WASHINGTON — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.
Along with roll call votes, the Senate and House also passed other measures this week by voice vote. The Senate also passed a resolution to condemn last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris; the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, to block financing for Hezbollah and its associated groups; and part II of the Surface Transportation Extension Act, to extend federal transportation programs funded by the Highway Trust Fund.
The House also passed the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, to protect the electric grid and other infrastructure from natural and manmade electromagnetic threats; the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, to encourage private sector investment in the space industry; part II of the Surface Transportation Extension Act, to extend federal transportation programs funded by the Highway Trust Fund; and a resolution to condemn the Paris terrorist attacks.
House votes
House vote 1
BURIAL OF VETERANS IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES: The House has passed the Dignified Interment of Our Veterans Act, sponsored by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania. The bill would require the Veterans Affairs Department to study ways to improve practices for burying the unclaimed remains of veterans at national cemeteries.
Shuster said that with an estimated 47,000 cremated remains of veterans awaiting interment at the cemeteries, the study was needed to give those veterans a dignified military burial in return for their service to the country.
The vote was unanimous with 409 yeas. Both Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District, were among the yeas.
House vote 2
VETERANS AND INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS: The House has passed the Fairness to Veterans for Infrastructure Investment Act, sponsored by Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania. The bill would allow small businesses owned by veterans to take part in the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which sets aside 10 percent of contracts for federally funded infrastructure projects for small businesses deemed to be disadvantaged.
Fitzpatrick said the eligibility change would “put veteran-owned firms on the front lines of our battle to rebuild our infrastructure.”
A bill opponent, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Maryland, said adding veteran-owned firms to the program would force them “to compete with disadvantaged business enterprises already participating in the program for contracting opportunities,” and the better approach would be to establish a separate goal specifically for veteran-owned small businesses.
The vote was 285 yeas to 138 nays. Pingree gave a nay vote, and Poliquin gave a yea vote.
House vote 3
INDIAN TRIBES AND UNIONS: The House has passed the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, sponsored by Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Indiana. The bill would exempt Indian tribes operating businesses and other entities on tribal land from being considered an employer for the purposes of authorizing the National Labor Relations Board to have jurisdiction over a tribe’s relationship with its employees.
Rokita said that removing the board’s subjective authority to use federal power to disrupt tribal-employee relations would give tribes the same sovereignty as state and local governments.
A bill opponent, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, said it sought to undermine “the rights of workers to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities for their mutual aid and protection” if they work for an Indian tribe.
The vote was 249 yeas to 177 nays. Pingree gave a nay vote, and Poliquin gave a yea vote.
House vote 4
HOME MORTGAGE LOANS: The House has passed the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Kentucky. The bill would protect depository banks from lawsuits that claim the banks did not comply with legal requirements regarding the issuance of residential mortgages if those banks keep the mortgages on their balance sheets.
Barr said that by encouraging banks to keep mortgages they have issued on their books, the bill would promote better evaluation of the risk borrowers will not be able to pay off their mortgages.
A bill opponent, Rep. Terri A. Sewell, D-Alabama, said it would allow banks to issue abusive and harmful loans to consumers without fear of legal repercussions, so long as they keep those loans on their books.
The vote was 255 yeas to 174 nays. Pingree gave a nay vote, and Poliquin gave a yea vote.
House vote 5
REGULATING CAR LOANS: The House has passed the Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act, sponsored by Rep. Frank C. Guinta, R-New Hampshire. The bill would cancel regulatory guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding discrimination in car loans provided by auto dealers and establish requirements for the bureau in setting out new guidance for the loans.
Guinta said the bureau’s issued guidance relied on faulty data and disregarded input from consumers and small businesses, and it should be replaced by new guidance that incorporates public comment and advice from other regulators.
A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, said it was intended to prevent the bureau from issuing anti-discrimination guidance that would prevent harm to minorities who take out car loans.
The vote was 332 yeas to 96 nays. Pingree gave a nay vote, and Poliquin gave a yea vote.
House vote 6
REFORMING FEDERAL RESERVE: The House has passed the FORM Act, sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Michigan. The bill would allow the Federal Reserve to use its emergency lending powers only under circumstances that threaten the country’s financial stability, require the Fed to conduct cost-benefit analyzes for its proposed regulations, and introduce transparency requirements for various Federal Reserve activities.
Huizenga said restricting the Fed’s emergency lending powers would limit costly taxpayer bailouts of financial institutions, while increasing disclosure about Fed policy plans “will help consumers and investors make better decisions in both the present and create more sound expectations about the future.”
A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, said it would undermine the Federal Reserve’s policy independence, “curtail its ability to respond to a wide range of dynamic economic data, and weaken its ability to effectively carry out its regulatory responsibilities to promote the safety and soundness of our financial system.”
The vote was 241 yeas to 185 nays. Pingree gave a nay vote, and Poliquin gave a yea vote.
House vote 7
SCREENING IRAQI, SYRIAN REFUGEES: The House has passed the American SAFE Act, sponsored by Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas. The bill would require the FBI to conduct background investigations of Iraqi and Syrian refugees seeking to be admitted to the U.S. and require FBI confirmation that a refugee is not a security threat in order to admit the refugee.
McCaul said signs that a Syrian refugee took part in the Paris terrorist attacks and that the Islamic State group is expanding and seeking to carry out attacks in the U.S. make it necessary to create a robust national security screening process for Iraqi and Syrian refugees.
A bill opponent, Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, said that because the background checks would take up to 24 months, requiring the checks would effectively shut out “desperate men and women and children who are risking their lives to escape death and torture in their own homelands.”
The vote was 289 yeas to 137 nays. Pingree gave a nay vote, and Poliquin gave a yea vote.
Senate votes
Senate vote 1
NEW YORK DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of LaShann Moutique DeArcy Hall to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.
A supporter, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, cited Hall’s experience in the Air Force, as a public servant, and as an international corporate lawyer.
Gillibrand said Hall’s “breadth of knowledge and depth of experience will guide her for any case that happens to come before her.”
The vote was 93 yeas to 1 nay. Both Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, were among the yeas.
Senate vote 2
POWER PLANT CO2 EMISSIONS: The Senate has passed a resolution, sponsored by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, to express congressional disapproval of an Environmental Protection Agency rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants and void the rule.
Capito said the rule, known as the Clean Power Plan, was expected to cost tens of billions of dollars, raising power prices in 41 states by at least 10 percent, with the associated loss of up to 1.2 million jobs.
A resolution opponent, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, said the Clean Power Plan rule will save lives by improving environmental conditions “and will also protect our planet from the ravages of climate change.”
The vote was 52 yeas to 46 nays. Both Collins and King were among the nays.
Senate vote 3
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM POWER PLANTS: The Senate has passed a resolution, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, to express congressional disapproval of an Environmental Protection Agency rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions from new and renovated power plants, and void the rule.
McConnell said the rule would have minimal effect on climate change and global greenhouse gas levels while placing a “potentially devastating” economic burden on poor and middle-class families.
A resolution opponent, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said the rule was part of a Clean Power Plan that “will avoid 3,600 premature deaths, 1,700 heart attacks, 90,000 asthma attacks, and 300,000 missed work and school days in just the next 15 years.”
The vote was 52 yeas to 46 nays. Both Collins and King were among the nays.
Senate vote 4
FINALIZING EDUCATION REFORM BILL: The Senate has agreed to a motion to go to conference with the House to negotiate differences between the versions of the Every Child Achieves Act passed by the two chambers. The bill would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and expand flexibility for states to develop their own education policies, including measurements of student, teacher and school performance.
A supporter of going to conference, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, said the project of fixing mistakes in the No Child Left Behind law was long overdue, making it vital to go to conference to make the fixes and finalize the bill.
The vote was 91 yeas to 6 nays. Both Collins and King were among the yeas.
Senate vote 5
LIBYA AMBASSADOR: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Peter William Bodde to serve as U.S. ambassador to Libya. Bodde, a career member of the Foreign Service and current ambassador to Nepal, previously served as a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Iraq.
The vote was unanimous with 95 yeas. Both Collins and King were among the yeas.