How Our State's Members Of Congress Voted Last Week
Here’s how Washington members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending May 11. (A little background about why I’m re-posting this can be found here.)
House
MILITARY SPENDING INCREASE: Voting 218 for and 199 against, the House on May 10 sent the Senate a bill (HR 5652) to increase military spending by $55 billion, or 10 percent, in fiscal 2013 while cutting sharply over 10 years into domestic programs such as food stamps, school lunches, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and subsidies to help low-income families buy medical insurance. The bill would cancel automatic spending cuts — known as a sequester — that are scheduled for 2013 and later years under the 2011 Budget Control Act. That act is the deal in which Republicans allowed the national-debt ceiling to be raised in return for Democrats accepting at least $2.2 trillion in multi-year deficit reduction. The automatic cuts would reduce military and domestic spending by about $100 billion next year. This bill would avert the defense cuts while requiring still deeper cuts in a wide range of of domestic programs, 25 percent of which benefit the poor.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Doc Hastings, R-4, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5, Dave Reichert, R-8
Voting no: Rick Larsen, D-2, Jaime Herrera, R-3, Norman Dicks, D-6, Jim McDermott, D-7, Adam Smith, D-9
LOBBYISTS’ FEDERAL PENSIONS: Voting 170 for and 232 against, the House on May 10 defeated a bid by Democrats to amend HR 5652 (above) by denying federal pensions to any former House members or senators who become lobbyists after leaving Congress.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Larsen, Dicks, McDermott, Smith
Voting no: Herrera Beutler, Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert
JUSTICE, COMMERCE, SCIENCE: Voting 247 for and 163 against, the House on May 10 sent the Senate a bill (HR 5326) to appropriate $51.1 billion in fiscal 2013 for the departments of Justice and Commerce and agencies such as the National Science Foundation National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Equal Employment. The spending level is down about $1.6 billion, or 3 percent, from 2012.
The bill bars funding of a new EEOC rule making it more difficult for employers to defend themselves against age-discrimination suits and of a new Justice Department requirement concerning swimming-pool lifts for disabled persons.
The bill also prohibits funding of new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rules on gun sales in which the same individual in a single week buys at least two semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines in the border states of Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico. The rule requires dealers to report such transactions to the government on the rationale that they involve drug trafficking.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Herrera Beutler, Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Dicks, Reichert
Voting no: Larsen, McDermott, Smith
VOTER ID LAWS: Voting 232 for and 190 against, the House on May 9 passed an amendment to HR 5326 (above) to prevent the Justice Department from interfering with voter ID laws enacted by states. This follows the department’s blocking of such laws in South Carolina and Texas as racially discriminatory. Under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, 16 states or parts of states with histories of racial discrimination in the voting process must receive the department’s approval to change their voting laws. Eight states have passed voter ID laws, which typically require voters to show a photo or certain other documents before they can cast a ballot.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Herrera Beutler, Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert
Voting no: Larsen, Dicks, McDermott, Smith
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: Voting 181 for and 233 against, the House on May 10 defeated a Democratic bid to add $20 million to HR 5326 (above) for programs designed to prevent or deal with violence against women. Republicans said the bill already contained $7.5 million more than President Obama’s budget had requested for such programs in fiscal 2013.
A yes vote backed the spending increase.
Voting yes: Larsen, Dicks, McDermott, Smith
Voting no: Herrera Beutler, Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK: Voting 330 for and 93 against, the House on May 9 sent the Senate a bill (HR 2072) to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank through fiscal 2014. An independent agency backed by taxpayers, the bank provides loans and guarantees to help U.S. companies make sales in politically or economically risky markets abroad. The rationale is that without support from Washington, U.S. companies would lose sales to foreign competitors subsidized by their governments. Fewer than 2 percent of the bank’s transactions have defaulted in recent years, and the agency usually returns a profit to the Treasury. The bank is barred by law from competing with private-sector lenders.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Larsen, Herrera Beutler, Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith
Voting no: None
Senate
STUDENT-LOAN INTEREST: Voting 52 for and 45 against, the Senate on May 8 failed to reach 60 votes needed to end GOP blockage of a bill (S 2343) to prevent interest rates on newly issued Stafford student loans from doubling on July 1. The increase from today’s 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent would add $1,000 on average to the lifetime cost of such loans. The bill would cost the Treasury $5.9 billion in lost revenue. To offset that sum, the bill would close a loophole used by some owners of S corporations to shield personal income from Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. The closure would affect persons earning at least $200,000 annually whose S corporations have three or fewer shareholders. By contrast, Republicans want to pay for the freeze on student-loan interest by cutting funds in the 2010 health law for preventive-care programs.
A yes vote was to start debate.
Voting yes: Maria Cantwell, D, Patty Murray, D
Voting no: None
— Thomas Voting Reports Inc.
