Senate Report Card: Jim Bunning R-KY

Senator Jim Bunning is the junior Republican United States Senator from the state of Kentucky. Senator Bunning assumed office in 1999. He is widely considered one of the most conservative members of the Senate. He is a Hall of Fame Pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Senator Bunning serves on the Banking, Finance, Energy and Budget Committees.

Senator Jim Bunning voted against confirmation of Robert Gates as President Bush's Secretary of Defense nomination saying, "Mr. Gates has repeatedly criticized our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan without providing any viable solutions to the problems our troops currently face. We need a secretary of defense to think forward with solutions and not backward on history we cannot change." He also opposed the nomination of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Senator Bunning was a strong supporter of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.

Bunning was highly opposed to President Bush's comprehensive Immigration Reform plans. He named it amnesty for illegal immigrants. In his Senate floor speech against the bills he said, "The problem is that this bill will not work. It is much worse than the status quo. Any chance of fixing it is being erased by the handful of negotiators and the Majority Leader. Instead of trying to fix the bill, the Majority Leader is using unprecedented tactics to ensure only a few blessed amendments get considered. We all have amendments, like the Senator from Texas, none of them will be considered. Mr. President, I will not support amnesty. I will not repeat the mistakes that were made 20 years ago. I will not be responsible for tens of millions more illegal immigrants coming to this country waiting for the next amnesty. I will not support this process or this bill." He has argued that all undocumented workers should be deported immediately.

He voted for and helped pass President Bush's tax bill that has been criticized as lowering the tax bracket for the wealthiest Americans below those who earn the least. It also did away with the marriage penalty. It increased the amount of the Child Tax Credit that families receive. He supported the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. He introduced the Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act that will permanently extend tax incentives for families wishing to adopt a child.

Senator Jim Bunning voted for the Iraq War Resolution. He voted against restrictions on troop deployments that would allow longer lengths between soldier's tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He voted against a troop reduction or phased redeployment.

Senator Jim Bunning is up for reelection in 2011.