Redistricting which took effect for the 1992 elections kept only 40% of the district's previous area, and pitted nine-term incumbent Russo – who changed his residence rather than run in the 2nd District, which now included his previous home – against five-term incumbent Bill Lipinski, who had previously represented the neighboring 5th District, in the Democratic primary. Lipinski ran close to Russo in the suburbs but easily won the Chicago areas, and won the primary 58%-37%. Lipinski was decidedly the most conservative Democrat in the Illinois delegation, opposing abortion and gays in the military, supporting school prayer, tuition vouchers, the Defense of Marriage Act and the death penalty, and helping to write a proposed constitutional amendment in 1997 prohibiting flag desecration. A member of the Blue Dog Democrats, he was one of just 30 Democrats to vote for the Republican welfare reform plan. He clashed often with the Clinton administration, opposing the president's position over half the time in the 1997-98 Congress. He was one of 31 Democrats to vote in favor of a Judiciary Committee inquiry during the leadup to Clinton's impeachment; he eventually voted against impeachment, but simultaneously called on Clinton to resign. In 1999, Lipinski stated that Clinton "doesn't have credibility on military issues," adding that "the American people feel Clinton is unsure." He was a consistent opponent of U.S. free trade agreements, arguing that they were disastrous for American manufacturing. Lipinski received higher approval ratings from the American Conservative Union than from the ACLU in 12 of his last 13 years in office, though his highest ratings generally came from labor and consumer groups and the Christian Coalition. He received a 0 rating from the ACLU for the 1997–98 term, and also compiled an overall 0 rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League. His policies enabled him to work easily with Republicans; he was a candidate to become Transportation Secretary in the Bush administration, and collaborated with House Speaker Dennis Hastert of the 14th District to design the state's redistricting plan following the 2000 Census. and after surviving with a 54%-46% win amid the Republican gains of 1994 he was reelected by increasing margins in each succeeding election; in 2002 he became the first unopposed candidate in the history of the District.