CQ Voting Studies are an annual analysis of a member's support or opposition to a given position. Interest Group Ratings are based on rankings from groups chosen to represent liberal, conservative, business and labor viewpoints.Voting Participation scores are based on the number of times a member voted "yea" or "nay" on roll call votes (not including quorum calls in the House). CQ Vote Studies Year Presidential Support Party Unity   S* O* S O 1998 22% 78% 95% 5% 1997 29 71 97 3 1996 34 66 95 4 1995 17 83 97 2 1994 49 51 93 7 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 100 1997 99 1996 99 1995 99 1994 99	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 0% n/a 100% 100 % 1997 0 0 90 92 1996 0 0 100 100 1995 0 0 100 88 1994 0 17 89 100
Note on Interest Groups: ADA=Americans for Democratic Action; AFL-CIO=American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations; CCUS=Chamber of Commerce of the United States; ACU=American Conservative Union

OKLAHOMA 6 : West and Panhandle; part of Oklahoma City

With nothing to stop it on the flat plains, the wind blows with constant force in the 6th, an area devastated by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In the 1990s, the district became best known as home of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, site of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. A memorial, with a neighboring museum and center for anti-terrorism information, will be completed in 2001.

Few areas felt the boom or the bust of the 1980s oil market more than the 6th. More than half of the district's counties lost population in the first half of the 1990s because of the downturn. While all local areas are striving to diversify their economic base beyond agriculture and oil, only Guymon in Texas County voted to allow large-scale hog farming; it is now the only county nearby with significantly increasing population. Still, some residents are aggravated by the smell.

Although the 6th is overwhelmingly Republican, Interstate 40 provides a dividing line, south of which the district is primarily Democratic. Northern settlers from Kansas and Nebraska brought their Republican leanings, while the southeastern part of the district is home to conservative Democrats whose families settled from Texas.

Major Industry
Agriculture, oil, aviation manufacturing

Military Bases
Vance Air Force Base, 1,358 military, 210 civilian (1998)

Population
524,638 (1990)

Cities
Oklahoma City (pt.); 159,812 (1990); Enid, 45,724, Del City, 23,990 (1996)

People
42% urban, 30% rural; 15% age 65+ (ranks third of six in state; top third nationally); 57% married couples, 26% married couples with children; 13% college educated (ranks fourth of six in state; bottom third nationally); 49% white collar (ranks fourth of six in state; bottom third nationally), 29% blue collar (ranks third of six in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
78% white, 13% black, 1% Asian, 5% American Indian; 4% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$21,797 (ranks fourth of six in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
The shopping cart and parking meter were invented in Oklahoma City; On Nov. 27, 1868, Gen. George A. Custer led an Army contingent in the Battle of Washita, which is also referred to as the "Black Kettle Massacre," in which 103 men, women and children died.

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