HOUSE

2010 FOREIGN AFFAIRS BUDGET: Voting 318 for and 106 against, the House on July 9 approved a $48.8 billion foreign affairs budget (HR 3081) for fiscal 2010 that provides $9.6 billion to operate the Department of State and U.S. Agency for Development while funding the hiring of more than 1,300 Foreign Service officers for duty mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bill also provides $7.8 billion for global health programs, $2.1 billion for U.N. peacekeeping and $1.6 billion for refugee assistance, along with $2.7 billion in foreign aid to Afghanistan, $2.2 billion to Israel, $1.2 billion to Egypt, $1.5 billion to Pakistan, $513 million to Jordan and $483 million to Iraq.

Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said the bill would make America safer because “good diplomacy and development can dramatically reduce national security problems and troop deployments for the United States.”

John Culberson, R-Texas, called the bill too costly, saying President Obama and the Democratic-led Congress have “spent more money in less time than any Congress in the history of the United States.”

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, Michael Capuano, D-8, Stephen Lynch,

D-9, William Delahunt, D-10 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   None



AGRICULTURE SPENDING CUT: Voting 185 for and 248 against, the House on July 9 rejected a proposed 5 percent across-the-board cut in fiscal 2010 appropriations (HR 2997) to fund agriculture and food programs, rural development and agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The amendment would have trimmed $1.1 billion from the bill’s $20.5 billion in discretionary spending. The bill was later passed.

Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said: “Cut a nickel from every dollar. And require today’s bureaucracy to find a way to do what the American taxpayer is doing, to tighten the belt and save that nickel out of a dollar for our future.”

Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said: “This is exactly the wrong time” to cut programs “that protect the public health, bolster food nutrition assistance programs, invest in rural communities...and conserve our natural resources.”

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



FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATON: Voting 135 for and 292 against, the House on July 9 refused to freeze the 2010 Food and Drug Administration budget at its 2009 level. The amendment to HR 2997 (above) sought to block a proposed 11 percent, or $373 million, increase in FDA spending for the budget year that begins in October.

Sponsor Paul Broun, R-Ga., noted he is a physician and said Americans “should be calling every single congressional office and saying `no’ to these spending bills that are just basically stealing our children’s and grandchildren’s future.”

Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., replied: “I resent the fact that you as a physician do not understand the value of what the Food and Drug Administration does.... These are not bridges or parks. This is an agency that has authority over people’s lives and the public health.”

A yes vote was to freeze the FDA budget at the 2009 level.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Olver, Neal  (MA), McGovern, Frank

 (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey  (MA), Capuano,

Lynch, Delahunt 

Not voting:   None



APPROPRIATIONS, AUTO DEALERSHIPS: Voting 219 for and 208 against, the House on July 16 passed a bill (HR 3170) to appropriate $24.2 billion in fiscal 2010 for the Treasury Department, White House, District of Columbia, the federal judiciary and several independent agencies, including ones that regulate financial markets, protect consumers and fund small businesses. The bill requires General Motors and Chrysler to restore franchise agreements with more than 2,000 shuttered dealerships, leaving the firms closed but entitling them to seek compensation under state laws that was disallowed in bankruptcy proceedings.

In part, the bill provides $6.9 billion for the federal judiciary; $1.04 billion for the Securities and Exchange Commission; $848 million for the Small Business Administration; $768 million for the District of Columbia; $292 million for the Federal Trade Commission and $113 million for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The bill also gives the District of Columbia the same right the 50 states have to spend locally raised funds on abortion services.

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, Michael Capuano, D-8, Stephen Lynch,

D-9, William Delahnt, D-10 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   None



WILD HORSES, BURROS: Voting 239 for and 185 against, the House on July 17 passed a bill (HR 1018) to protect the estimated 36,000 wild horses and burros that roam public lands in the West. The bill prevents the sale of these animals for slaughter, greatly expands the federal acreage available to them and prohibits the penning of them for longer than six months.

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



ENERGY, WATER APPROPRIATIONS: Voting 320 for and 97 against, the House on July 17 passed a bill (HR 3183) to appropriate $33.3 billion for energy, water and nuclear programs in fiscal 2010. In part, the bill provides $6.3 billion for maintaining the U.S. nuclear stockpile; $5.5 billion for Army Corps of Engineers public works; $5.4 billion for environmental clean-up at nuclear sites; $4.9 billion for research into long-term energy needs; $373 million for developing clean-vehicle technologies; $259 million for solar energy and $208 million for upgrading the nation’s electrical grid.

Additionally, the bill funds the administration’s decision to permanently bar nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, and establishes a commission to evaluate alternatives for disposing of the nation’s radioactive waste.

Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said: “When we rebuild our infrastructure, we rebuild our economy....When we invest in energy independence, we invest in our economic health....The legislation contains $1 billion to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and keep energy prices low.”

Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., criticized Democratic leaders for debate rules that allowed only a few amendments to strip the bill of its earmarks. “People say that, outside of the Beltway, nobody cares about process. That may be true, but...bad process yields bad results, and it will catch up to you sooner or later.”

A yes vote was to pass the bill.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: Olver, McGovern, Frank

 (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey  (MA), Capuano,

Lynch, Delahunt 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Neal  (MA) 



ENERGY, WATER SPENDING CUT: Voting 167 for and 259 against, the House on July 17 rejected a proposed 5 percent across-the-board cut in fiscal 2010 appropriations (HR 3183, above) to fund the government’s energy and water programs. The amendment would have trimmed $1.7 billion from the bill’s $33.3 billion in discretionary spending.

Sponsor Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said: “This Congress has already spent more than $1 trillion than we have taken in. This trillion-dollar (annual) deficit is the largest in American history” and represents “the height of fiscal irresponsibility and is absolutely unconscionable.”

Rodney Freylinghuysen, R-N.J., said the amendment would inflict “indiscriminate cuts” in programs to ensure “protection and reliability of our nuclear stockpile.”

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



“PAY AS YOU GO”: Voting 265 for and 166 against, the House on July 22 passed a bill (HR 2920) putting Congress’s pay-as-you-go budget rules into permanent law and giving presidents power to sequester funds when Congress breaks those rules. The bill awaits Senate action.

Under “pay-go,” Congress is required to offset tax cuts or increases in mandatory spending beyond baseline levels with matching revenue hikes or spending cuts. The bill exempts politically popular measures such as Alternative Minimum Tax relief, the Bush administration’s middle-class and estate-tax cuts and Medicare payments to doctors.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that under the bill, “Advocates of spending will have to find ways to offset the new costs. Advocates of tax cuts will no longer be able to finance them with debt -- instead, they’ll have to tell us which programs they would cut.”

Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the bill “allows spending to grow far in excess of where it has been before (and) locks in place the growth of the federal government so that it will grow faster and higher than it ever has in the history of this republic.”

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, Michael Capuano, D-8, Stephen Lynch,

D-9, William Delahunt, D-10 



Voting no:   None

Not voting:   None



REPUBLICAN ALTERNATIVE: Voting 169 for and 259 against, the House on July 22 defeated a Republican plan to replace HR 2920 (above) with a law setting permanent caps on annual spending and deficit levels while leaving tax cuts uncapped. The measure sought to cap discretionary spending at 3 percent of the gross domestic product and total federal spending at about 20 percent of GDP. Congress now caps discretionary spending on a year-to-year basis in dollars rather than as a fixed percentage of GDP. The annual congressional budget resolution also projects the year’s total spending and estimates the anticipated deficit or surplus.

Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the Democrats’ pay-as-you-go approach “puts the bias in favor of raising taxes,” while Republicans seek “bias in favor of controlling and cutting spending. That is just the difference” between the parties.

Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., said: “I am a little surprised that my Republican colleagues are not interested in renewing this bipartisan work and to help stop the bleeding” of the federal budget.

A yes vote backed the GOP plan.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Olver, Neal  (MA), McGovern, Frank

 (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey  (MA), Capuano,

Lynch, Delahunt 

Not voting:   None



HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION BUDGETS: Voting 256 for and 168 against, the House on July 23 passed an appropriations bill (HR 3288) that provides $68.8 billion in discretionary spending and $123.1 billion in total spending for transportation, housing and urban development programs in fiscal 2010.

The bill’s transportation section provides $41.1 billion for highway construction; $10.5 billion for mass transit; $6.4 billion for airport safety and air-traffic control; $4 billion for building high-speed rail passenger service between cities and $1.5 billion for Amtrak.

For housing, the bill appropriates $18.2 billion in Section 8 vouchers for low-income tenants; $8.7 billion in Section 8 funds to provide low-income housing for the elderly, disabled and others; $7.3 billion for public housing maintenance and repairs; $1.85 billion to help communities house the homeless and $350 million in housing aid for those with AIDS.

Additionally, the bill provides $4.6 billion in community-development block grants for cities; $867 for highway safety; $750 million for Native Americans’ housing and $175 million for providing commercial air service to small cities.

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, Michael Capuano, D-8, Stephen Lynch,

D-9, William Delahunt, D-10 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   None



PUBLIC HOUSING: Voting 152 for and 276 against, the House on July 23 refused to kill the HOPE VI public-housing program, which provides grants to communities for replacing rundown projects with mixed-income housing and support services for residents. Critics said the program is duplicative and has a multi-year backlog of unspent funds, while defenders argued against reducing the supply of housing for the poor. The amendment to HR 3288 (above) sought to eliminate the program’s $250 million budget for 2010.

Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said: “We’re shoving more money their way... and they can’t even spend the money that they already have. It’s time for us to... terminate one program and quit borrowing the money from the Chinese....”

John Olver, D-Mass., said: “This work needs to continue. There is much need for affordable housing in this country. The HOPE VI program is not duplicated by anything else that I know of....”

A yes vote was to kill the program.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Olver, Neal  (MA), McGovern, Frank

 (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey  (MA), Capuano,

Lynch, Delahunt 

Not voting:   None



HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION SPENDING CUT: Voting 181 for and 252 against, the House on July 23 rejected a proposed 5 percent across-the-board cut in HR 3288 (above). The amendment would have trimmed $3.4 billion from the bill’s $68.8 billion in discretionary spending.

Sponsor Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said that even after a 5 percent cut, “You would still have 11 percent growth in these programs.”

John Olver, D-Mass., said the cut “would hurt our people who are in affordable housing....It would cut the program for housing for people with AIDS, the elderly and disabled....”

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



HEALTH, EDUCATION SPENDING: Voting 264 for and 153 against, the House on July 24 passed a bill (HR 3293) that provides $160.7 billion in discretionary spending and $567 billion in mandatory spending for health, education and labor programs in fiscal 2010. The bill ranks second to the Pentagon budget as the largest of the appropriations bills that will fund the $3.6 trillion federal budget next fiscal year.

In part, the bill provides $31.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health; $14.5 billion in Title I education funds for disadvantaged school districts; $11.5 billion in Individuals With Disability Education Act (IDEA) payments to school districts; $7,2 billion for Head Start; $6.7 billion for public health programs; $5.1 billion for to help the poor pay heating bills and $1.4 billion in job training funds

The bill ends a 21-year ban on funding needle-exchange programs to curb the spread of HIV AIDS and other infectious diseases among drug addicts.

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

MEXICAN BORDER FENCE: The Senate on July 7 voted, 54 for and 44 against, to require the government to build at least 700 miles of double-layered, pedestrian-proof fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border by the end of 2010. This would expedite a project that since 2006 has installed about 330 miles of single-layered fencing and 30 miles of double-layered fencing along the border, in addition to hundreds of miles of electronic monitoring devices. The amendment was offered to a bill (HR 2892), later passed, that appropriates $42.9 billion for the Department of Homeland Security in fiscal 2010.

Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said: “Our southern border has become a battleground....We cannot have security in the United States unless we have a secure border.”

George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the amendment “overturns the U.S. Customs and Border (agency) determination of tactical infrastructure needs along the border” and “would be incredibly costly....”

A yes vote backed the amendment.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   John Kerry, D 

Not voting:   Edward Kennedy, D 



PRESCRIPTION DRUG IMPORTS: The Senate on July 9 approved, 55 for and 36 against, an amendment to HR 2892 to permit individuals to import prescription drugs for their personal use from Canada. The measure would prohibit U.S. customs officers from confiscating Canada-bought pharmaceuticals at border crossings.

Sponsor David Vitter, R-La., said the amendment “is about individuals, not corporations, not mega businesses, not anything else but individuals. Secondly, it is only about personal use” of imported pharmaceuticals.

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said “a counterfeit, tainted or substandard drug is unsafe at any price. As we consider the issue of drug importation, the safety of our citizens must be our primary concern.”

A yes vote backed the amendment.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Kerry 

Not voting:   Kennedy 



FIREFIGHTER GRANTS: Voting 32 for and 58 against, the Senate on July 9 refused to add $100 million for firefighter grants to the Federal Emergency Management Agency budget (HR 2892, above) in addition to $810 million already in the bill for that purpose. The $100 million was to have been taken from accounts for technological research in areas such as bolstering cyber-security and countering roadside explosive devices.

Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., said: “Fire departments all over this country are laying off firefighters and in rural America volunteer fire departments are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain” personnel.

Patty Murray, D-Wash., said that by cutting technological research, the amendment “decimates much of the technology we need to protect our citizens.”

A yes vote backed the amendment.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Kerry 

Not voting:   Kennedy



HATE CRIMES PROSECUTIONS: Voting 63 for and 28 against, the Senate on July 16 advanced a hate-crimes amendment that sponsors seek to add to the $680 million, fiscal 2010 defense budget (S 1390), which remains in debate. The amendment would expand the federal law against hate crimes to include offenses based on sexual orientation, gender or disability as well as the existing categories of national origin, religion and race. The Senate was planning additional votes on the amendment.

Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said: “The Constitution does not protect speech, conduct or activities consisting of planning for, conspiring to commit, or committing an act of violence.”

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said: “Before we start overriding state efforts, I believe we should at least make an effort to determine whether there is a legitimate federal role in the prosecution of hate crimes. That is what my (forthcoming) amendment would do....”

A yes vote was to advance a hate-crimes measure.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: John Kerry, D 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Edward Kennedy, D 



RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Senators on July 16 voted, 78 for and 13 against, to ensure that hate-crimes language proposed for S 1390 (above) could not limit religious expression except when the intent of the expression is to plan, prepare for or incite an act of physical violence.

Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said Congress must be “be very specific and narrow in this area where we are treading into First Amendment religious-expression areas.”

No senator spoke against the amendment.

A yes vote backed the amendment.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: Kerry 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Kennedy 



NEW CENSUS CHIEF: The Senate on July 13 voted, 76 for and 15 against, to end a Republican-led filibuster against the nomination of Dr. Robert M. Groves, 60, as director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Groves was then confirmed on a non-record vote. He had directed the University of Michigan Survey Research Center. Republicans delayed the nomination for three months with charges that a Democratic administration might politicize the 2010 census.

Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Groves is “not only committed to keeping politics out of the population count, but also said he would resign and actively work to stop any action to improperly influence the census for political gain.”

Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has offered to help the Census Bureau recruit temporary workers. “I cannot support the nomination of Mr. Groves when the administration he works for would partner with such a questionable organization as ACORN,” he said.

A yes vote backed Groves as census chief.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: Kerry 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Kennedy 



F-22 WARPLANES: The Senate on July 21 voted, 58 for and 40 against, to strip the 2010 military budget (S 1390) of $1.75 billion for seven F-22 Raptor fighter jets that the Pentagon does not want. President Obama said he would veto any defense bill that funds F-22s in addition to the 187 planes already approved by Congress. Critics say the Cold War-era stealth fighter should not drain funds needed to fight insurgencies, while supporters say the F-22 is needed to match the next generation of Russian and Chinese fighter jets.

John McCain, R-Ariz., said the issue was “whether we are going to continue the `business as usual’ of once a weapons system gets into full production it never dies, or whether we are going to take the necessary steps to reform the acquisition process in this country.”

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said “the F-22 is the NASCAR racer of (our) air-dominance team. Fast and unseen, the Raptor will punch a hole in an enemy’s defenses, quickly dispatching any challenger in the air and striking at the most important ground targets.”

A yes vote was to remove the funding.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: John Kerry, D 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Edward Kennedy, D 



CONCEALED HANDGUNS: Voting 58 for and 39 against, the Senate on July 22 failed to reach 60 votes for advancing a measure setting federal rules for concealed handguns. The amendment to S 1390 (above) sought to require the 48 states (all but Wisconsin and Illinois) that issue concealed-handgun permits to honor the permits of other states, even ones based on less-strict qualifications. The amendment was backed by the National Rifle Association and opposed by Handgun Control, Inc.

Sponsor John Thune, R-Neb., said his amendment “does not create a national...permit system or standard,” but ensures individuals can “exercise their Second Amendment constitutional right and be able to travel through individual states as long as they live by the laws of those states.”

Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said: “Congress should not require one state’s laws to trump another’s. New York should not have to let visitors on its city streets be governed by the laws of Alaska when it comes to carrying guns, and it should be up to the state to decide who it will permit to carry concealed weapons within their borders.”

A yes vote was to advance the amendment.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Kerry 

Not voting:   Kennedy



2010 MILITARY BUDGET: Voting 87 for and seven against, the Senate on July 23 authorized a $680 billion military budget for fiscal 2010, including $130 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill (S 1390) sets a 3.4 percent military pay raise, increases active-duty personnel by 40,200 troops to 1.41 million troops and caps procurement of F-22 Raptor fighter jets at 187 planes.

Additionally, the bill bars the military from using private contractors to interrogate prisoners and makes changes requested by President Obama in the rules for trying terrorist suspects before military commissions. For example, the bill increases due-process protections in areas such as the admissibility of coerced testimony, hearsay evidence and exculpatory evidence.

The bill provides $27.9 billion for military health care, $6.7 billion for procuring Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and $7.5 billion for training and equipping the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.

The bill includes a non-military measure expanding the federal law against hate crimes to include offenses based on sexual orientation, gender or disability, as well as the existing categories of national origin, religion and race.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: John Kerry, D 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Edward Kennedy, D