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

$717 billion for military in 2019. Passed 351-66, a $717 billion military budget (HR5515) for fiscal 2019, including $69 billion for war-fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other theaters, and $57 billion for active-duty and retiree health care. The bill sets a 2.6 percent pay raise for uniformed personnel; adds a 12th aircraft carrier to the Navy fleet; bars detainee transfers from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison; funds a military parade in Washington requested by President Donald Trump; bans the purchase or use of technology made by the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, which violated U.S. sanctions on North Korea and Iran; prohibits base closures but allows smaller installations to be closed if the state’s governor approves; funds programs for military victims of sexual assault; and approves tens of billions for conventional and nuclear weapons while lifting a ban on the development of low-yield nuclear weapons. A yes vote was to pass the bill. ✔ Rick Crawford (R) ✔ French Hill (R) ✔ Steve Womack (R) ✔ Bruce Westerman (R)

Developing low-yield nuclear weapons. Refused 188-226, to restrict funding in HR5515 (above) for a low-yield nuclear weapon — the W76-2 warhead — to be mounted on submarine-launched Trident ballistic missiles. Military planners say low-yield, or tactical, warheads are for use in limited conflicts, in contrast to strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed to obliterate targets far from the immediate battlefield. Supporters of developing tactical nuclear weapons say the United States needs to counter Russia’s extensive low-yield arsenal. Critics say the weapons heighten the risk of Armageddon because it is folly to think nuclear war can be waged on a limited basis. The amendment would have withheld half the money authorized for the program pending further studies of its strategic implications.

A yes vote was to restrict funding in the 2019 military budget for developing low-yield nuclear weapons. ✖ Crawford (R) ✖ Hill (R) ✖ Womack (R) ✖ Westerman (R)

Background checks on gun sales. Approved 224-191, blocking a Democratic attempt to amend HR5515 (above) to expand background checks on commercial gun transactions, requiring checks on sales over the Internet and between private parties at gun shows. The measure would plug gaps that allow an estimated 40 percent of gun sales to avoid mandatory checks via the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. This was the first congressional vote on gun issues since the May 18 shootings at a Santa Fe, Texas, high school that killed 10 people and wounded 10 others.

Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said that after Santa Fe, “As usual, members sent thoughts and prayers. They said things have got to change, and then they did nothing. We held our 47th moment of silence since the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary School five-and-onehalf years ago. For every member who looks into the face of yet another grieving family and says, ‘I’m with you,’ and then does nothing, I have a message for you, you’re complicit. You’re allowing criminals and the dangerously mentally ill easy access to guns. Your inaction is leading to gravestone after gravestone.”

No opponent spoke on the topic of guns. Instead, Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, objected to the motion on parliamentary grounds, saying that its spending provisions would violate the Congressional Budget Act. His objection was upheld by the chairman, and on this vote, the House affirmed that ruling.

A yes vote was in opposition to adding language on background checks to the 2019 military budget. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Hill (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Westerman (R)

Changes to federal penal system. Passed 360-59, a bipartisan bill (HR5682) intended to reduce overcrowding in the 180,000-inmate federal penal system, improve rehabilitation and reduce recidivism. In part, the bill would establish individually tailored programs to improve work and educational skills, and encourage inmates to earn credits toward early release to halfway houses. Among other provisions, the bill would require inmates to be held within 500 miles of their families and revise standards of care — including a ban on shackling — for incarcerated pregnant women. But opponents complained that the measure would not address statutory rules on mandatory-minimum sentencing, which critics say are responsible for swelling populations and dysfunction in federal prisons.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Hill (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Westerman (R)

Relaxation of banking safeguards. Passed 258-159, a bipartisan bill (S2155) that would largely exempt community banks and credit unions from the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-oversight law. The measure would also scale back restrictions the law placed on about 15 of the largest banks and 25 medium-sized regional banks, while leaving intact the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to operate as an independent agency largely free of congressional oversight.

The bill weakens anti-discrimination rules under which banks report data on lending to members of minority groups, raising from 50 to 500 the number of home loans a bank can issue before becoming subject to the Dodd-Frank reporting requirement. Other provisions would require credit reporting companies to allow consumers to freeze their credit reports free of charge and protect student loan borrowers when a co-signer dies or enters bankruptcy.

A yes vote was to send the bill to President Trump. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Hill (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Westerman (R)

Drugs for the terminally ill. Passed 250-169, a bill (S204) that would give the terminally ill broad access to experimental drugs that have not received Food and Drug Administration approval. The bill would grant legal protection to doctors, hospitals and drug firms promoting these unproven treatments, which, to qualify under the bill, must have passed one clinical trial and have a pending application at the FDA. Supporters said dying people deserve access to high-risk interventions as a matter of personal freedom, while opponents said the bill would give false hope to desperate individuals and weaken long-established FDA safety procedures.

A yes vote was to pass the bill. ✔ Crawford (R) ✔ Hill (R) ✔ Womack (R) ✔ Westerman (R)

SENATE

Veterans’ access to nearby health care. Passed 92-5, a bill (S2372) that would upgrade a four-year-old “community care” program in which veterans who live far from Veterans Health Administration facilities or face lengthy waits for treatment can promptly receive publicly funded care from close-to-home providers in the private sector. The bill also would start a process to realign, consolidate or close some of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 1,200-plus medical centers and outpatient clinics. In addition, the bill would raise Medicare reimbursement rates for veterans at rural hospitals and expand financial support to immediate and extended family members who care for veterans.

A yes vote was to send the bill to Trump. ✔ John Boozman (R) ✔ Tom Cotton (R)

Dana Baiocco, consumer products regulator. Confirmed 50-45, Dana Baiocco, an attorney in private practice, for a seat on the five-member U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. An independent agency armed with recall authority, the commission regulates the manufacture and safety of thousands of everyday products, with a focus on mechanical, fire, electrical or chemical hazards. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee. ✔ Boozman (R) ✔ Cotton (R)