HOW YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATES VOTED
For the week ending September 30
Contact your legislators at the U.S. Capitol Zip codes: House 20515, Senate 20510 Capitol operator: (202) 224-3121
9/11 LAWSUITS AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA: Voting 348 for and 77 against, the House on Sept. 28 overrode President Obama’s veto of a bill (S 2040) that would give families of 9/11 victims standing to sue Saudi Arabia in federal court for any role by the kingdom or its top leaders in assisting the attacks of 15 years ago. Coming after a Senate override vote (below), this put the bill into law. Under the bill, U.S. courts could waive the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act of 1976 in suits alleging Saudi complicity in the attacks. President Obama said the legislation would invite retaliation in foreign courts against America’s vast global operations. A yes vote was to override the presidential veto.
YES: LUJAN GRISHAM, PEARCE, LUJÁN
EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY FOR OVERTIME PAY: Voting 246 for and 177 against, the House on Sept. 28 passed a bill (HR 6094) intended to kill a new Department of Labor rule that would sharply raise the salary level for qualifying for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. At present, salaried employees lose their eligibility for overtime pay when they receive more than $455 per week or $23,660 annually. Under the new rule, the thresholds double to $913 per week and $47,476 annually. The rule takes effect Dec. 1 and is projected to boost the paychecks of four million workers in its first year. Overtime pay, which kicks in after 40 hours worked in a given week, amounts to time-and- a-half the normal compensation rate. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it appeared certain to fail.
YES: PEARCE NO: LUJAN GRISHAM, LUJÁN
HEALTH-LAW INDIVIDUAL MANDATE: Voting 258 for and 165 against, the House on Sept. 27 passed a bill (HR 954) that would waive the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate for persons enrolled in so-called CO-OP health plans that closed for financial reasons. The individual mandate requires Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS. CO-OPs are member-controlled, non-profit plans tailored to underserved markets. Although many CO-OPs have closed because of financial losses, the Department of Health and Human Services has taken steps to salvage those that remain and restore others. The bill posed a clash between Republicans, who are in their seventh year of attempting to dismember the health law, and Democrats, who say the law’s weaknesses should fixed just as other major federal programs are improved over time rather than discarded. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it was dead on arrival.
YES: PEARCE NO: LUJAN GRISHAM, LUJÁN
9/11 LAWSUITS AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA: Voting 97 for and one against, the Senate on Sept. 28 went far beyond the twothirds majority required to override President Obama’s veto of a bill (S 2040) that would give families of 9/11 victims standing to sue Saudi Arabia in federal court for any role the kingdom played in the attacks on American soil. Under the bill, U.S. courts could waive the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act of 1976 in suits alleging Saudi complicity in the terrorist assaults. A yes vote was to override the veto.
YES: UDALL, HEINRICH