Congressional roll call

Here’s how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Oct. 25.

House SHELL CORPORATIONS:

Voting 249-173, the House Oct. 22 on passed a bill (HR 2513) that would require small corporations and limited liability companies to identify their true owners when they are formed and in annual filings with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which combats domestic and global criminal activity including the laundering of terrorism and drug funds. Because anonymously financed shell corporations tend to be relatively small operations, the bill is directed mainly at U.S.-based companies with fewer than 20 full-time employees and annual sales or gross receipts under $5 million. The bill exempts banks, credit unions, registered brokerdealers, insurance companies, nonprofits and certain publicly traded companies. Companies would have to identify their “beneficial owners” — those who ultimately control the firm even though ownership is listed in another name. Critics said the bill would imperil business owners’ privacy rights because law enforcement could access the Treasury Department database without courtissued warrants or subpoenas. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Antonio Delgado, DRhinebeck: Yes Sean Maloney, D-Cold Spring: Yes DATABASE ACCESS: Voting 197 in favor and 224 opposed, the House on Oct. 22 defeated a Republicansponsored motion requiring law enforcement to obtain a court-issued subpoena for access to ownership information collected by the Treasury Department under HR 2513 (above). The information consists of the beneficial, or actual, owners name, address, date

of birth and drivers license or other government ID number. Law enforcement could tap into the Treasury database only as part of an ongoing investigation, and a civil liberties unit would oversee their actions. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Delgado: No Maloney: No ELECTION INTERFERENCE: Voting 227-181, the House on Oct. 23 passed a bill (HR 4617) that would require U.S. political campaigns to inform law enforcement when they receive offers of foreign assistance; close loopholes that allow foreign funds to illegally enter the U.S. electoral system; prohibit foreign spending on state ballot initiatives; prohibit U.S. campaigns from disclosing nonpublic information including poll numbers to foreign governments and their agents; and require sponsors of online political advertising to identify themselves in the ad, just as they must do in commercials run on broadcast channels. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. Delgado: Yes Maloney: Yes STATE AND LOCAL ELECTIONS: Voting 180 in favor and 231 opposed, the House on Oct. 23 defeated a Republican amendment that sought to remove from HR 4617 (above) a provision authorizing the U.S. attorney general to correct the spread of false logistical information about state and local elections — including misstatements of voting dates, times and places — if nonfederal authorities have failed to do so. A yes vote was to adopt the amendment. Delgado: No Maloney: No

SCHIFF CENSURE: Voting 218-185, the House on Oct. 21 blocked a Republicansponsored resolution (H Res 630) “condemning and censuring” Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which is conducting an inquiry into impeachment of President

Trump. The GOP measure faulted Schiff, D-Calif., for publicly mischaracterizing a July 25 telephone conversation between Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine; for Schiff’s acknowledged misleading statements about his staffs contacts with a whistleblower who alleged Trump acted inappropriately in that conversation; and for accusing Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign of working with Russia. The resolution was quashed by a parliamentary ruling that it did not qualify as a “privileged question” entitled to floor action under House rules. On the vote reported here, Democrats upheld that ruling after it was appealed by Republicans. A yes vote was in opposition to the censure of Schiff. Delgado: Yes Maloney: Yes

Senate

STATE AND LOCAL TAX DEDUCTIONS:

Voting 43 in favor and 52 opposed, the Senate on Oct. 23 turned back a Democratic attempt to allow states to offer residents a way to circumvent the $10,000 limit on deductions of state and local income and property taxes on federal returns. Republicans included the cap in their 2017 tax-cut law, a move seen as targeting upper-income areas that tend to levy high taxes and vote Democratic. To allow their taxpayers to stay within the $10,000 limit without seeing their overall tax bills jump, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have allowed residents to make federally deductible charitable contributions to public improvement funds, and then receive credits against their state tax obligations as a trade-off. But the Internal Revenue Service issued a regulation to prohibit the tactic, extending the general rule that taxpayers cannot deduct charitable contributions for which they receive something in return. On the vote reported here, the Senate defeated a resolution (SJ Res 50) aimed at killing the IRS rule.

A yes vote was to adopt the resolution.

Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.:

Yes

Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.:

Yes

Coming up

The House this week will take up bills to protect public lands in the West and place economic sanctions on Turkey over its invasion of Syria. The Senate will debate fiscal 2020 appropriations.