Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Fri­day, Octo­ber 29th, 2021. Items from last week are includ­ed in this week’s report due to House activ­i­ty on Friday.

In the United States House of Representatives

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

PROTECTING VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: The House on Octo­ber 26th passed the Fam­i­ly Vio­lence Pre­ven­tion and Ser­vices Improve­ment Act (H.R. 2119), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lucy McBath, D‑Georgia, to reau­tho­rize through fis­cal 2026 and mod­i­fy the Fam­i­ly Vio­lence and Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices pro­gram for vic­tims of domes­tic vio­lence, includ­ing emer­gency shel­ters for abuse vic­tims. McBath said: “We must make sure that our chil­dren and their fam­i­lies have the resources they need to pre­vent domes­tic vio­lence and abuse.”

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Vir­ginia Foxx, R‑North Car­oli­na, said the bill “tram­ples the rights of faith-based providers by forc­ing orga­ni­za­tions to aban­don their sin­cere­ly held reli­gious beliefs or give up help­ing vic­tims through these pro­grams.” The vote was 228 yeas to 200 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Aye (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz
	Vot­ing Aye (7): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland Vot­ing Nay (3): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler, Dan New­house, and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 11 aye votes, 6 nay votes

SUPPORTING BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS IN THE WORKFORCE: The House on Octo­ber 22nd passed the PUMP for Nurs­ing Moth­ers Act (H.R. 3110), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Car­olyn B. Mal­oney, D‑N.Y., to extend require­ments for an employ­er to accom­mo­date women to pump their breast milk at work. Mal­oney said it “would ensure that work­ing moms who want to breast­feed can con­tin­ue to do so and pre­vent nurs­ing moth­ers from being sin­gled out, ridiculed, or fired.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Bob Good, R‑Virginia, said the bill “false­ly vic­tim­izes employ­ees and is tru­ly just anoth­er pay­out for tri­al lawyers” fil­ing unwar­rant­ed law­suits against employ­ers. The vote was 276 yeas to 149 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher
	Vot­ing Aye (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz
	Vot­ing Aye (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beutler Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 13 aye votes, 4 nay votes

MORE TEMPORARY FUNDING FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION: The House on Octo­ber 28th passed the Fur­ther Sur­face Trans­porta­tion Exten­sion Act (H.R. 5763), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Peter A. DeFazio, D‑Oregon, to extend through Decem­ber 3rd statu­to­ry author­i­ty for fed­er­al high­way, tran­sit, and oth­er trans­porta­tion pro­grams. DeFazio com­ment­ed that “we need to act imme­di­ate­ly to be cer­tain we don’t have a lapse in autho­riza­tion” while the House and Sen­ate nego­ti­ate their ver­sions of a bill for a five-year autho­riza­tion for the programs.

The vote was 358 yeas to 59 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrad­er; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz
	Vot­ing Aye (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler, Dan New­house, and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 15 aye votes, 1 nay vote, 1 not voting

GUIDANCE ON SOVEREIGN DEBT: The House on Octo­ber 25th passed the Sov­er­eign Debt Con­tract Capac­i­ty Act (H.R. 4111), spon­sored by Rep. Max­ine Waters, D‑California. The bill would require the U.S. rep­re­sen­ta­tive at the Inter­na­tion­al Mon­e­tary Fund to urge the Fund to help mem­ber coun­tries eval­u­ate the terms of their sov­er­eign debt con­tracts. Waters said that with Chi­na using secre­tive sov­er­eign debt con­tracts to exert pow­er over vul­ner­a­ble coun­tries, train­ing would help those coun­tries improve trans­paren­cy and reduce cor­rup­tion by polit­i­cal lead­ers. The vote was 391 yeas to 29 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrad­er; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz
	Vot­ing Aye (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler, Dan New­house, and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 aye votes

INCREASED TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCIAL REPORTING: The House on Octo­ber 25th passed the Finan­cial Trans­paren­cy Act (H.R. 2989), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Car­olyn B. Mal­oney, D‑New York, to estab­lish trans­paren­cy stan­dards for data sub­mit­ted to fed­er­al finan­cial reg­u­la­tors. Mal­oney said the bill would pro­duce “more trans­par­ent and open data sources and data that is read­i­ly com­pa­ra­ble across busi­ness­es and sec­tors.” The vote was 400 yeas to 19 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrad­er; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz
	Vot­ing Aye (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler, Dan New­house, and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 aye votes

CARING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS WITH DISABILITIES: The House on Octo­ber 27th passed the Pro­tect­ing Amer­i­ca’s First Respon­ders Act (S. 1511), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Chuck Grass­ley, R‑Iowa, to pro­vide pay­ments, under the Jus­tice Depart­men­t’s Pub­lic Safe­ty Offi­cers’ Ben­e­fits Pro­gram, to police offi­cers and oth­er first respon­der work­ers who have been per­ma­nent­ly dis­abled by job-relat­ed injuries. The vote was 420 yeas to 3 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrad­er; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz
	Vot­ing Aye (10): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler, Dan New­house, and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 aye votes

In the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

ELIZABETH PRELOGAR, SOLICITOR GENERAL: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 28th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Eliz­a­beth Prel­og­ar to serve as U.S. Solic­i­tor Gen­er­al. Prel­og­ar had been the act­ing solic­i­tor gen­er­al before her nom­i­na­tion, and was an assis­tant to the solic­i­tor gen­er­al from 2014 to 2019. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said Prel­og­ar has “argued nine cas­es before the Supreme Court and filed hun­dreds of ami­cus briefs and oth­er peti­tions. She knows this job, and she knows it well.” The vote was 53 yeas to 36 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 aye votes

DOUGLAS PARKER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 25th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Dou­glas L. Park­er to serve as the Labor Depart­men­t’s assis­tant sec­re­tary for occu­pa­tion­al safe­ty and health. Park­er has head­ed Cal­i­for­ni­a’s Divi­sion of Occu­pa­tion­al Safe­ty and Health since Sep­tem­ber 2019. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Pat­ty Mur­ray, D‑Wash., said: “At every step in his career, Mr. Park­er has been a dogged advo­cate for work­er safe­ty. I have no doubt he will con­tin­ue when he is con­firmed to lead OSHA.” The vote was 50 yeas to 41 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

MYRNA PEREZ, U.S. SECOND CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS: The Sen­ate on Octoe­br 25th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Myr­na Perez to serve as a judge on the U.S. Sec­ond Cir­cuit Court of Appeals. Since 2006, Perez has been the direc­tor of the vot­ing rights and elec­tions pro­gram at New York Uni­ver­si­ty’s Bren­nan Cen­ter for Jus­tice. A sup­port­er, Sen. Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said Perez was “real­ly com­pe­tent and expe­ri­enced. She has been han­dling com­plex civ­il lit­i­ga­tion and will be ready to serve on the Sec­ond Cir­cuit on day one.”

The vote was 48 yeas to 43 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

JIA M. COBB, U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 26th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Jia M. Cobb to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for Wash­ing­ton, D.C. Cobb has been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer at a D.C. law firm since 2010. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said Cobb “under­stands the dis­tinc­tion between being an advo­cate and a judge. As a judge on the Dis­trict of D.C., she has promised to rule based on the law and facts of the cas­es before her.”

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

KAREN WILLIAMS, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE FOR NEW JERSEY: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 26th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Karen McGlashan Williams to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for New Jer­sey. Williams, a fed­er­al mag­is­trate judge in the state since 2009, was pre­vi­ous­ly a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer in Atlantic City. A sup­port­er, Sen. Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said Williams’s unan­i­mous well qual­i­fied rat­ing from the Amer­i­can Bar Asso­ci­a­tion was “a tes­ta­ment to her integri­ty, tem­pera­ment, and experience.”

The vote was 56 yeas to 38 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

PATRICIA GILES, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE FOR VIRGINIA: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 26th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Patri­cia Giles to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for the east­ern dis­trict of Vir­ginia. Giles has been a pros­e­cu­tor in the U.S. Attor­ney’s Office for the dis­trict for eigh­teen years. A sup­port­er, Sen. Dick Durbin, D‑Ill., said Giles “has a deep under­stand­ing of the dis­trict which she has been nom­i­nat­ed to serve.”

The vote was 68 yeas to 27 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

MICHEL NACHMANOFF, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE FOR VIRGINIA: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 27th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Michel Nach­manoff to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for the east­ern dis­trict of Vir­ginia. Nach­manoff has been a mag­is­trate judge in the dis­trict since 2014, and pre­vi­ous­ly was a pub­lic defend­er in the dis­trict. A sup­port­er, Sen. Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said Nach­manoff has “received praise from pros­e­cu­tors and defense attor­neys alike. It is a tes­ta­ment to his integri­ty and evenhandedness.”

The vote was 52 yeas to 46 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

SARALA NAGALA, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE FOR CONNECTICUT: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 27th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Sar­ala Nagala to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for Con­necti­cut. For the past nine years, Nagala has been an assis­tant U.S. attor­ney in the state. The vote was 52 yeas to 46 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

OMAR WILLIAMS, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE FOR CONNECTICUT: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 28th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Omar Williams to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for Con­necti­cut. Since 2002, Williams has been first an assis­tant pub­lic defend­er and then a supe­ri­or court judge in Con­necti­cut. The vote was 52 yeas to 46 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

MATTHEW OLSEN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY:  The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 28th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Matthew Olsen to serve as an assis­tant attor­ney gen­er­al for nation­al secu­ri­ty at the Jus­tice Depart­ment. Olsen, direc­tor of the Nation­al Coun­tert­er­ror­ism Cen­ter for three years of the Oba­ma admin­is­tra­tion and a long­time Jus­tice Depart­ment offi­cial, was most recent­ly a law pro­fes­sor at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Virginia.

The vote was 53 yeas to 45 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

CHRISTOPHER SCHROEDER, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Sen­ate has con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Christo­pher Schroed­er to serve as an assis­tant attor­ney gen­er­al serv­ing as head of the Office of Legal Coun­sel at the Jus­tice Depart­ment. Schroed­er was a senior Jus­tice Depart­ment offi­cial in the Clin­ton and Oba­ma admin­is­tra­tions. The vote was 56 yeas to 41 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

HAMPTON DELLINGER, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 28th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Hamp­ton Dellinger to serve as an assis­tant attor­ney gen­er­al for the Office of Legal Pol­i­cy. Until last year, Dellinger was a part­ner at the Boies Schiller Flexn­er law firm in Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

The vote was 53 yeas to 37 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

Key votes ahead

This week, the Sen­ate is sched­uled to con­sid­er more of Pres­i­dent Biden’s judi­cial nom­i­nees, includ­ing judges for Ver­mont and Vir­ginia. The Sen­ate will also con­sid­er nom­i­nees for exec­u­tive depart­ment posi­tions, includ­ing at EPA and Labor. The House is slat­ed to con­sid­er sev­er­al pieces of leg­is­la­tion, includ­ing H.R. 3992, the Pro­tect Old­er Job Appli­cants Act of 2021.

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