ACU Announces 2012 Ratings of Congress
Published: February 21, 2013
Contact: Laura Rigas, (202) 347-9388,
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Conservative Union (ACU) Chairman Al Cardenas today announced the 2012 ACU Ratings of Congress, the 42nd edition of the conservative ratings guide. Since 1971, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization has annually graded Members of Congress based on their votes on key conservative issues. The full 2012 ACU Ratings of Congress guide is now available online at conservative.org.
“For the past 42 years, through the Congressional and now the State Ratings, the American Conservative Union has set the standard for and played a major role in giving the American people the tools they need to make informed voting decisions at every level of government,” said ACU Chairman Al Cardenas. “On behalf of our entire Board of Directors, I applaud and thank the many Senators and Representatives who achieved perfect or high scores on our 2012 ACU Ratings of Congress. Their unwavering commitment to our shared conservative principles stands in stark contrast to the liberals in Washington who continue to want an expanded role for government at taxpayers’ expense.”
Throughout the history of the conservative ratings program, ACU has become the go-to source for determining whether an elected official’s philosophical rhetoric matches his or her record. The guides provide a comprehensive analysis of the legislative landscape over the preceding year. This differentiates ACU from other useful guides which may emphasize single areas, like taxes, defense, or social policy. The ACU tracks a wide range of issues before Congress to determine which issues and votes serve as a clear litmus test separating those representatives who defend liberty and liberal members who have turned their backs on our founding principles – constitutionally limited government, individual liberty, free markets, a strong national defense and traditional American values.
The 2012 ACU Ratings of Congress includes scores for each individual member in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, a description of the votes scored in each Chamber and lists of members receiving special recognition as “Defenders of Liberty,” – those scoring a perfect 100 percent – or “ACU Conservatives” – those scoring 80 percent or higher.
ACU today announced the winners of the “Defender of Liberty” award, given to those members of the Congressional Legislature who were present and cast a vote for each adjudicated roll call and scored 100 percent on the 2012 ACU Ratings of Congress. In the Senate, these members included: Ron Johnson, John Kyl, Mike Lee, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey.
In the House, these members included: Michele Bachmann, Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn, Paul Broun, Dan Burton, Mike Conaway, Jeff Duncan, Jeff Flake, John Fleming, Bill Flores, Trent Franks, Scott Garrett, Trey Gowdy, Tom Graves, Wally Herger, Duncan Hunter, Lynn Jenkins, Jim Jordan, Jeff Landry, Randy Neugebauer, Pete Olson, Mike Pompeo, Bill Posey, Tom Price, Ben Quayle, Todd Rokita, Ed Royce, Steve Scalise, David Schweikert, Tim Scott, Cliff Stearns, Marlin Stutzman, Lynn Westmoreland, and Joe Wilson.
The winners of the “ACU Conservative” award – given to those members who scored 80 percent or higher – in the Senate are: John Barrasso, Richard Burr, Dan Coats, Thomas Coburn, Bob Corker, John Cornyn, Mike Crapo, Saxby Chambliss, Jim DeMint, Mike Enzi, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, Jim Inhofe, John Isakson, Mike Johanns, John McCain, Jim Risch, Jeff Sessions and David Vitter.
In the House, these members included: Sandy Adams, ToddAkin, Justin Amash, Mark Amodei, Spencer Bachus, Joe Barton, Dan Benishek, Rick Berg, Gus Bilirakis, Rob Bishop, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, Mo Brooks, Larry Bucshon, Ann Marie Buerkle, Michael Burgess, Dave Camp, John Campbell, Francisco Canseco, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Bill Cassidy, Steve Chabot, Jason Chaffetz, Howard Coble, Mike Coffman, John Culberson, Jeff Denham, Charlie Dent, Scott DesJarlais, David Dreier, Sean Duffy, John Duncan, Renee Ellmers, Blake Farenthold, Stephen Fincher, Chuck Fleischmann, J. Randy Forbes, Virginia Foxx, Elton Gallegly, Cory Gardner, Bob Gibbs, Phil Gingrey, Louie Gohmert, Bob Goodlatte, Paul Gosar, Kay Granger, Sam Graves, Tim Griffin, Frank Guinta, Brett Guthrie, Ralph Hall, Gregg Harper, Andy Harris, Vicki Hartzler, Doc Hastings, Jeb Hensarling, Tim Huelskamp, Bill Huizenga, Randall Hultgren, Robert Hurt, Darrell Issa, Sam Johnson, Bill Johnson, Steve King, Jack Kingston, John Kline, Raul Labrador, Doug Lamborn, James Lankford, Bob Latta, Billy Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Cynthia Lummis, Connie Mack, Don Manzullo, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Michael McCaul, Tom McClintock, Patrick McHenry, Buck McKeon, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, John Mica, Jeff Miller, Gary Miller, Mick Mulvaney, Sue Myrick, Kristi Noem, Richard Nugent, Devin Nunes, Alan Nunnelee, Steven Palazzo, Erik Paulsen, Steve Pearce, Mike Pence, Ted Poe, Tom Reed, Reid Ribble, Scott Rigell, Phil Roe, Mike Rogers (MI), Dana Rohrabacher, Tom Rooney, Peter Roskam, Dennis Ross, Paul Ryan, Jean Schmidt, Austin Scott, Jim Sensenbrenner, Pete Sessions, Mike Simpson, Lamar Smith, Adrian Smith, Steve Southerland, John Sullivan, Mac Thornberry, Scott Tipton, Tim Walberg, Joe Walsh, Daniel Webster, Allen West, Rob Wittman, Rob Woodall, Kevin Yoder, and Todd Young.
The full guide can be accessed and downloaded now at conservative.org.
The ACU recently announced its 2012 Ratings of Congress, the 42nd edition of the conservative ratings guide. For more information on the ACU PAC or to download the full 2012 Ratings of Congress, please visit conservative.org.
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