congressional roll call
HOUSE $696 BILLION FOR MILITARY IN 2018:
Voting 344 for and 81 against, the House on July 14 authorized a $696.5 billion military budget
(HR 2810) for fiscal 2018, including $64.6 billion for war-fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other theaters and more than $50 billion for active-duty and retiree health care. The bill authorizes $150 million in military aid to Ukraine while increasing spending for steps to deter what it calls “Russian aggression” against U.S. and
NATO interests in Europe.
In addition, the bill establishes a U.S. Space Corps within the Air Force in 2019; treats as non-binding the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, known as INF; sets a 2.4 percent pay raise for uniformed personnel; requires a Pentagon strategy for dealing with Syria once ISIS is defeated; bars detainee transfers from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison; authorizes 1,594,300 active-duty, guard and reserve personnel; funds programs for military victims of sexual assault and prohibits base closures, along with authorizing tens of billions to fund conventional and nuclear weapons programs.
Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said the bill provides resources for addressing “this growing threat coming from North Korea” as well as “Iran, the provocative actions of Russia and China, the terrorist organizations of various shades.”
Jim McGovern, D-Mass., called for updating the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) as the basis of U.S. war-fighting in the Middle East, saying “the idea that we are using that authorization to justify our military operations in Syria and a whole bunch of other places in the world is ludicrous.”
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Bruce Westerman, R-4
TEXAS
Voting yes: John Ratcliffe, R-4 Voting no: Louie Gohmert, R-1
CLIMATE CHANGE, NATIONAL SECURITY:
Voting 185 for and 234 against, the House on July 13 refused to strip HR 2810 (above) of a requirement for Department of Defense reports on the impact of climate change on U.S. military installations and combat readiness.
Scott Perry, R-Pa., said: “This federal mandate detracts from the essential mission of the Department of Defense, which is to secure our nation from enemies, and is best left to the agencies that are better suited to deal with these (climate) issues.”
Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said: “We already see the strategic implications of new sea lanes being cut in the melting Arctic, where countries are seeking an economic advantage. As we speak, along our coasts, rising seas are affecting our naval installations, including at Naval Station Norfolk, the home of the Atlantic Fleet.”
A yes vote was to strip the bill of its climate-change reporting requirement.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Westerman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Gohmert, Ratcliffe
FUNDING OF TRANSGENDER SURGERY:
Voting 209 for and 214 against, the House on July 13 refused to strip the 2018 military budget
(HR 2810, above) of its authority to fund gender-change surgeries and related hormone therapies for members of the military and their dependents. The amendment did not apply to funding of related mental-health counseling.
A yes vote was to adopt the funding ban.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Westerman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Gohmert, Ratcliffe
FUNDING MEXICAN BORDER WALL:
The House on July 14 rejected, 190 for and 235 against, a Democratic bid to bar funding in HR 2810 (above) for President Trump’s proposal to build a wall and other physical barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. In its specific language, the bill neither authorizes nor prohibits wall funding.
Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said the measure “would simply ensure that (military) resources aren’t siphoned off for a pointless wall that we don’t need and cannot afford.”
Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said “there is nothing in this bill that funds the construction of a border wall.”
A yes vote was to prohibit wall funding in the bill.
ARKANSAS
Voting no: Westerman
TEXAS
Voting no: Gohmert, Ratcliffe
1% CUT IN MILITARY BUDGET:
Voting 73 for and 351 against, the House on July 13 defeated an amendment that sought to cut the 2018 military budget (HR 2810, above) in areas other than health care and personnel by 1 percent or $6.2 billion.
Jared Polis, D-Colo., said: “By spending beyond our means, we make ourselves economically beholden to other nations like China and Saudi Arabia. That makes America less secure rather than more secure.”
Michael Turner, R-Ohio, said: “Our military should be honored. It should not be faced with additional cuts.”
A yes vote was to cut the 2018 military budget by $6.2 billion.
ARKANSAS
Voting no: Westerman
TEXAS
Voting no: Gohmert, Ratcliffe
SENATE
NEOMI RAO, REGULATORY CZAR:
By a vote of 54 for and 41 against, the Senate on July 10 confirmed Neomi Rao to head a unit of the White House and Office of Management and Budget that oversees the federal regulatory process. Rao, 44, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is a faculty member at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where she is the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
No senator spoke for the nominee.
Opponent Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said: “Professor Rao is especially critical of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This is the agency that has forced the biggest corporations and banks in this country to return more than $12 billion directly to Americans they have cheated and held big banks like Wells Fargo accountable when they have ripped off customers. (She) says the CFPB’s problem is its independence—seriously.”
A yes vote was to confirm Rao.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Tom Cotton, R, John Boozman, R
TEXAS
Voting yes: John Cornyn, R, Ted Cruz, R
WILLIAM HAGERTY, AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN:
Voting 86 for and 12 against, the Senate on July 13 confirmed William F. Hagerty IV, 57, a privateequity investor, former economic adviser to President George H.W. Bush and member of President Donald Trump’s White House transition team, as U.S. ambassador to Japan. Hagerty, who is fluent in Japanese, was commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development between 2001-2014.
No senator spoke against the nominee.
A yes vote was to confirm Hagerty.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Cotton, Boozman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Cornyn, Cruz
KEY VOTES AHEAD
The House will take up bills on natural-gas pipelines in the week of July 17, while the Senate will conduct a preliminary vote on the Republican healthcare bill.