HOW YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATES VOTED
For the week ending December 2
Contact your legislators at the U.S. Capitol Zip codes: House 20515, Senate 20510 Capitol operator: (202) 224-3121
By Voterama In Congress
© 2016 Thomas Reports Inc. $611 BILLION FOR U.S. MILITARY: The House on Dec. 2 approved, 375 for and 34 against, the conference report on a $611 billion military budget for fiscal 2017. In part, the bill (S 2943) would authorize $67.8 billion
in emergency spending
for combat operations
overseas; more than $50
Grisham (D) billion for active-duty and retiree health care; $3.4 billion for Afghanistan Security Forces; $1.3 billion for efforts targeted at ISIS and $500 million in security assistance including arms for Ukraine. The bill would authorize a 2.1 percent pay raise for uniformed personnel and prohibit another round of base closings and require the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison to remain open.
A yes vote was to adopt the conference report, which is now before the Senate.
YES: LUJAN GRISHAM, PEARCE, LUJÁN
WEAKENED REGULATION OF MEGA BANKS: The House on Dec. 1 voted, 254 for and 161 against, to weaken rules that subject the nation’s largest financial institutions to increased Federal Reserve oversight and enhanced capital standards aimed at ensuring their solvency. At present, these extra layers of regulation are applied to bank holding companies with at least $50 billion in assets. Under this GOP-sponsored bill (HR 6392), a five-part formula —focusing only partly on assets — would be used to determine which large institutions receive special scrutiny by federal regulators. This is the 13th bill the House has passed this year to block or repeal financial regulations, none of which has cleared the Senate.
Mega banks are more intensely regulated because of their potential to bring down the entire financial system if they were to collapse. The $50 billion threshold was set by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which was enacted in response to the 2008 global meltdown in which several large Wall Street firms either failed or needed federal intervention or taxpayer bailouts to survive.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it was dead on arrival.
YES: PEARCE NO: LUJAN GRISHAM, LUJÁN
FETAL-TISSUE RESEARCH: The House on Dec. 1 voted, 234 for and 181 against, to add $800,000 to the budget of a special House committee now investigating any nefarious associations between legal abortions and fetal-tissue research. A yes vote was to increase spending for the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.
A yes vote was to increase the budget of Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.
YES: PEARCE NO: LUJAN GRISHAM, LUJÁN
BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, FDA DRUG APPROVAL: Voting 392 for and 26 against, the House on Nov. 30 passed a bipartisan bill (HR 34) that would expand the National Institutes of Health budget for biomedical research; speed Food and Drug Administration procedures for bringing new drugs and devices to the market; expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage of mentalhealth care and fund state and local programs to deal with opioid addiction. The bill authorizes more than $6 billion over 10 years in discretionary spending and raises spending for entitlement programs.
In addition to boosting agencies such as the NIH, FDA and Centers for Disease Control, the bill would extend the patent life of drugs that treat rare diseases or conditions while increasing Medicare payments to hospitals for antimicrobial drugs, among scores of other provisions.
A yes vote was to send the 21st Century Cures Act to the Senate, where prompt approval was expected.
YES: LUJAN GRISHAM, PEARCE, LUJÁN
DONALD TRUMP’S TAX RETURNS: Voting 235 for and 180 against, the House on Dec. 1 blocked a parliamentary tactic by Democrats that sought to advance legislation requiring major-party presidential candidates to publicly release their personal tax returns for the three preceding years. It was noted in debate that in the campaign just ended, Republican Donald Trump refused to disclose his returns and Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders released only a summary of one year’s return. The vote occurred during consideration of the 2017 military budget (S 2943).
A yes vote was to quash a Democratic bid to require public disclosure of presidential candidates’ tax returns. YES: PEARCE NO: LUJAN GRISHAM, LUJÁN
2017 INTELLIGENCE BUDGET: Voting 390 for and 30 against, the House on Nov. 30 adopted the conference report on a fiscal 2017 budget (HR 6393) of more than $80 billion for the 16 U.S. civilian and military intelligence agencies, with the actual figure classified. Among its many provisions, the bill would fund cyber warfare and space- and sea-based assets along with counterterrorism operations against ISIS and spycraft to counter nations such as Russia, China and Iran.
A yes vote was to approve the 2017 intelligence budget. YES: LUJAN GRISHAM, PEARCE, LUJÁN
SANCTIONS ON IRAN: Voting 99 for and none against, the Senate on Dec. 1 sent the White House a bill (HR 6297) that would extend for 10 years, until Dec. 31, 2026, the legal foundation for any number of American economic sanctions on Iran. In part, the bill authorizes present and future Congresses and administrations to take steps to block foreign investment in Iran’s energy sector, denying Iran revenue for funding international terrorism. The bill also renews authority for the U.S. to ”snap back” sanctions on Iran if Tehran were to violate the nuclear-disarmament agreement it signed last year with the U.S. and four other world powers.
A yes vote was to send the bill to President Obama for his signature.
YES: UDALL, HEINRICH