Good morning! Here’s how Cascadia’s United States Senators voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Friday, August 13th, 2021.
The United States House of Representatives was in recess.
In the United States Senate
BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL (INVEST IN AMERICA ACT): The Senate on August 10th passed its version of the Invest in America Act (H.R. 3684), sponsored by Representative Peter A. DeFazio, D‑Oregon, to authorize through fiscal 2026 surface transportation programs, including highways, mass transit, and rail, and set out fiscal 2022 spending levels on those programs.
A supporter, the Pacific Northwest’s own Senator Maria Cantwell, D‑Washington, said the spending would help ensure that products quickly reach their customers, improving U.S. competitiveness against other nations.
Sixty-nine senators voted aye on the bill, while thirty voted nay. A yes vote was to approve the legislation, sending it back to the House of Representatives.
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Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
APPROVAL OF SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT TO INFRASTRUCTURE BILL: The Senate on August 8th passed a substitute amendment sponsored by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D‑Arizona, to the Invest in America Act (H.R. 3684, above), that would authorize $1.2 trillion of spending on various forms of infrastructure, including highways, mass transit, railroads, shipping, and broadband Internet.
A supporter, Senator Roger Wicker, R‑Mississippi, said “the investments in this legislation will generate a stronger economy and larger sums of revenue.”
An opponent, Senator Mike Braun, R‑Indiana, cited concerns about the level of debt incurred by the legislation, and resulting inflationary pressures.
The vote was 69 ayes to 28 nays.
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Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
PROCEDURAL MOTION ON BUDGETARY POINTS OF ORDER: The Senate on August 8th agreed to a motion to waive budgetary points of order against the substitute amendment to the Invest in America Act (H.R. 3684).
A motion opponent, Senator James Lankford, R‑Oklahoma, said $250 billion of the amendment’s roughly $1 trillion of spending was not paid for, and therefore should be eliminated. The vote was 64 ayes to 33 nays.
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Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
AMERICAN JOBS & FAMILIES PLAN/2022 BUDGET INSTRUCTIONS: The Senate on August 11th launched the reconciliation process for a budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to set out the federal government’s fiscal 2022 budget and establish proposed budgetary levels for fiscal 2023 through 2031. Sanders said the bill “is going to provide the long-awaited-for help that working parents all over this country desperately need, and when we do that, we will substantially reduce childhood poverty in America.”
An opponent, Senator John Thune, R‑South Dakota, criticized provisions increasing corporate tax rates and cutting taxes for the wealthy, and called the bill “the first step toward a massive and permanent expansion of government that would be paid for on the backs of ordinary Americans.”
A yes vote was to send the resolution to the House of Representatives. Fifty senators voted aye and forty-nine voted nay.
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Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
ADDRESSING CLIMATE IMPACTS: The Senate on August 10th adopted an amendment sponsored by Senator Tom Carper, D‑Delaware, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), to establish a fund for addressing climate impact by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing fossil fuel use.
Carper said: “We are in a code red situation. This is all hands on deck when it comes to the climate crisis.” An opponent, Senator John Barrasso, R‑Wyoming, said: “We can protect the environment without punishing the economy, and this bill and amendment fail that test.” The vote was 51 yeas to 48 nays.
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Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
TAX CODE PROVISIONS FOR BUSINESSES AND FARMS: The Senate has passed an amendment sponsored by Senator John Thune, R‑South Dakota, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14). The amendment would provide for stable tax regimes regarding cross-generational transfer of business and farm ownerships, including the step-up in cost basis for inheritances.
Thune said changing tax policy by imposing capital gains taxes on the increased value of inherited land would “hit generationally owned enterprises hard, particularly in rural communities. And it could force families to sell off part of the farm or business just to pay the new tax.” The vote was unanimous with 99 yeas.
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Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
FINANCIAL ACCOUNT REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR LARGE BALANCES: The Senate on August 10th passed an amendment sponsored by the Pacific Northwest’s own Senator Ron Wyden, D‑Oregon, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), that would establish requirements for the tax reporting of large financial account balances to the Internal Revenue Service.
Wyden said tax avoiders would “have a much tougher time if the Congress requires that financial institutions take practical and reasonable steps to require that financial institutions report on financial accounts.”
An opponent, Senator Mike Crapo, R‑Idaho, said the requirement would authorize the IRS to arbitrarily determine what qualifies as a large account balance, and violate privacy rights by requiring the disclosure of such balances to the agency.
The vote was 50 yeas to 49 nays.
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Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
CONTINUING TO ALLOW FRACKING (HYDRAULIC FRACTURING): The Senate on August 10th passed an amendment sponsored by Senator Kevin Cramer, R‑North Dakota, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), that would bar new regulations that ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of oil and natural gas wells. Cramer said a fracking ban “would raise Americans’ cost of living, weaken our national security, and, of course, actually enhance greenhouse gas emissions.”
An amendment opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, ID-Vermont, said: “We have got to move away from fossil fuel. We have got to end fracking.”
The vote was 57 yeas to 42 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
MAINTAINING FLEXIBILITY FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: The Senate on August 10th rejected an amendment sponsored by Senator Tim Scott, R‑South Carolina, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14, above), that would have stipulated that public schools should be open throughout the 2021–2022 school year. Scott said the amendment was necessary because “thanks to labor union bosses and their unneeded and damaging school shutdowns, kids have been kept out of school, and many — far too many — have suffered psychologically.”
An opponent, the Pacific Northwest’s Patty Murray, D‑Washington, said “in addition to ensuring in-person learning, we need to encourage adherence to public health guidance, especially as this Delta variant is surging.”
The vote was 49 ayes to 50 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
RESTRICTING AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT FROM WITHDRAWING FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR FOSSIL FUELS: The Senate on August 10th passed an amendment sponsored by Senator John Boozman, R‑Arkansas, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), that would bar the Agriculture Department from banning loans to build or maintain fossil fuel-burning electric power plants.
Boozman said the amendment “ensures that rural Americans continue to have accessible, affordable, reliable energy to power their farms, their businesses, and broadband networks.” An opponent, Senator Debbie Stabenow, D‑Michigan, said a ban would curtail the Agriculture Department’s “ability to support a transition to clean fuel economies.” The vote was 53 ayes to 46 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
RESTRICTING ELECTRIC VEHICLE TAX CREDITS: The Senate on August 10th passed an amendment sponsored by Senator Deb Fischer, R‑Nebraska, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14, above), that would adopt means tests for electric vehicle tax credits, including a maximum vehicle value of $40,000 and a maximum individual income of $100,000.
Fischer said: “There is nothing wrong with the well-off buying fancy cars. I just don’t think America’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars should help to pay for it.”
An opponent, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D‑Michigan, said that without means tests on tax credits, “we eliminate more carbon pollution when people who drive trucks and SUVs choose all-electric vehicles like the great ones that are now coming out into the marketplace.” The vote was 51 ayes to 48 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
BARRING THE TEACHING OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY: The Senate on August 10th passed an amendment sponsored by Senator Tom Cotton, R‑Arkansas, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14, above), that would bar federal funding for the teaching of critical race theory in schools.
Cotton claimed that the funding ban “will ensure that federal funds are not used to indoctrinate kids as young as pre‑K to hate America. Our future depends on the next generation of kids loving America and loving each other as fellow citizens, no matter their race.”
An opponent, the Pacific Northwest’s own Sen. Patty Murray, D‑Washington, said: “There are several longstanding provisions in federal education law that prohibit the federal government from mandating or directing school curriculum.”
The vote was 50 ayes to 49 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
CONTINUING SUBSIDIES FOR FOSSIL FUELS AND NUCLEAR POWER: The Senate on August 10th adopted an amendment sponsored by Senator John Hoeven, R‑North Dakota, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), that would provide for federal government promotion of the expansion of baseload electric power generation, including fossil fuel-based and nuclear power plants.
Hoeven said: “Instead of new taxes or the Green New Deal, we should be expanding access to power generation from resources available twenty four/seven, regardless of weather conditions.”
An opponent, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D‑Rhode Island, said: “There is no reason whatsoever to put another thumb on the scales for this already heavily subsidized industry when most of these blackouts and brownouts are driven by extreme weather caused by the climate change from their pollution.”
The vote was 52 ayes to 47 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
MORE FUNDING FOR ICE (IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT): The Senate on August 11th passed an amendment sponsored by Senator Bill Hagerty, R‑Tennessee, to the 2022 budget bill (S. Con. Res. 14), that would provide for ensuring that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has adequate resources to deport people who have been convicted of crimes committed in the United States.
Hagerty said deportations have declined by about seventy-five percent so far in 2021, and argued that more funding would help reverse that decline.
An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said deporting every person who has committed a crime and lacks papers “would divert ICE from focusing its resources on the truly serious public safety and national security threats.”
The vote was 53 yeas to 46 nays.
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Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
EUNICE LEE, APPEALS COURT JUDGE, SECOND CIRCUIT: The Senate on August 7th confirmed the nomination of Eunice C. Lee to serve as a judge on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Lee has been a criminal public defense lawyer, in New York City and in the federal government, since 1998, as well as a law professor at New York University from 2003 to 2019.
A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑N.Y., said Lee “will bring dynamism, brilliance, and a real diversity of experience to courts in New York.”
The vote was 50 ayes to 47 nays.
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Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
ADVANCING THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT: The Senate on August 11th discharged from the Senate Rules Committee the For the People Act (S. 1), sponsored by the Pacific Northwest’s own Senator Jeff Merkley, D‑Oregon.
The bill would make numerous changes to voter registration and election practices in all fifty states, and establish certain ethics requirements for federal government workers, including politicians and judges.
A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑New York, said the bill was necessary because “reactionary Republican legislatures are making it harder for poorer, younger, and non-white Americans to vote, while at the same time making it easier for partisan actors to steal an election.”
An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R‑Kentucky called the bill “an absurd and clumsy effort by one political party to literally rewrite the ground rules of our democracy to try to advantage them and disadvantage the other side.” The vote to discharge, on August 11th, was 50 ayes to 49 nays.
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Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
LWIC will be on hiatus next week
The Senate has joined the House in recess, so Last Week In Congress will be on hiatus next week. The House is expected to return on August 23rd for votes.
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