WASHINGTON — Here's how members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation were recorded on major roll-call votes between the May 1 and the Memorial Day recess:
HOUSE
1. GENETIC-TESTING BIAS: Voting 414 for and one against, the House on May 1 sent President Bush a bill (HR 493) making it illegal for employers or health-insurance firms to penalize individuals on the basis of their genetic-testing results or family medical histories. The bill also would prevent employers from requiring gene tests, which are used to predict one's likelihood of contracting certain illnesses.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
2. FEDERAL MORTGAGE RELIEF: Voting 266 for and 154 against, the House on May 8 authorized a new program in which mortgage holders would voluntarily refinance hundreds of thousands of at-risk home loans in return for Federal Housing Administration backing of those loans and other benefits. Now before the Senate, the bill (HR 3221) is designed to rescue up to 500,000 mortgages, totaling $300 billion, that are now headed for default. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the program would cost taxpayers $2.7 billion over five years, based on the projected failure rate of the reworked loans.
The bill also would create the Federal Housing Finance Agency to oversee the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). The two federally backed corporations, which dominate the nation's secondary mortgage market, have been tarred by accounting scandals and weak fiscal performances. A yes vote backed the legislation.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
3. HOMEOWNER TAX BREAKS: Voting 322 for and 94 against, the House on May 8 adopted an amendment to HR 3221 that authorizes $7,500 tax credits for first-time home purchases and allows taxpayers who do not itemize deductions to treat up to $700 of their 2008 property taxes as a federal tax deduction. The measure also authorizes local housing authorities to issue $10 billion in tax-exempt bonds to be used for refinancing subprime loans and providing low- income rental housing.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
4. HOME FORECLOSURES: Voting 239 for and 188 against, the House on May 8 sent the Senate a bill (HR 5818) providing $15 billion in grants and loans through 2013 for a program to help communities and nonprofit organizations buy, rehabilitate and occupy vacant, foreclosed homes. Families with incomes below the regional median income would then be offered the properties for purchase or rental. The federal financing would be allocated to states, urban counties and cities primarily on the basis of their foreclosure rates.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
5. STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: Voting 385 for and 25 against, the House on May 13 passed a bill (HR 6022) requiring the administration to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the remainder of the year or until the price of crude oil drops to $75 per barrel, whichever occurs first. Based in Gulf Coast salt caverns, the reserve is a national-security hedge against global supply disruptions. With the administration adding 70,000 barrels per day, the reserve is now filled to 97 percent of its one-billion-barrel capacity.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
6. FIVE-YEAR FARM BILL: Voting 318 for and 106 against, the House on May 14 approved the conference report on a five- year, $289 billion farm bill (HR 2419) that extends the existing system of payments and subsidies for growers of major crops such as cotton, corn, rice, wheat and soybeans; expands nutrition programs such as food stamps and school lunches; promotes land conservation and rural development; provides funding for fruit and vegetable growers, and spurs development of renewable fuels such as cellulose-based ethanol.
The bill reduces from $2.5 million to $500,000 the level of individual, non-farm income below which farmers are eligible to receive federal payments; requires country-of-origin labeling of meat, vegetables and nuts; funds programs to extend broadband access to remote areas, and settles black farmers' discrimination claims against the USDA.
A yes vote was to approve the conference report.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — No
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
7. FARM BILL VETO: Voting 316 for and 108 against, the House on May 21 overrode President Bush's veto of a five-year, $289 billion farm bill (HR 2419). This vote overrode his veto of 14 of the bill's 15 sections.
A yes vote was to override the presidential veto.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — No
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
8. WAR FUNDING DEFEAT: Voting 141 for and 149 against, the House on May 15 defeated an amendment to HR 2642 that sought to appropriate $162.5 billion for Iraq-Afghanistan war costs through mid-2009. Republicans complained they had been frozen out of deliberations, and in protest, 132 GOP members registered "present" instead of casting a "yea" or "nay" vote. That action, when combined with opposition from anti-war Democrats, was sufficient to kill the funding measure.
A yes vote was to approve war funding.
Tierney — No
Tsongas — No
Olver — No
Neal — No
McGovern — No
Markey — No
Capuano — No
Lynch — No
Delahunt — No
9. IRAQ TROOP WITHDRAWALS: The House on May 15 adopted, 227 for and 196 against, an amendment to HR 2642 requiring the administration to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment but setting no deadline for completing the pullout.
The measure also requires the CIA to obey the Army Field Manual's ban on the torture of prisoners, sets longer leaves between Iraq-Afghanistan combat deployments, and requires Iraqis to start paying a large share of U.S. military fuel costs and their country's reconstruction costs.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
10. GI BILL, JOBLESS CHECKS: Voting 256 for and 166 against, the House on May 15 adopted an amendment to HR 2642 to establish a new GI Bill that would pay higher-education costs at public universities for post-9/11 military veterans. The amendment also would provide $11 billion to fund 13 additional weeks of jobless checks for the long- term unemployed, $5.8 billion for rebuilding levees in New Orleans and $1.2 billion in global food assistance. The $52 billion cost of the GI benefit would be offset by tax increases on individual incomes over $500,000 and joint incomes over $1 million.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
11. SUITS AGAINST OPEC: The House on May 20 passed, 324 for and 84 against, a bill (HR 6074) authorizing the U.S. attorney general to sue the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries under U.S. antitrust laws for its monopolistic practices. The 13 OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — DNV
12. BUSINESS, PERSONAL TAX BREAKS: Voting 263 for and 160 against, the House on May 21 passed a bill (HR 6049) providing $55.5 billion in tax breaks for purposes such as spurring the production of non-fossil fuels, promoting energy conservation, stimulating business activity and helping homeowners and the working poor make ends meet. The cost would be offset by tightening accounting rules on multinational corporations and closing offshore tax shelters used by some U.S. hedge-fund managers. Most of the tax-break extensions in the bill are for one year.
The bill's largest categories are $20 billion to spur renewable energy production from sources such as the wind, sun, earth and crops and $16 billion for renewing the research and development tax credit for businesses. The bill authorizes breaks for investment in coal gasification technologies; provides deductions for lawyers trying contingency-fee cases and teachers personally buying classroom items and grants breaks to spur the post-9/11 recovery of lower Manhattan and Gulf Coast recovery from 2005 hurricanes. Additionally, the bill extends college-tuition tax credits, provides incentives for the production of non-corn-based ethanol, eases the means test for the working poor to qualify for the refundable child tax credit and allows those who do not itemize tax returns to deduct property taxes.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
13. GOP TAX PLAN: Voting 201 for and 220 against, the House on May 21 defeated a Republican bid to remove tax increases on multinational corporations and hedge-fund managers from HR 6049 (above) and thus shift the bill's cost to the national debt. The motion also sought to extend tax credits and deductions for five years rather than the bill's one-year renewals and temporarily fix the Alternative Minimum Tax to keep it from ensnaring still more middle-class filers in 2008. The $50 billion-plus cost of the AMT fix also was to have been added to the national debt.
A yes vote backed the GOP motion.
Tierney — No
Tsongas — No
Olver — No
Neal — No
McGovern — No
Markey — No
Capuano — No
Lynch — No
Delahunt — No
14. 2009 MILITARY BUDGET: Voting 384 for and 23 against, the House on May 22 authorized a $601 billion military budget for fiscal 2009, including $70 billion to fund war in Iraq and Afghanistan for part of the year. The bill (HR 5658) sets a 3.9-percent military pay raise; bars permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq; declares Afghanistan as the primary front in U.S. overseas combat; requires detailed reports on Iran's nuclear capability and Pakistan's national stability, and bans premium or co-pay increases in TRICARE, the military health plan.
Additionally, the bill requires the administration to develop a government-wide definition of which jobs are "inherently governmental" and thus not to be privatized; cuts in half the administration's request for training Iraqi security forces; trims the administration's funding request to establish a missile defense system in eastern Europe, and increases by 7.5 percent funding of the program to dismantle the former Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal.
The bill also authorizes $5.9 billion for special operations and other counter-terrorism initiatives; establishes an Air Force Cyber Command; authorizes $10.2 billion for the National Missile Defense; redirects the NMD's main focus from long-range enemy missiles to medium- and short-range threats; establishes a military School of Nursing, and steps up initiatives to prevent military suicides.
A yes vote was in favor of the bill.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — No
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
15. IRAQ DEFENSE PACTS: Voting 234 for and 183 against, the House on May 22 amended HR 5658 (above) to require Senate ratification of any future bilateral agreement committing the United States to defend Iraq against attacks from interior or exterior forces.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
16. INTERROGATION VIDEOTAPES: Voting 218 for and 192 against, the House on May 22 amended HR 5658 (above) to require the Department of Defense to make and retain videotapes of its prisoner interrogations.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Tierney — Yes
Tsongas — Yes
Olver — Yes
Neal — Yes
McGovern — Yes
Markey — Yes
Capuano — Yes
Lynch — Yes
Delahunt — Yes
SENATE
1. FIVE-YEAR FARM BILL: The Senate on May 15 voted, 81 for and 15 against, to send a $288 billion, five-year farm bill (HR 2419, above) to President Bush, who had promised a veto on grounds its subsidies are excessive at a time of high crop prices. To qualify for federal payments under the bill, farmers must have individual non-farm incomes below $500,000 and individual farm incomes below $750,000.
Direct payments and subsidies account for less than 15 percent of spending in the bill, while food safety-net and nutrition programs account for about 67 percent. The bill eases and indexes for inflation the means tests one must pass to qualify for Food Stamps and other nutrition programs.
Presidential candidates Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., did not vote.
A yes vote was to approve the conference report.
Kennedy — DNV
Kerry — Yes
2. FARM BILL VETO: By a tally of 82 for and 13 against, the Senate on May 22 joined the House (HR 2419, above) in voting to override President Bush's veto of a $289 billion farm bill that renews subsidies for growers of major crops while also funding conservation and nutrition programs and taxpayer support for fruit and vegetable growers, among hundreds of other programs.
Among presidential candidates, McCain and Obama did not vote.
A yes vote was to enact HR 2419.
Kennedy — DNV
Kerry — Yes
3. WIND-DAMAGE INSURANCE: Voting 19 for and 74 against, the Senate on May 7 defeated an amendment to expand the National Flood Insurance Program to cover wind damage as well as water damage. This occurred during debate on a bill (S 2284) to renew and reform the FEMA-run program, which serves 5.5 million policyholders in 20,000 communities prone to flooding. The bill remained in debate.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Kennedy — No
Kerry — No
4. FLOOD INSURANCE EXPANSION: Voting 92 for and six against, the Senate on May 13 passed a bill (HR 3121) to reform the National Flood Insurance Program by such measures as requiring larger deductibles, ending subsidized premiums for vacation homes and businesses, requiring wider participation by at-risk homeowners and raising penalties on lenders that fail to require coverage in specified areas.
The FEMA-run program insures 5.5 million policyholders in 20,000 communities. The bill would forgive the $17.5 billion FEMA borrowed from the Treasury to pay claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina and other storms in 2005.
Obama voted yes. McCain did not vote.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Kennedy — Yes
Kerry — Yes
5. STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: The Senate on May 13 adopted, 97 for and one against, an amendment to S 2284 (above) requiring the administration to suspend its filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the end of the year or when the price of crude drops consistently below $75 per barrel, whichever occurs first. The House passed an identical measure.
Obama voted yes. McCain did not vote.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Kennedy — Yes
Kerry — Yes
6. WAR FUNDING: Voting 70 for and 26 against, the Senate on May 22 approved an amendment to HR 2642 to appropriate $165 billion for Iraq-Afghanistan war costs through mid-2009. The measure now must be reconciled with a similar House- passed measure.
Among presidential candidates, McCain and Obama did not vote.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Kennedy — DNV
Kerry — No
7. NEW GI BILL, JOBLESS CHECKS: Voting 75 for and 22 against, the Senate on May 22 expanded HR 2642 (above) to include a bipartisan GI Bill for returning veterans as well as billions in new spending for purposes such as providing 13 additional weeks of jobless checks to the long-term unemployed, funding levee repairs in New Orleans, providing global food aid and funding home-heating assistance.
Named after sponsors Jim Webb, D-Va., and Chuck Hagel, R- Neb., the GI measure would provide educational benefits for veterans who served in the military for at least three years after 9/11. The bill would provide housing and textbook stipends and pay four years' college tuition up to the level of any public-school tuition in the given state. The new benefits are projected to cost $5.2 billion annually and would be partially transferable to the veteran's family members. The cost would be added to the national debt.
Among presidential candidates, Obama voted yes and McCain did not vote.
A yes vote backed the Webb-Hagel bill.
Kennedy — DNV
Kerry — Yes
8. IRAQ TROOP WITHDRAWALS: Senators on May 22 defeated, 34 for and 63 against, an amendment to HR 2642 (above) requiring the administration to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment but setting no deadline for completing the pullout.
Among presidential candidates, Obama voted no, and McCain did not vote.
A yes vote was to set an Iraq pullout date.
Kennedy — DNV
Kerry — No
