House and Senate Floor and Committee
Action to Reauthorize the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act: 1966 to Present
Rebecca R. Skinner
Specialist in Education Policy
Shannon S. Loane
Information Research Specialist
October 22, 2014
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R43761

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House and Senate Floor and Committee Action to Reauthorize the ESEA

Summary
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was initially enacted in 1965 (P.L. 89-10).
Since then, there have been 12 major reauthorizations of the ESEA, with the most recent
reauthorization occurring in 2002 with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110). This
report provides information on the votes taken in the House and Senate in the committees of
jurisdiction and on the House and Senate floors prior to and following conference proceedings for
the ESEA of 1965 and subsequent major reauthorizations.
The report also provides vote information on comprehensive ESEA reauthorization bills that have
been considered in the committees of jurisdiction or on the House or Senate floors since the
enactment of NCLB. During the 112th and 113th Congresses, both committees with jurisdiction
over the ESEA ordered ESEA reauthorization bills to be reported. In the 113th Congress, an ESEA
reauthorization bill was considered on the House floor.

Congressional Research Service

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House and Senate Floor and Committee Action to Reauthorize the ESEA

Contents
Tables
Table 1. House and Senate Votes on Committee and Floor Bills and Conference Reports
for the Original ESEA Bill and Subsequent Major ESEA Reauthorizations Bills ....................... 2
Table 2. House and Senate Votes on Committee and Floor Bills to Reauthorize the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act During the 112th and 113th Congresses ...................... 8

Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 9

Congressional Research Service

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House and Senate Floor and Committee Action to Reauthorize the ESEA

he Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was initially enacted in 1965 (P.L.
89-10). Since then, there have been 12 major reauthorizations of the ESEA, with the most
Trecent reauthorization occurring in 2002 with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(NCLB; P.L. 107-110). This report provides information on the votes taken in the House and
Senate in the committees of jurisdiction and on the House and Senate floors prior to and
following conference proceedings for the ESEA of 1965 and subsequent major reauthorizations.
An overall vote count and the votes by party affiliation are provided for each bill when available.
The report also provides vote information on comprehensive ESEA reauthorization bills that have
been considered since the enactment of NCLB.
More specifically, Table 1 provides information on vote counts for the committee bills and bills
considered on the House and Senate floors prior to and following conference for the original
ESEA and each major reauthorization of the law by amendment. It includes both the overall vote
counts, as well as vote counts by party affiliation when possible. With respect to committee votes,
however, there are no databases that compile votes taken in committee, nor are committee votes
included in the Daily Digest of the Congressional Record.1 Therefore, committee votes have been
provided only to the extent that they were readily available. In most cases, if committee vote
information was available, it was not readily available by party affiliation. No comprehensive
ESEA reauthorization bills were considered by the committees of jurisdiction or on the House or
Senate floors during the 108th through the 111th Congresses. Table 2, however, provides
information on vote counts from the 112th and 113th Congresses, as both committees of
jurisdiction ordered ESEA reauthorization bills to be reported. In the 113th Congress, an ESEA
reauthorization bill was considered on the House floor.
As depicted in Table 1, a relatively wide or narrow margin of overall approval for a particular bill
may mask the support or lack thereof for a given bill by party affiliation. In some cases, a
particular bill may have garnered substantially more support from one party than another, but in
other cases, there may have been similar levels of support or dissension in both parties regarding
the bill.


1 Legislative Information System, Congressional Research Service, Best Practices for Finding Committee Votes,
http://www.congress.gov/help/BestPractices/VotesInCommittee.html.
Congressional Research Service
1

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Table 1. House and Senate Votes on Committee and Floor Bills and Conference Reports for the Original ESEA Bill and
Subsequent Major ESEA Reauthorizations Bills
House Floor
Senate Floor
House
Votes on
Senate
Votes on
Committee
Relevant
House Votes
Committee
Relevant
Senate Votes
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Public Law
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Act Title
Number
Year Enacted
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
Elementary and
P.L. 89-10
1965
H.R. 2362
H.R. 2362
None H.R.
2362
H.R. 2362
None
Secondary
Education Act
23-8
263-153
Not available
73-18
of 1965

R: 35-96
R: 18-14
D: 228-57
D: 55-4
Elementary and
P.L. 89-750
1966
H.R. 13161
H.R. 13161
H.R. 13161
S. 3046
S. 3046
H.R. 13161
Secondary
Education
Not available
237-97
185-76
Not available
54-16
Passed by voice
Amendments of
vote
R: 47-59
R: 41-47
R. 13-8
1966
D: 190-38
D: 144-29
D: 41-8
——————
Substituted S.
3046 with one
amendment and
passed as H.R.
13161
Passed by voice
vote
Elementary and
P.L. 90-247
1968
H.R. 7819
H.R. 7819
H.R. 7819
H.R. 7819
H.R. 7819
H.R. 7819
Secondary
Education Act
Not available
294-122
286-73
Not available
71-7
63-3
Amendments of
R: 99-80
R: 121-37
R: 23-1
R: 24-1
1967
D: 195-42
D: 165-36
D: 48-6
D: 39-2
CRS-2

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House Floor
Senate Floor
House
Votes on
Senate
Votes on
Committee
Relevant
House Votes
Committee
Relevant
Senate Votes
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Public Law
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Act Title
Number Year
Enacted
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
Elementary and
P.L. 91-230
1970
H.R. 514
H.R. 514
H.R. 514
H.R. 514
H.R. 514
H.R. 514
Secondary
Education Act
21-13
400-17
312-58
Not available
80-0
74-4
Amendments of

R: 175-8
R: 141-17
R: 35-0
R: 35-0
1970
D: 225-9
D: 171-41
D: 45-0
D: 39-4
Education
P.L. 92-318
1972
H.R. 7248
H.R. 7248
S. 659
S. 659
S. 659
S. 659
Amendments of
1972
35-1
332-38
218-180
17-0
51-0
63-15

R: 128-24
R: 89-76

R: 26-0
R: 30-5
D: 204-14
D: 129-104

D: 25-0
D: 33-10
——————
——————
Substituted H.R.
S. 659 (new
7248 for S. 659
session of
Congress)
Passed by voice
vote
88-6
R: 39-3
D: 49-3
Education
P.L. 93-380
1974
H.R. 69
H.R. 69
H.R. 69
S. 1539
S. 1539
H.R. 69
Amendments of
1974

380-26
323-83
16-0
81-5
81-15
R: 162-15
R: 136-47

R: 31-5
R: 28-11
D: 218-11
D: 187-36
D: 50-0
D: 53-4
CRS-3

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House Floor
Senate Floor
House
Votes on
Senate
Votes on
Committee
Relevant
House Votes
Committee
Relevant
Senate Votes
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Public Law
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Act Title
Number Year
Enacted
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
Education
P.L. 95-561
1978
H.R. 15
H.R. 15
H.R. 15
S. 1753
H.R. 15, as
H.R. 15
Amendments of
amended,
1978
36-0
350-20
349-18
14-0
passed in lieu of
Passed by voice
vote

R: 110-14
R: 113-13
S. 1753
D: 240-6
D: 236-5
86-7
R: 30-5
D: 56-2
(The Senate did
not vote on S.
1753)
Omnibus
P.L. 97-35a
1981
H.R. 3982
H.R. 3982
H.R. 3982
S. 1377
S. 1377
H.R. 3982
Budget
Reconciliation
Passed by voice
232-193
Passed by
19-0
80-15
80-14
Act of 1981
vote
unanimous
Not available
consent

R: Not available
R: 49-1


D: Not available
D: 30-13
——————
I: 1-0
H.R. 3982, as
amended,
passed in lieu of
S. 1377
Passed by voice
vote
CRS-4

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House Floor
Senate Floor
House
Votes on
Senate
Votes on
Committee
Relevant
House Votes
Committee
Relevant
Senate Votes
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Public Law
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Act Title
Number Year
Enacted
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
Education
P.L. 98-211
1983
H.R. 1035
H.R. 1035
H.R. 1035
H.R. 1035
H.R. 1035
H.R. 1035
Consolidation
and
Passed by voice
Passed by voice
Passed by voice
Passed by
Passed by voice
Passed by voice
Improvement
vote
vote
vote
unanimous
vote
vote
Act Technical
consent
Amendments of
1983
Education
P.L. 98-511
1984
S. 2496
S. 2496
S. 2496
S. 2496
S. 2496
S. 2496
Amendments of
1984
Discharged by
Passed by voice
Passed by voice
Passed by
Passed by voice
Passed by voice
motion
vote
vote
unanimous
vote
vote
consent
Augustus F.
P.L. 100-297
1988
H.R. 5
H.R. 5
H.R. 5
S. 373
H.R. 5, as
H.R. 5
Hawkins-Robert
amended,
T. Stafford
Passed by voice
401-1
397-1
Not available
passed in lieu of
Passed by voice
Elementary and
vote
vote
R: 167-1
R: 168-1
——————
S. 373
Secondary

School
D: 234-0
D: 229-0
H.R. 5
97-1
Improvement

16-0
R: 45-1
Amendments of
1988

D: 52-0
(S. 373 was
indefinitely
postponed by
the Senate by
unanimous
consent.)
CRS-5

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House Floor
Senate Floor
House
Votes on
Senate
Votes on
Committee
Relevant
House Votes
Committee
Relevant
Senate Votes
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Votes on
ESEA Bill
on
Public Law
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Relevant
Prior to
Conference
Act Title
Number Year
Enacted
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
ESEA Bill
Conference
Report
Improving
P.L. 103-382
1994
H.R. 6
H.R. 6
H.R. 6
S. 1513
H.R. 6, as
H.R. 6
America’s
amended,
Schools Act of
29-14
289-128
262-132
Not available
passed in lieu of
77-20
1994
R: 45-124
R: 31-128
——————
S. 1513
R: 23-20
D: 234-4
D: 230-4
H.R. 6
94-6
D: 54-0
I: 1-0
I: 1-0
Passed by
R: 38-6
unanimous
D: 56-0
consent
(S. 1513 was
indefinitely
postponed by
the Senate by
unanimous
consent.)
No Child Left
P.L. 107-110
2002
H.R. 1
H.R. 1
H.R. 1
S. 1
H.R. 1, as
H.R. 1
Behind Act of
amended,
2001
41-7
384-45
381-41
20-0
passed in lieu of
87-10
R: 21-6
R: 186-34
R: 183-33
S. 1
R: 44-3
D: 20-1
D: 197-10
D: 198-6
91-8
D: 43-6
I: 1-1
I: 0-2
R: 47-2
I: 0-1
D: 43-6
I: 1-0
(S. 1 was
returned to
calendar and
not considered
by the Senate.)
CRS-6

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Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), October 7, 2014, based on an analysis of relevant vote information available from the Legislative
Information Service; Congressional Quarterly Almanacs, various years; Congressional Quarterly Congress Col ection, various years; CQ Markup Report; Hein Online
Congressional Record; and Lexis Nexis Congressional.
Notes:
D: Democrat
I: Independent
R: Republican
a. Title V of P.L. 97-35 was the Omnibus Education Reconciliation Act of 1981.

CRS-7

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Table 2. House and Senate Votes on Committee and Floor Bills to Reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
During the 112th and 113th Congresses
Act Title
Congress and Bill
House Committee
House Floor Vote
Senate Committee
Senate Floor Vote
Number
Vote
Vote
Elementary and Secondary 112th Congress,
Not applicable
Not applicable
15-7
Not applicable
Reauthorization Act of
S. 3578
2011
R: 3-7
D: 12-0
Student Success Act
112th Congress,
23-16
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
H.R. 3989
R: 23-0
D: 0-16
Encouraging Innovation
112th Congress,
23-16
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
and Effective Teachers
H.R. 3990
Act
R: 23-0
D: 0-16
Strengthening America’s
113th Congress,
Not applicable
Not applicable
12-10
Not applicable
Schools Act
S. 1094
R: 0-10
D: 12-0
Success for All Students
113th Congress,
23-16
221-207
Not applicable
Not applicable
Act
H.R. 5
R: 23-0
R: 221-12
D: 0-16
D: 0-195
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), October 7, 2014, based on S. Rept. 112-221, H. Rept. 112-458, H.Rept. 112-459 Part 1, and CRS
observation of the relevant committee markups for the 112th Congress; and based on S. Rept. 113-113, H. Rept. 113-150, and Rol Cal vote 374 in the House, and CRS
observation of the relevant committee markups for the 113th Congress.
Notes:
D: Democrat
R: Republican
CRS-8

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House and Senate Floor and Committee Action to Reauthorize the ESEA


Author Contact Information

Rebecca R. Skinner
Shannon S. Loane
Specialist in Education Policy
Information Research Specialist
rskinner@crs.loc.gov, 7-6600
sloane@crs.loc.gov, 7-6223


Congressional Research Service
9

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