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Roll Call

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January 27, 2010

Congressional roll call for weeks of Jan. 11 and 18

WASHINGTON - Here’s how members of the state’s congressional delegation voted on key issues the weeks of Jan. 11 and 18.



HOUSE

FIRST OBAMA VETO: Voting 143 for and 245 against, the House on Jan. 13 failed to override President Obama’s veto of a short-term appropriations bill (HJ Res 64) that Congress originally thought would be needed to temporarily fund the government in late December. But the bill proved to be irrelevant when the last round of regular fiscal 2010 appropriations became law a few days earlier than expected. This prompted Obama to veto the stopgap bill as unnecessary. It was his first veto.

Some observers said Obama didn’t have to veto HJ Res 64 formally because it had already succumbed to a pocket veto. Pocket vetoes occur when Congress is adjourned and a president fails to sign a bill within the ten days allowed by the Constitution. Obama received the measure from Congress on Dec. 19 and vetoed it Dec. 30. Other observers said a pocket veto did not occur because Congress, or at least the Senate, was in session for part of the ten-day window.

David Obey, D-Wis., said Obama’s veto message “suggested in some ways that he had, in fact, pocket-vetoed the legislation. But the fact is clear that the Congress was here to receive a message, and we do not consider it a pocket veto.” He said it was therefore in order for the House “to sustain the veto and ...demonstrate that, in our judgment, a pocket veto is not appropriate, that the president exercised a regular veto and it should be treated as such.”

No member spoke on the other side of the issue.

A yes vote was to override Obama’s first veto.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   John Olver, D-1, Richard Neal, D-2,

James McGovern, D-3, Niki Tsongas, D-5, John Tierney,

D-6, Edward Markey, D-7, Michael Capuano, D-8,

Stephen Lynch, D-9, William Delahunt, D-10 

Not voting:   Barney Frank, D-4 



MARTIN LUTHER KING: Voting 379 for and none against, the House on Jan. 13 adopted a measure (H Res 1002) honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and emphasizing that the federal holiday in his name Jan. 18 is a national day of service.

John Lewis, D-Ga., said King “changed America forever” and called it fitting “that we commit ourselves to serving our communities, to become the change that we all wish to see in the world.”

Todd Platts, R-Pa., said: “As we reflect on the great gift of compassion and selflessness that Dr. King has given us both in his life and in passing, may we remember his words, `Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.’”

No member spoke against the resolution.

A yes vote was to adopt the resolution.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: Olver, Neal  (MA),

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

Lynch 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   Frank  (MA), Delahunt 



STOLEN NUCLEAR MATERIALS: Voting 397 for and ten against, the House on Jan. 21 sent President Obama a bill (HR 730) designed to improve international cooperation in locating stolen nuclear and radiological materials. The measure calls upon the administration to negotiate “nuclear forensics” agreements under which countries would do a better job of policing loose nukes and sharing sensitive information. The bill also seeks to bolster Department of Homeland Security programs against terrorists’ dirty bombs or conventional nuclear weapons.

Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said:  “The deterrent effect of a robust nuclear-forensics capability should not be underestimated. Certainly, if terrorists know that we...can pinpoint their role in creating a bomb, they are bound to have second thoughts. Unfortunately, today, the U.S. must rely on forensic expertise and technology developed during the Cold War to address both nuclear weapons and the emerging threat of a radiological dirty bomb.”

Another supporter, Peter King, R-N.Y., said the bill is about protecting “the American people in a way which certainly transcends Republican or Democrat lines or liberal-conservative lines. It is an issue that should galvanize all Americans.”

No opponent spoke against the bill.

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



EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI: Voting 411 for and one against, the House on Jan. 21 expressed its condolences to and solidarity with Haiti following the island nation’s cataclysmic earthquake nine days earlier. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, cast the single vote against H Res 1021.

A yes vote was to adopt the resolution.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes: Olver, Neal  (MA),

McGovern, Frank  (MA), Tsongas, Tierney, Markey

 (MA), Capuano, Lynch, Delahunt 

Voting no:   None

Not voting:   None



SENATE

TROUBLED ASSETS RELIEF PROGRAM: Voting 53 for and 45 against, the Senate on Jan. 21 failed to get 60 votes needed to adopt an amendment that would end the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). The amendment sought to bar additional TARP disbursements and require its $320 billion in unobligated funds to be applied to deficit reduction. The measure was proposed to a bill (HJ Res 45), still in debate, that would raise the national debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion to $14.29 trillion.

The Bush administration and Congress established TARP in October 2008 with a budget of $700 billion for loans and other cash infusions to keep large financial firms afloat and prevent an economic meltdown. The Obama administration broadened the original purpose by releasing TARP funds to bolster General Motors, Chrysler, community banks and other faltering businesses. TARP is set to expire in October and is expected to recoup $175 billion of its loans by year’s end.

John Thune, R-Neb., said TARP has “morphed into something entirely different. It has been used now to take equity positions....We have gotten very far afield from what the purpose of the TARP was in the first place.”

Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said TARP funds are now going “primarily to community banks to get credit flowing and to small business, but also to mitigate foreclosures and to address the deepening crisis in commercial mortgage loans which is there.”

A yes vote backed the amendment.



MASSACHUSETTS  Voting yes:  None

Voting no:   Paul Kirk, D, John Kerry, D 

Not voting:   None



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