How Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted

Here is how Arkansas’ U.S. senators and U.S. representatives voted on major roll call votes during the week that ended Friday.

HOUSE

“Clean” budget vote. Rebuffed 226-191 along party lines, a Democratic motion for a vote on funding the entire federal government without conditions added by Republicans. On this vote, the House upheld a parliamentary ruling that the bid for a “clean CR” (continuing resolution) vote was not germane to an underlying measure on Head Start funding (HJRes84, below). Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said the motion was nongermane and out of order. The chairman upheld his objection, setting the stage for this vote. Lois Capps, D-Calif., said: “If the House leadership really wanted to fix the problem, they could do so today if they would just bring a “clean” continuing resolution to the House floor for a straight up or down vote.” A yes vote was to block a vote on a “clean” funding bill. h ✔ Rick Crawford (R) h ✔ Tim Griffin (R) h ✔ Steve Womack (R) h ✔ Tom Cotton (R)

Head Start programs. Passed 248-168, a Republican bill (HJRes84, above) to fund Head Start during the ongoing, partial government shutdown at an annual, sequester level rate of $7.59 billion. This funding would reopen 1,600 Head Start programs shuttered since Oct. 1. Head Start serves nearly 1 million preschool children from low-income families, seeking to boost their physical and emotional development and improve cognitive skills. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said: “As we work our way out of this government shutdown mess, we shouldn’t let some of our most vulnerable citizens — low-income children with no recourse — suffer. In my home state of Kentucky, 20,715 kids rely on Head Start to provide a helping hand.” Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said: “I wish my Republican colleagues had shown this same level of concern for Head Start earlier in the year when [they] proposed to slash the Labor-HHS (Health and Human Services) spending bill by 22 percent.” A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where the Democratic leadership shelved it. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Griffin (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Cotton (R)

Bicameral super committee. Passed 224-197, a Republican bill (HR3273) to establish a temporary committee of 10 House members and 10 senators, split evenly between the two parties, to recommend steps for resolving the ongoing budget standoff on Capitol Hill. The super committee could recommend changes in entitlement programs, discretionary-spending levels and the national-debt limit but not in tax [revenue] policies. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said President Barack Obama “is different from his predecessors. He’s willing to take us to the brink rather than offering his negotiating skillset and getting people together. That is what we should be about.” David Price, D-N.C., said Democrats would negotiate a budget plan “that puts everything on the table: revenues, entitlement, all categories of spending” and “ends this charade that the Republicans have put us through here as the new fiscal year begins.” A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where the Democratic leadership shelved it. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Griffin (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Cotton (R)

Federal Aviation Administration. Passed 252-172, a Republican measure (HJRes90) to fully fund and thus reopen the entire Federal Aviation Administration during the partial closure of the federal government then in its ninth day. This stopgap appropriation would fund the agency at sequestration levels through Dec. 15. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, said the bill “would bring back over 6,000 aviation-safety inspectors who are currently not working due to the shutdown” and would “reopen the FAA Academy to resume the training of new air-traffic controllers and ensure that our controller workforce is fully staffed.” Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said: “We should not be opening just parts of the government to serve just some of the people. We should open the entire government for all Americans. The Republican solution to the Republican shutdown, this piecemeal approach picking winners and picking losers, is no solution at all.” A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where the Democratic leadership shelved it. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Griffin (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Cotton (R)

Border-security operations. Passed 249-175, a measure (HJRes79) to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) border-security operations during the ongoing, partial closure of the federal government. The vote occurred 10 days after the partial shutdown began in a dispute over GOP efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act, among other causes. John Carter, R-Texas, said the bill ensures “that frontline agents along our borders receive their pay and that certain components of DHS can carry out their border security and enforcement missions at full strength.” David Price, D-N.C., said: “The American people are fed up with partisan games and procedural gimmicks. Why didn’t [Republicans] think more about border security or cancer research or the national parks, or women’s and children’s nutrition when they were shutting the government down in the first place?” A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where the Democratic leadership shelved it. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Griffin (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Cotton (R)