Whitfield voted against a $53 Million boost for Veteran's Health care and benefits.  The vote was against an amendment to the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs funding bill to add $53 million for veterans health care and other benefits, offset by a 9% cut to BRAC.  The amendment would add $8 million for combat-related trauma care, $6 million for poly-trauma centers to support wounded troops once they return to their homes, $9 million for VA medical and prosthetic research and $7 million for 100 additional staff who process claims for compensation and pension benefits.  Finally, the amendment would provide $23 million to help approximately 4,100 souses of service members with children whose spouse died during the War on Terrorism between September 11, 2001 and November 30, 2004 by making them eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.  The amendment failed 213-214 - Whitfield was the deciding vote which denied these benefits to injured veterans.  (Leadership Document, "Medical Quality Democratic Amendment Final.") [HR 2528, Vote #224, 5/26/05; Failed 213-214; R 19-210; D 193-4; I 1-0]

Whitfield voted to Weaken House Ethics Rules.  The new rules would allow lobbyists to cater meals to members' offices and let charities pay for lawmakers to travel and stay at golf resorts and other locales.  The measure would allow outside interests to pay for "perishable food or refreshments offered to members of an office."  For example, a lobbying firm representing pharmaceutical interests sent in dinner for House speaker J. Dennis Hastert's (R-IL) staff while they were working late on a prescription drug bill.  The weaker rules passed, 221-203.  Whitfield has since traveled abroad at the expense of lobbyists who sit on the boards of non-profit organizations.  [HRS 5, Vote #6, 1/4/2005; Passed 220-195; R 220-0; D 0-194; D 0-1].

Whitfield voted for the budget that cut veteran's programs.  Voted for final passage of the $2.6 trillion budget conference report for 2006.  The report cut Medicaid spending by $10 Billion, spent every penny of the Social Security surplus, increased the national debt by $167.5 billion over 5 years and paved the way for oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.  Futhermore, the conference report cut funding for veteran's health care by $13.5 billion over five years.  Yet the budget still found room for $106 Billion in tax cuts for those who need it the least.  (House Budget Committee Democratic Caucus, "Summary and Analysis of FY 2006 Budget Resolution Conference Report." 4/28/08)  [HCR 95, Vote #149, 4/28/2005; Passed 214-211; R 214-15; D 0-195; I 0-1].

Whitfield Voted Against Creating a Bipartisan Ethics Task Force.  The panel would have equal representation of Republicans and Democrats to make recommendations to restore confidence in the House ethics process.  The measure was defeated.  [HRS 153, Vote #70, 3/15/2005; Passed 223-194; R 223-1; D 0-192; I 0-1]

Whitfield Opposed Increased Spending on Veteran's and Homeland Security.  The vote was against an amendment to the 2006 budget resolution to increase spending levels by $15.8 billion.  The proposal boosted education, training and social services programs by $8 billion, provided $2.9 billion more veteran's health care and $1.7 billion more for homeland security than the GOP resolution.  Furthermore, the amendment would have reduced the deficit by $10 billion and raised $25.8 billion by reducing tax cuts for those earning more than $1 Million.  The amendment was rejected, 180-242.  [HRS 95, Vote #82, 3/17/2005; Failed 180-242; R 3-218; D 176-24; I 1-0].

Whitfield Opposed Cracking Down on Price Gouging and Lowering Gas Prices.  The vote was against a measure to provide the Federal Trade Commission with new authority to investigate and prosecute those who engage in predatory pricing, from oil companies on down to gas stations, with the emphasis on those who profit the most.  This includes price gouging of gasoline and natural gas, home heating oil and propane.  The measure increased funding for the low-income home energy assistance program through fines from price-gouging companies and created a strategic refinery reserve with capacity equal to 5% of the total United States demand for gasoline, home heating oi8l and other refined petroleum products. ]HR 3893, Vote #517, 10/7/2005; Failed 199-222; R 2-222; D 196-0; I 1-0].

Whitfield Voted Against $30 Million Increase For Renewable Energy.  The vote was opposed to an amendment to the energy and water funding bill to increase funding for renewable energy sources by $30 million - 10% more than what the underlying bill provided by solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and hydrogen renewable energy programs.  The increase would be offset by a decrease in the Advanced Simulation and Computing program - a project to analyze and predict the performance, safety and reliability of nuclear weapons and certify their functionality.  The increase was defeated, 150-241. [HR4614, Vote #321. 6/25/04; Failed 150-241; R 17-188; D 132-53; I 1-0].

Whitfield Voted Against Reimporting Cheaper Prescription Drugs.  Opposed an amendment permitting distributors to import American-made pharmaceuticals that are sold more cheaply in other countries.  Specifically, the proposal would have barred the Food and Drug Administration from enforcing a 13-year-old ban on the "re-importation" of U.S. made drugs.  Prescription drugs can cost three to four times less in Europe and Canada than they cost in the United States because those governments enact price controls.  Thousands of Americans from California and Arizona now travel to Mexico for medicine, while residents of some northern border states, including Minnesota and Vermont, go to Canada.  And the idea poses a threat to the profits of the pharmaceutical industry, which deploys one of the richest and most powerful lobbying organizations in American politics.  [HR 2330, Vote #216, 7/11/2001; Failed 159-267; R 35-182; D 123-84; I 1-1].

Whitfield Voted Against Tougher Price Gouging Laws
[Rep Tim Bishop, Remarks - Congressional Record, pg H8790, 10/7/05] [HR 3893, Vote #518, 10/7/05; Failed 200-222; R3-222; D 196-0; I 1-0]

The vote opposed a motion to grant new authority to the Federal Trade Commission to investigate, enforce and then punish gouging and market manipulation.  Any violation would result in new civil penalties, and would be enforced with up to triple the damages of the profits gained by the violation.

Whitfield Voted to Put Coal Miners at Greater Health Risk
[HR 2660, Vote #349, 7/10/2003; Failed 216-216; R207-19; D 9-195; I 0-1]

The vote would allow for new rules allowing four times the amount of coal dust previously legal in underground mines.  Under the proposal, operators could violate a standard spelled out in the 1969 federal mine safety law that specifically says respirators are not to be used as a substitute for otherwise lowering the level of dust in mines.  An effort to block the new fule failed 210-212. 

Whitfield Voted to Limit Patients' ability to Sue HMOs.

[HR 2563. Vote #329, 8/2/2001; Passed 218-213; R 214-6; D 3-206; I 1-0]

Voted for an amendment to the patients' rights bill to limit lawsuits against health maintenance organizations.  Opponents of the proposal charged it would set up obstacles for patients seeking to enforce their rights, give advantages to HMOs and preempt patient protection laws in states such as California, Georgia, Texas and New Jersey.  Specifically, the amendment would allow HMOs or employers who make medical decisions to transfer a case filed against them to federal court.  It also provides that when cases against health plans are tried in state courts, the proceedings would be conducted under federal rules that offer greater protections for them than state laws.  It would limit non-economic damages to $1.5 million. 

Whitfield Cast the Deciding Vote that led to Passage of CAFTA
[HR 3045, Vote #443, 7/28/2005; Passed 217-215; R 202-27l D 15-187; I 0-1]
The vote was for final passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).  The agreement removed most trade barriers between the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.  CAFTA duplicated the most important elements of the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and it will only worsen conditions for workers in the United States and throughout the hemisphere.  Since NAFTA was implemented, the U.S. has lost over 1 million jobs as a direct result of the treaty.  CAFTA weakens labor rights protection by undercutting labor standards and enforcement mechanisms.  In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), CAFTA would cost American taxpayers $50 Million per year in loan forfeitures by sugar farmers and cost the U.S. $4.4 billion over ten years, primarily in lost tariffs.  The agreement passed.