WASHINGTON -- Here’s how area members of Congress voted in the week ending June 26. Congress is in Independence Day recess until the week of July 6.
HOUSE
HOMELAND-SECURITY BUDGET: Voting 398 for and 37 against, the House on June 24 approved a $44 billion Department of Homeland Security budget for fiscal 2010, up 6.5 percent from 2009. The bill (HR 2892) funds agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard and Secret Service. The bill bars development of a national ID card, requires threat assessments of Guantanamo Bay prisoners and prohibits spending to block individuals from importing FDA-approved drugs from Canada.
In part, the bill provides $804 million for developing systems to screen cargo entering the U.S. by land and sea; $800 million for installing explosive-detection units at airports, $382 million for cyber security; $241.5 million for Coast Guard operations in the Persian Gulf and off the Somalia coast and $122.8 million for air-cargo screening.
David Price, D-N.C., said: “Homeland security requires identification and response to all threats, whether man-made or natural....an approach we are happy to see President Obama and (Homeland Security) Secretary (Janet) Napolitano embrace.”
Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, objected to the bill’s price tag, saying it represented “unlimited spending and borrowing” by the federal government during a recession.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: John Olver, D-1, Richard
Neal, D-2, James McGovern, D-3, Barney Frank,
D-4, Niki Tsongas, D-5, John Tierney, D-6, Edward
Markey, D-7, Stephen Lynch, D-9, William Delahunt,
D-10
Voting no: None
Not voting: Michael Capuano, D-8
AIR MARSHALS BUDGET: Voting 134 for and 294 against, the House on June 24 refused to cut spending in HR 2892 (above) for the Federal Air Marshal Service from $860 million to $819 million. The agency’s mission is to station armed marshals on an undisclosed number of passenger flights.
John Duncan, R-Tenn., said the agency averages four arrests per year, “about $200 million per arrest. There must not be a softer, easier, more cushy job in the entire federal government....I would rather give this money to local law enforcement people who are fighting real crime....”
David Price, D-N.C., said the cut “would limit the air marshals’ ability to rapidly respond to unanticipated events as they did in the past, such as the U.K. liquid-explosives threat, evacuation of U.S. citizens from Lebanon or in response to hurricanes like Ike and Katrina.”
A yes vote was to cut the air marshals budget.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: None
Voting no: Olver, Neal (MA), McGovern, Tsongas,
Tierney, Markey (MA), Lynch, Delahunt
Not voting: Frank (MA), Capuano
ECONOMIC STIMULUS: Voting 113 for and 318 against, the House on June 24 refused to cut Department of Homeland Security spending in HR 2892 (above) by $2.7 billion, which is the amount of stimulus funds Congress added earlier this year to the department’s budget.
Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, said backers of the amendment were “just trying to give the American taxpayers some of their money back” from the $787 billion stimulus bill.
David Price, D-N.C., said the amendment would cut grants for firefighters by $210 million and inflict “an indiscriminate and enormous cut to the general upkeep of Border Patrol and Customs facilities.”
A yes vote backed the spending cut.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: None
Voting no: Olver, Neal (MA), McGovern, Frank
(MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey (MA), Lynch,
Delahunt
Not voting: Capuano
2010 MILITARY BUDGET: Voting 389 for and 22 against, the House on June 25 authorized a $680 billion military budget for fiscal 2010, including $130 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan and $9.3 billion for the National Missile Defense. The bill (HR 2647) sets a 3.4 percent military pay raise, increases active-duty personnel by 40,200 troops to 1.4 million troops and bars permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.
Now awaiting Senate action, the bill authorizes $369 million for F-22 stealth fighter jets that was opposed by the administration on grounds that the money would be better spent on conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan.
Additionally, the bill prohibits U.S. control of Iraqi oil revenues; orders Pentagon countermeasures against Somalian piracy; authorizes award of the Purple Heart for traumatic brain injuries; suspends the A-76 program under which private employers compete for work traditionally done by civil servants and authorizes the Pentagon to share space-surveillance data with foreign governments in order to reduce the threat of satellite collisions.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: Richard Neal, D-2,
James McGovern, D-3, Niki Tsongas, D-5, Stephen
Lynch, D-9, William Delahunt, D-10
Voting no: John Olver, D-1, Barney Frank, D-4,
John Tierney, D-6
WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN: Voting 138 for and 278 against, the House on June 25 defeated an amendment to HR 2647 (above) requiring Department of Defense report to Congress by the end of the year on any plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
James McGovern, D-Mass., said: “I want President Obama to succeed in Afghanistan ....But as Congress authorizes and appropriates billions and billions of dollars...is it too much to ask how we will know when our troops can finally come home to their families?”
Howard McKeon, R-Calif., said: “Instead of focusing on an exit, as the amendment calls for, Congress needs to provide the funding and resources required to support the president’s strategy and allow our military commanders to succeed.”
A yes vote backed the amendment.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: Olver, Neal (MA),
McGovern, Frank (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey
(MA), Lynch, Delahunt
Voting no: None
Not voting: Capuano
INTERROGATION VIDEOTAPES: The House on June 25 required, 224 for and 193 against, the government to videotape all military interrogations, except during combat, and retain the tapes in a secured and classified repository. The amendment was added to HR 2647 (above).
Rush Holt, D-N.J., said: “Law enforcement organizations across the United States routinely use the practice both to protect the person being interrogated and the officer conducting the interrogations. It is the standard of best practice.”
Howard McKeon, R-Calif., called the requirement “an unreasonable administrative and logistical burden on the warfighter” that would “create a public record that would go straight into terrorists’ counter-resistance training programs.”
A yes vote backed the amendment.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: Olver, Neal (MA),
McGovern, Frank (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey
(MA), Lynch, Delahunt
Voting no: None
Not voting: Capuano
CAP-AND-TRADE ENERGY PACKAGE: Voting 219 for and 212 against, the House on June 26 passed a bill (HR 2454) that would slowly shift U.S. energy production and consumption from carbon-based fuels to renewable fuels while imposing a cap-and-trade system to gradually reduce the economy’s discharge of the greenhouse gases associated with global warming. Using 2005 as a benchmark, the bill’s cap-and-trade rules would reduce these emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
Under the bill, the Environmental Protection Agency would set a declining, economy-wide cap on the emissions of some 7,400 utilities, factories, agricultural facilities and other polluters. These regulated firms would receive permits to emit a certain quantity of greenhouse gases. Those staying below their allowance could trade the excess to firms going beyond theirs. The government would auction some allowances and give others away. The auctions would raise a projected $846 billion through 2019, most of which would be spent for purposes such as subsidizing consumer energy bills and helping firms convert from carbon-based to renewable energy sources.
The bill uses the tax code to promote energy efficiencies and the development of renewable fuels; requires utilities to produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020; provides certain energy-intensive industries with free pollution allowances for a limited time to keep them competitive in international markets; authorizes $25 billion in loans to help automobile manufacturers develop fuel-efficient vehicles, and provides low-income households with refundable energy tax credits to offset higher energy costs,
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
SENATE
TOURISM IN AMERICA: Voting 53 for and 34 against, the Senate on June 22 failed to reach 60 votes for ending a filibuster on a bill (S 1023) that would establish a federal corporation to increase foreign travel to the U.S. and expand Department of Commerce tourism programs. The Corporation for Travel Promotion would be funded by assessments of about $20 million annually on the U.S. hospitality industry and $160 million annually in fees received by the Department of Homeland Security for granting visa waivers.
Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said America’s share of international tourism has declined since 9/11. “Inviting international tourism ... produces a boost to our economy (and) allows people to come here and understand what this country is about and inevitably leave with a great impression.”
Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said he would vote to delay the bill because Senate Democrats had denied Republicans a vote on their amendment to end taxpayer bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. He said “the American people are tired of Washington takeovers.”
A yes vote was to advance the bill.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: John Kerry, D
Voting no: None
Not voting: Edward Kennedy, D
HAROLD KOH NOMINATION: The Senate on June 25 confirmed, 62 for and 35 against, the nomination of Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh as the Department of State’s top lawyer. As the department’s legal adviser, Koh, 54, would help to set American foreign policy. Backers hailed Koh’s expertise in international law, while critics questioned his commitment to U.S. sovereignty.
John Kerry, D-Mass., said Koh is “a fierce defender of the rule of law and human rights. He understands that the United States benefits as much if not more than any other country from an international system of law where we are governed by the rule of law.”
John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Koh has “radical views with regard to the role of the United States sovereignty....For example, he has advocated judges using treaties in customary international law, including treaties that the Senate has not ratified, to bind the United States.”
A yes vote was to confirm Koh.
MASSACHUSETTS Voting yes: John Kerry, D
Voting no: None
Not voting: Edward Kennedy, D
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH BUDGET: The Senate on June 25 killed, 65 for and 21 against, a motion to reduce the $3.12 billion legislative branch budget (HR 2918) for fiscal 2010 to its 2009 level. Backers said this would save $76 million. The bill remained in debate.
Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who voted to kill the motion, said “the reality is there are expenses in the legislative branch that we are responsible for.”
Sponsor David Vitter, R-La., said his motion would “constitute about a $76 million cut.... the beginning of a huge and an important and an appropriate statement by this body.”
A yes vote opposed a budget freeze at 2009 levels.
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