HOW TEXAS VOTED
WASHINGTON — How the Texas congressional delegation voted on major issues last week:
Senate
1. Killing administration rule on student loan forgiveness: Voted, 53-42, to join the House in nullifying a Trump administration rule on debt forgiveness sought by more than 200,000 federal student loan borrowers who allege that their school fraudulently misrepresented the quality of education they would receive. The borrowers’ claims have been lodged mainly against for-profit schools such as the ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges that abruptly went out of business, leaving the borrowers with steep debt but no degree and curtailed earning power.
A yes vote was to send HJ Res 76 to the White House.
House
1. Approving coronavirus relief and economic stimulus: Approved, 36340, tens of billions of dollars in stimulus and safety net spending to cushion the economic and social impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on individuals, families and mainly small and medium-size businesses. The bill (HR 6201) would appropriate $1 billion to provide free virus testing for all who request it, from the uninsured to Medicaid and Medicare recipients to individuals with private insurance; $1 billion to expand food stamps, nutrition programs for the poor and meals programs for seniors and K-12 students whose schools were closed; and $1 billion to expand state-federal unemployment benefits while delivering the checks more promptly. The bill also would fund a 6.2 percent increase in Medicaid payments to states, grant liability protections to manufacturers of respiratory masks and delay filing deadlines for certain business and personal tax returns.
In addition, the bill would authorize two weeks’ paid sick leave and up to three weeks’ paid medical and family leave through December to individuals and households affected by the crisis, using tax credits to fully reimburse qualified employers for the cost of providing the leave. Leave payments would have to be at least two-thirds of normal levels. Government employees would receive equivalent leave benefits.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
2. Renewing surveillance authority for five years: Approved, 278-136, a five-year extension (HR 6172) of three sections of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. One section allows law enforcement to place roving wiretaps on homegrown or foreign terrorist suspects moving about the U.S., and another permits government surveillance on U.S. soil of foreign “lone wolf ” suspects not linked to terrorist organizations. Under the third section, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court can authorize forever-secret FBI searches of library, bookstore and business records in the U.S. if the agency shows “reasonable grounds” that the targeted information is vital to an ongoing domestic probe of specifically defined foreign-sponsored threats to national security.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
3. Asserting congressional control over war with Iran: Voted, 227-186, to require the White House to obtain advance congressional approval for military actions against Iran or its proxy forces except when there is an imminent threat to the U.S., its armed forces or its territories. The bipartisan vote sent the measure (SJ Res 68) to President Donald Trump and his expected veto. The measure invokes the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which asserts the power of Congress to declare war under Article I of the Constitution. Under that law, presidents must notify Congress within 48 hours when they send the U.S. military into combat, then withdraw the forces within a set period unless Congress has authorized the action.
A yes vote was to adopt the resolution.