he has received favorable ratings from registered Republicans and Democrats as he's seen as a moderate uniter.

Although Specter voted for the Iraq War Authorization, he remains critical of the handling of the war by the Bush administration. Concerning the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, he sponsored the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006, which would provide additional support for African Union peacekeepers currently on the ground in Darfur; it also calls for the mobilization of a U.N. peacekeeping force; and provide the President with authority to sanction those individuals responsible for the genocide.

When news of the wire tapping of Americans and the CIA Valerie Plame leak controversies broke, Senator Specter was a critic of the administrations implementation and handling of the controversies. He has received much criticism from Republicans and conservatives for his critiques of President Bush's administration.