How Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted

HOUSE D Post-Parkland dispute over gun bills. Approved 228-184, blocking a Democratic resolution calling on the House to debate two gun-safety bills. One (HR3464) would prevent a firearms dealer from selling a weapon before completion of a federal background check. The second bill (HR4240) would incentivize reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background System, and expand criminal and mental-health background checks to cover all firearms transactions except those among family members, friends and hunting partners. The latter provision would eliminate exemptions for purchases occurring at gun shows, over the Internet and through classified ads. This vote was conducted after Republican leaders, who control the House agenda, declined to immediately take gun legislation to the floor after a Feb. 14 mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school.

The Democratic resolution was quashed by the presiding officer’s ruling that it did not qualify under House rules as a “privileged question” entitled to floor action. On the vote reported here, Republicans upheld that ruling after it was appealed by Democrats.

Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said: “I would say to my colleagues who are beholden to the National Rifle Association: I get it. If you don’t want to stand up to them, that is fine. But don’t stand in the way of this House having a debate on these issues and having a vote. Let the American people see where everybody stands, Democrats and Republicans alike.” No member spoke on the other side of the issue.

A yes vote was in opposition to allowing floor debate on the two bills.

h✔ Rick Crawford (R)

h✔ French Hill (R) h✔ Steve Womack (R) h✔ Bruce Westerman (R)

D Bill to combat online sex

trafficking. Passed 388-25, a bill (HR1865) stipulating that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act can be used to prosecute websites that facilitate prostitution and sex trafficking. Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act in 1996 to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. Section 230 protects Internet service providers and third-party platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook against a wide range of laws that apply to originators of pornographic content. This bill would deny such protection in federal, state and local courts to websites such as Backpage whose business model is to advance the sex trade. But critics, including the Department of Justice, said it has an overly broad “reason to know” standard that would imperil the free speech of innocent third parties and therefore make prosecution of sex traffickers more difficult. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., called the bill “a long-overdue clarification of Section 230 — explaining to America’s courts that state and local prosecutors are not handcuffed from protecting their communities.” Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the bill “would make it more difficult to prosecute, as the Department of Justice has pointed out.”

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

h✔ Crawford (R)

h✔ Hill (R)

h✔ Womack (R)

h✔ Westerman (R)

D

Capital reserves for megabanks. Passed 245-169, a bill (HR4296) that would direct federal banking regulators to redefine

rules under which America’s 10 largest banks hold capital as a cushion against future losses that could seriously damage the economy. At present, the “operational risk” for determining the megabanks’ reserves is based largely on past performance. This bill would base risk instead on current and projected performance, disregarding previous management mistakes. The change would free up hundreds of billions of dollars that the banks could use for purposes such as lending, paying dividends or buying back stock. But critics said it could potentially lead to failures and taxpayer bailouts of banks deemed too big to fail. Blaine Leutkemeyer, R-Mo., said the current risk measurement “has forced our banks to hold hundreds of billions of dollars in reserve rather than putting the money to work in the form of loans and investments. That is money that could be used to fund mortgage loans, car loans and other day-to-day financing for American consumers.” Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, said that by disregarding past actions, the bill “would allow big banks, like Wells Fargo, for example, who defrauded the American people just in the last several months by opening millions of fake accounts, to get away with a slap on the wrist. And the American people are set up to take the fall for their actions.”

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

h✔ Crawford (R)

h✔ Hill (R)

h✔ Womack (R)

h✔ Westerman (R)

F Wells Fargo exclusion. Defeated 185-228, a bid by Democrats to deny benefits under HR4296 (above) to any bank that has engaged in the past 10 years “in a pattern or practice of unsafe or unsound banking practices.” The

amendment was directed mainly at Wells Fargo, which paid fines and is under Federal Reserve sanctions after having admitted to systematically defrauding millions of its customers in recent years. Sponsor Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said the bill should not reward “a megabank like Wells Fargo that has fraudulently opened millions of accounts without their customers’ consent, enrolled consumers in life insurance policies without their consent and forced nearly one million Americans to purchase automobile insurance that they didn’t even need.”

Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said that while “Wells Fargo needs to be held accountable,” the underlying bill addresses “a completely different issue from ensuring that customers of Wells Fargo, who clearly have been wronged, receive justice.”

A yes vote was to adopt the Democratic motion.

h✖ Crawford (R)

h✖ Hill (R)

h✖ Womack (R)

h✖ Westerman (R)

SENATE D Russell Vought, deputy

budget director. Confirmed 5049, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the deciding vote, the Senate confirmed Russell Vought as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought held Republican staff positions in the House, including one under Pence when Pence was a congressman, and served for seven years as vice president of Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation.

A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.

h✔ John Boozman (R)

h✔ Tom Cotton (R)

Here is how Arkansas’ U.S. senators and U.S. representatives voted on major roll call votes during the week that ended Friday.