Senate Report Card: Bob Casey D-PA

Senator Bob Casey is the junior Democratic United States Senator from the state of Pennsylvania. Senator Casey assumed office in 2007. He is currently serving his first term in the Senate. He unseated incumbent conservative Rick Santorum.

Senator Casey serves on the Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Agriculture; the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee and the Special Committee on Aging.

Casey supported President Bush's Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act, which was ultimately defeated, but included provisions for inclusion of undocumented workers after facing a penalty for illegal entry, and provides access to the workforce as well as a path to citizenship.

Casey is a staunch supporter of the pro life movement, placing him at odds with some of his colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle. He has publicly stated his support for overturning Roe vs. Wade. He supported the Pregnant Women Support Act seek to reduce the abortion rate by providing support to women in unplanned pregnancies. He supported President Bush's nominations of both John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. He is opposed to embryonic stem cell research, but supports greater access for women to the Morning After Pill. He believes that insurance companies should include contraceptives in their prescription coverage.

Senator Bob Casey has expressed his opposition to legislation that would prohibit adoption by same-sex couples. He feels that employers should be permitted to extend domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples in committed, long-term relationships. Although, he opposes making such benefits mandatory. He is opposed to legalizing gay marriages in Pennsylvania, but is a supporter of same sex couple adopting children.

He opposes drilling for oil in the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He supports increased federal investment in hybrid and alternative fuel technology to help the United States off of foreign oil. Casey criticized his Republican opponent Rick Santorum for not recognizing the danger of global warming. He also supports increased funding for Brownfield cleanup, as well as a reinstatement of the polluter-pays principle for the Superfund program.

Senator Bob Casey opposed the Iraq War. He has been highly critical of the Bush Administration with regards to Iraq. His position on Iraq is demonstrated through a quote from his campaign website, "the administration's misconceived and badly executed strategies have been turning Iraq into a worldwide haven for terrorists and endangering hope for a stable democracy to emerge. We now know that the Bush administration's rationale for its rush to war was horribly flawed. The supposedly imminent threat posed by the Hussein regime's possession of weapons of mass destruction did not exist. And it has become evident that the administration did not have a real plan for keeping the peace after our military's rout of Hussein and his military forces. Thus our soldiers have suffered more loss of life and limb from terrorist guerilla warfare after the toppling of Hussein's dictatorial regime."

Senator Bob Casey won't face reelection until 2011.