Freedom Index 119-2

The Freedom Index is published twice yearly by The New American Magazine.

The Freedom Index: A Congressional Scorecard Based on the U.S. Constitution rates members of Congress based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements. For information on the criteria we use to select the votes, go to FreedomIndex.us/about.

To learn how any representative or senator voted on the key measures described herein, look him or her up in the vote charts. The scores are derived by dividing a congressman’s constitutional votes (pluses) by the total number he cast (pluses and minuses) and multiplying by 100. The average House score for this index is 38 percent (71 percent for the Republicans and five percent for the Democrats), and the average Senate score is 40 percent (67 percent for the Republicans and nine percent for the Democrats). Ten representatives and just one senator (Rand Paul of Kentucky) earned 100 percent. We encourage readers to examine how their own legislators voted on each of the 10 key measures. We also encourage readers to commend legislators for their constitutional votes, and to urge improvement where needed.

Our second look at the 119th Congress shows how every member of the House and Senate voted on key issues such as digital currencies, foreign aid (House only), oil and gas drilling, and Obama-Care subsidies (Senate only).

Share this Freedom Index in your district to inform people about the constitutionality of their elected officials' votes.