Congressional roll call

Here’s how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the legislative week ending June 28.

House ELECTION PROTECTION:

Voting 225-184, the House on June 27 passed a Democratic bill (HR 2722) that would authorize a $600 million, multi-year program to bolster state and local voting systems against attacks by adversaries, including Russia. In return for federal grants, authorities would be required to start converting vulnerable, aging electronic voting machines to ones using paper ballots, which could be verified by voters on the spot and audited by election officials. The bill requires voting infrastructure to be manufactured in the United States and sold from a list of vendors certified by the Department of Homeland Security and Election Assistance Commission. In addition, the bill would prohibit Internet connectivity to devices on which votes are marked or tabulated, and it would allocate $175 million to states and localities every two years for maintaining their electoral systems. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck: Yes

Sean Maloney, D-Cold

Spring: Yes BALLOT DROP-OFF

LAWS: Voting 189 in favor and 220 opposed, the House on June 27 defeated a Republican motion to HR 2722 (above) targeting state ballot drop-off laws, which allow homebound voters to designate a helper to personally deliver their absentee ballot to election officials. The motion required a state’s chief election officer to inform the Federal Election Commission whenever a foreign national is chosen as the helper. Backers called this an anti-fraud measure, while critics said it was voter suppression. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Delgado: No Maloney: No BORDER MONEY: Voting 305-102, the House on June 27 approved a bipartisan $4.5 billion emergency package to address a humanitarian crisis on the southwest border centered on hundreds of thousands of migrants from Central America who have entered the United States in recent months to apply for asylum protections under federal and international law. The bill (HR 3401) allocated about $3 billion for shelter, food, medical care and other services for unaccompanied migrant children held in Department of Health and Human Services custody, and as much as $1 billion to agencies including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This was a milder version of a Democratic bill passed earlier in the week, but then shelved, that raised standards for the administration’s treatment of migrants and denied funding to ICE. A yes vote was to send the bill to President Trump. Delgado: Yes Maloney: Yes $383B SPENDING: Voting 227-194, the House on June 25 approved a $383.3 billion package consisting of five of the 12 appropriations bills that will fund government operations in fiscal 2020, which starts Oct. 1. In part, the bill (HR 3055) provides $80.4 billion for veterans health care; $50.1 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; $32 billion for the Department of Justice including $9.46 billion for FBI salaries and expenses; $22.3 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; $17.7 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration; $16.4 billion for the Department of Commerce, including $8.45 billion for the Census Bureau; and $9.5 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency. Addressing gun violence, the bill fully funds the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System while providing $80 million in grants to help states supply data to the system; $125 million to fund the STOP School Violence Act; $100 million for youth-mentoring programs; and $20 million for police programs in active-shooter training. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Delgado: Yes Maloney: Yes IMMIGRATION JUDGES:

Voting 201 in favor and 220 opposed, the House on June 25 defeated a Republican motion to add $75 million to HR 3055 (above) for hiring more immigration judges and expanding courtroom capacity. The funds were to be taken from the 2020 census budget. The underlying bill already provides $110 million over 2019 levels to address a backlog of 800,000 immigration cases, many of which involve asylum seekers from Central America or persons who have overstayed their visas or entered the United States illegally. A yes vote was to transfer $75 million from census to immigration accounts. Delgado: No Maloney: No

Senate

BORDER MONEY: Voting 84-8, the Senate on June 26 passed a bill (HR 3401) that would appropriate $4.5 billion in emergency funding to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the departments of Health and Human Services and Defense cope with an influx this year of hundreds of thousands of migrants on the southwest border. The bill combines humanitarian aid with funding to carry out administration policies for dealing with individuals mainly from Central America who seek asylum in the United States. A yes vote was to pass a bill, which that the House later approved (see above) and sent to President Trump.

Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.:

Did not vote Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: Yes

$750B FOR MILITARY:

Voting 86-8, the Senate on June 27 authorized a $750 billion military budget for fiscal 2020, including $75.9 billion for war-fighting overseas and more than $57 billion for active-duty and retiree health care. The bill (S 1790) would establish a United States Space Force within the Air Force; set a 3.1 percent pay raise for uniformed personnel; authorize $10 billion for procuring 94 fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter aircraft; expand and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal; fund programs for military victims of sexual assault; and replace $3.6 billion President Trump diverted from military programs to wall construction. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Gillibrand: Did not vote Schumer: Yes

Coming up

Congress is in recess until the week of July 8.