WASHINGTON -- Here’s how area members of Congress voted in the week ending June 19.
HOUSE
WAR BUDGET: Voting 226 for and 202 against, the House on June 16 approved the conference report on a bill (HR 2346) to appropriate $80 billion through Sept. 30 for U.S. combat operations and $26 billion for non-military programs. The bill was backed by 221 Democrats and five Republicans and opposed by 170 Republicans and 32 Democrats. Republicans objected mainly to the bill’s $5 billion outlay for the International Monetary Fund, and most Democratic foes were casting anti-war votes.
The bill provides $51.3 billion for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan; $25.8 billion for repairing or replacing military equipment and $534 million for payments to troops whose enlistments were extended against their will after 9/11. The payments will total $500 for each month served under these “stop-loss” orders.
The bill appropriates $10 billion in non-military aid to countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, $7 billion to combat flu pandemics and $1 billion for a new program in which consumers can receive government vouchers of up to $4,500 for buying or leasing new vehicles that are more fuel-efficient.
A yes vote was to approve the conference report.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: John Olver, D-1, Richard
Neal, D-2, Barney Frank, D-4, Edward Markey, D-7,
Stephen Lynch, D-9, William Delahunt, D-10
Voting no: James McGovern, D-3, Niki Tsongas,
D-5, John Tierney, D-6, Michael Capuano, D-8
Not voting: None
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET: Voting 259 for and 157 against, the House on June 18 passed a bill (HR 2847) appropriating $64.4 billion for the fiscal 2010 budgets of the Justice and Commerce departments, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency and several other agencies. The bill represents a 12 percent spending increase over 2009.
In part, the bill provides $18.2 billion for NASA; $7.7 billion for the FBI; $7.4 billion for the Census Bureau; $6.9 billion for the National Science Foundation; $4.6 billion for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; $3.4 billion for crime-prevention grants to state and local governments; $2 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration; $1.5 billion for fighting Mexican drug cartels; $1 billion for science education; $802 million to help communities hire police officers and acquire police technology; $440 million for the Legal Services Corp., and $400 million for the Office on Violence Against Women.
George Miller, D-Calif., said the bill raises counter-terrorism and intelligence spending while making “long-overdue reinvestments in traditional Department of Justice missions like drug and firearms enforcement, regulation of the marketplace, protection of civil rights and liberties, support of the judicial process....”
Mike Pence, R-Ind., called the bill “runaway federal spending” and said Republicans “will stand up for the American people, for their right to have a budget that reflects the same discipline and sacrifice that every American family and that every small business are making during these difficult times.”
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: Olver, Neal (MA),
McGovern, Frank (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey
(MA), Capuano, Lynch, Delahunt
Voting no: None
Not voting: None
GUANTANAMO BAY: Voting 212 for and 213 against, the House on June 18 refused to bar the use of funds in HR 2847 (above) to carry out President Obama’s decision to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The amendment went beyond a ban already in the bill on releasing Guantanamo prisoners into the U.S.
Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said the administration “is stonewalling the Congress” over Guantanamo. “We need to stop the administration from rushing to transfer or to resettle any more detainees at the expense of an increased risk to Americans.”
Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., called Guantanamo “an embarrassment” that has “fomented a lot of opposition to the United States.” Keeping it open “is a basic assault on our values and... undermines the success (of) our counter-terrorism programs.”
A yes vote was to keep Guantanamo open.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: None
Voting no: Olver, Neal (MA), McGovern, Frank
(MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey (MA), Capuano,
Lynch, Delahunt
Not voting: None
LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION: Voting 105 for and 323 against, the House on June 18 defeated an amendment to HR 2847 (above) to shut down the Legal Services Corporation, which is the main federal program for providing the poor with legal representation. The amendment sought to eliminate the agency’s $440 million fiscal 2010 budget.
Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said government auditors have found the program riddled by “waste, fraud and abuse. And should we actually be taxing taxpayers to force them to subsidize their neighbors to turn around and sue them? I don’t think so.”
Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., said the Legal Services Corporation is needed “more than ever” in a recession, with “51 million Americans...now eligible for legal aid, including 18 million children.”
A yes vote backed the amendment.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: None
Voting no: Olver, Neal (MA), McGovern, Frank
(MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey (MA), Capuano,
Lynch, Delahunt
Not voting: None
SENATE
WAR BUDGET: Voting 91 for and five against, the Senate on June 18 sent President Obama a bill (HR 2346) appropriating $106 billion through September for purposes such as funding U.S. combat in Afghanistan and Iraq; sending non-military aid to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East; containing flu on a global scale; fighting Mexican drug cartels; supporting the International Monetary Fund; providing disaster aid to areas of the United States, and funding a new program to help consumers replace gas-guzzlers with fuel-efficient vehicles.
About 75 percent of the spending is for the U.S. military. Three Republicans, one Democrat and one independent voted against the bill.
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the bill “starts us on the path of bringing our troops home from Iraq...and changes our focus in Afghanistan, which has been very scattered, and focuses us on routing out the Taliban, who make it possible for al Qaeda to thrive.”
Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said more than 50,000 U.S. troops could remain indefinitely in Iraq despite President Obama’s announced pullout. He said this “could undercut the benefits of redeployment, and might result in a significant uptick in violence against U.S. troops.”
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