Congressional roll call

Here’s how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the week ending April 27.

HOUSE

HOUSE CHAPLAIN: Voting 215-171, the House on April 27 tabled (killed) a Democratic motion to establish a select committee to probe the forced resignation of the Rev. Patrick Conroy as House chaplain. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has not commented publicly on his request for the resignation of Conroy, who had held the post since 2011. There was no debate on this measure, but off the floor, Democrats accused Ryan of retaliating against Conroy over the egalitarian message in a prayer he offered in the chamber last Nov. 6 during consideration of GOP legislation cutting taxes and revising the tax code. The speaker’s staff denied that charge. In his prayer, Conroy said, in part: “As legislation on taxes continues to be debated this week and next, may all members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to

achieve great success while others continue to struggle. May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.” A yes vote was in opposition to establishing a select committee to probe the chaplain’s removal.

John Faso: R-Kinderhook: No Sean Maloney, D-Cold Spring: Yes

AVIATION BUDGET: Voting 393-13, the House on April 27 passed a bill (HR 4) that would authorize federal aviation programs at a spending level of nearly $100 billion through September 2023, with funding provided by annual appropriations bills as well as user fees including fuel taxes and ticket add-ons. The bill would expand the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulation of commercial drone flights; fund capital improvements at airports; require the FAA to streamline its certification of new aircraft and aviation gear; finance the “Next-Gen” program that is gradually shifting air traffic control from a radar-based system to one dependent on global positioning satellites; fund the Essential Air Service program that

subsidizes commercial flights to smaller cities; expand the minimum between-flights rest period for airline attendants from eight to 10 hours; order a study of pilot rest and duty rules; prohibit the bumping passengers who have already boarded the aircraft; and bar the use of cell phones for verbal communication during flights A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. Faso: Yes Maloney: Yes

LITHIUM BATTERIES: Voting 192 in favor and 223 opposed, the House on April 26 defeated an amendment to HR 4 (above) that sought to give U.S. rather than foreign regulators the lead role in setting safety rules for transporting flammable lithium batteries on commercial cargo aircraft in U.S. skies. The Federal Aviation Administration now cedes authority in this area to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body that sets global rules for nonmilitary aviation. Amendment backers said that if the FAA were to become the primary regulator, it would set stricter standards for shipping these types of batteries. At present, the FAA’s authority kicks in only if there is credible evidence that an explosion is likely or after an accident has occurred. The transport of flammable lithium batteries is banned on commercial flights under international rules. A yes vote was to adopt the amendment.

Faso: No Maloney: Yes

SENATE

SECRETARY OF STATE: Voting 57-42, the Senate on April 26 confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo, 54, as the 70th secretary of state. Pompeo was a GOP congressman from Kansas, a member of the Tea Party faction, from 2011-17. He graduated first in his class from West Point and was an Army tank commander in the late 1980s. Republicans praised Pompeo’s record in government and the military and said his closeness to President Trump will boost his credibility in dealing with world leaders including Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Democrats said that while in the House, Pompeo was Islamophobic and floated conspiracy theories about the 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. They

also criticized his congressional stands against the Paris agreement on climate change and U.S. funding of international women’s health organizations. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.

Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.:

No Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: No

FEDERAL APPEALS

JUDGE: The Senate on April 24 voted 50-47 to confirm Kyle Duncan, a partner in a Washington law firm, for a lifetime appointment on the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over federal trial courts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Duncan was lead counsel on the winning side of the Supreme Court’s 2014Hobby Lobby Stores v. Burwell ruling that closely held, for-profit corporations could refuse on religious grounds to provide employees with certain types of birth control coverage under by the Affordable Care Act. Democrats criticized Duncan over his restrictive views on LGBTQ rights, immigration and women’s reproductive rights and for his support of voter ID laws and a former North Carolina law barring transgender individuals from

using the bathroom of their choice in government buildings. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.

Gillibrand: No Schumer: No AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY: Voting 56-42, the Senate on April 26 confirmed Richard Grenell, 51, a Fox News contributor and head of a public affairs firm, as U.S. ambassador to Germany. He was America’s press spokesman at the United Nations under President George W. Bush, and in 2012, as an aide to Mitt Romney, he became the first openly gay spokesman for a GOP presidential nominee. Democrats criticized Grenell for having sent numerous tweets disparaging women, including first lady Michelle Obama, MSNBC journalist Rachel Maddow and U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Calista Gingrich. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee

Gillibrand: No Schumer: No

COMING UP

Congress is in recess until the week of May 7.