HOW TEXANS VOTED

WASHINGTON — How the Texas congressional delegation voted on major issues last week:

Senate

1. Fast-track trade debates: Voted, 60-38, to give final congressional approval to a bill (HR 2146) that over the next six years would enable trade agreements such as the 12-nation TransPacific Partnership to move through Congress without amendments or filibusters. While giving President Barack Obama fast-track Trade Promotion Authority for shepherding the TPP into law, the bill allows the public 60 days to review the final wording of the deal and Congress 30 additional days to vote it up or down. A yes vote approved fast-track rules for debating the TransPacific Partnership when it arrives on Capitol Hill.

1 Cornyn(R)San

Antonio...................Y

Cruz(R)Houston..............................N

House

1. Trade adjustment assistance: Passed, 286-138, a bill (HR 1295) to authorize $1.94 billion through fiscal 2020 in Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program that provides retraining and temporary financial aid for workers dislocated by free-trade agreements. This was the last of several congressional votes since mid-May setting the stage for later debates on the proposed TransPacific Partnership trade agreement. A yes vote was to send the bill to the president.

2. Confederate symbols: Voted, 240-184, to send to committee a motion (H Res 341) that seeks to remove state flags with Confederate symbols from House areas of the United States Capitol complex and donate them to the Library of Congress. All Republicans who voted except Curt Clawson of Florida supported the referral to committee, while all Democrats who voted opposed the referral. Clawson joined Democrats in voting no. A yes vote was to send the measure to committee rather than vote on it immediately.

3. Demise of ExportImport Bank: Voted, 243181, to block a procedural bid by Democrats (H Res 333) to force a vote on a bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. The bank, which will lose its congressional charter to operate after June 30, appears headed toward closure after 81 years in business. Democrats turned to this procedural tactic after the House GOP leadership refused to bring to the floor a bill with 190 sponsors to keep the bank in operation. Supporters say the bank is a job-creator, while critics see it as corporate welfare. A yes vote was to block a move for a direct vote on preserving the ExportImport Bank.

4. Medicare cost controls: Passed, 244154, a bill to abolish a panel of 15 outside health experts created by the Affordable Care Act to help control Medicare costs. The GOP-drafted bill (HR 1190) would eliminate but not replace the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is yet to be assembled. The IPAB, on an annual basis, will have power to propose cuts in payments to Medicare providers to keep per-capita Medicare costs from exceeding official projections, with Congress needing supermajority votes to override its recommendations. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

5. Regulation of carbon emissions: Passed, 247180, a GOP-drafted bill (HR 2042) that would sidetrack or effectively kill a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule to limit carbon emissions by natural gas- and coal-fired power plants. The bill targets the EPA’s socalled Clean Power Plan, now in draft form, which would allow each state to develop its own means of complying with federally set limits on carbon discharges from plants that generate electricity. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

6. Cost of climate change: Defeated, 182-243, a Democratic bid to make proposed new limits on carbon emissions binding on states unless they certify that the resulting cost to utility ratepayers would be higher than storm cleanup costs linked to climate change. The amendment was offered to HR 2042 (above). It sought to replace wording in the bill that allows a state to opt out of emission limits under certain conditions.

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Gohmert(R)Tyler....................................NYYYYN

Poe(R)Humble.......................................NYYYYN

Johnson(R)Plano...................................NYYYYN

Ratcliffe(R)Heath..................................NYYYYN

Hensarling(R)Dallas..............................NYYYYN

Barton(R)Arlington................................YYYYYN

Culberson(R)Houston,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NYYYYN

Brady(R)The Woodlands......................YYYYYN

Al Green(D)Houston..............................YNNNNY

McCaul(R)Austin....................................NYYYYN

Conaway(R)Midland.............................NYYYYN

Granger(R)Fort Worth...........................YYYYYN

Thornberry(R)Clarendon......................YYYYYN

Weber(R)Alvin........................................NYYYYN

Hinojosa(D)Mercedes...........................YNANNY

O’Rourke(D)El Paso...............................YNNYNY

Flores(R)Bryan.......................................NYYYYN

Jackson Lee(D)Houston.......................YNNANY

Neugebauer(R)Lubbock.......................NYYYYN

Castro(D)San Antonio..........................YNNANY

Smith(R)San Antonio.........................NYYYYN

Olson(R)Sugar Land..............................NYYYYN

Hurd(R)Helotes......................................NYYYYN

Marchant(R)Coppell...............................YYYAYN

Williams(R)Austin.................................NYYYYN

Burgess(R)Flower Mound....................NYYYYN

Farenthold(R)Corpus Christi NYYYYN

Cuellar(D)Laredo...................................YNNNYN

Gene Green(D)Houston........................YNNNNY

Johnson(D)Dallas..................................YNNNNY

Carter(R)Round Rock.............................YYYAYN

Sessions(R)Dallas..................................NYYYYN

Veasey(D)Fort Worth............................YNNNNY

Vela(D)Brownsville................................YNNANY

Doggett(D)Austin..................................YNNNNY

Babin(R)Woodville................................NYYYYN

Y = Yea, N = Nay, A = Not voting, P = An

swered “Present”

Thomas Voting Reports