NPI's Cascadia Advocate

Offering commentary and analysis from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, The Cascadia Advocate provides the Northwest Progressive Institute's uplifting perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Sunday, October 10th, 2021

Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (October 4th-8th)

Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Fri­day, Octo­ber 8th, 2021.

In the United States House of Representatives

Chamber of the United States House of Representatives

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

TEMPORARILY FUNDING TRANSPORTATION SERVICES: The House on Octo­ber 1st passed the Sur­face Trans­porta­tion Exten­sion Act (H.R. 5434), spon­sored by our own Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Peter A. DeFazio, D‑Oregon.

The bill would autho­rize, through Octo­ber 31st, pro­grams oper­at­ed by the Trans­porta­tion Depart­ment that are fund­ed by the high­way trust fund.

DeFazio said the exten­sion was vital because autho­riza­tion had expired at the close of Sep­tem­ber. The vote was 365 yeas to 51 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Aye (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrad­er; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (9): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler, and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Dan Newhouse

Cas­ca­dia total: 16 aye votes, 1 not voting

In the United States Senate

Chamber of the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

RAISING THE DEBT CEILING THROUGH DECEMBER: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 7th passed an amend­ment to a bill (S. 1301) that would sus­pend the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s debt ceil­ing through Decem­ber 3rd, 2021.

A sup­port­er, Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑New York, said the sus­pen­sion would allow time for Con­gress to work on “a long-term solu­tion to the debt lim­it to make sure finan­cial mar­kets remain sta­ble and our eco­nom­ic recov­ery stays on track.” An oppo­nent, Sen­a­tor Mike Lee, R‑Utah, said there need­ed to be a con­straint on debt increas­es because the debt bur­den had already reached exces­sive lev­els, with cor­re­spond­ing haz­ards to the econ­o­my and infla­tion. The vote was 50 yeas to 48 nays.

A yes vote was to send the leg­is­la­tion back to the House. Pre­vi­ous­ly, eleven Repub­li­can sen­a­tors vot­ed to allow the bill to be con­sid­ered, break­ing a filibuster.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Nay (2):
Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

JONATHAN MEYER, GENERAL COUNSEL FOR DHS: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 4th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Jonathan Mey­er to serve as gen­er­al coun­sel for the Home­land Secu­ri­ty Depart­ment. From 1999 to 2016, Mey­er was a lawyer at Home­land Secu­ri­ty, the Jus­tice Depart­ment, and in the Sen­ate; since 2016, he has been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Gary Peters, D‑Michigan, said Mey­er “has demon­strat­ed that he under­stands the com­plex legal issues fac­ing DHS and the impor­tance of ensur­ing that the Depart­ment coop­er­ates with Con­gres­sion­al over­sight.” The vote was 51 yeas to 47 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Nay (2):
Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

PALOMA ADAMS-ALLEN, USAID: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 5th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Palo­ma Adams-Allen to serve as deputy admin­is­tra­tor of man­age­ment and resources at the U.S. Agency for Inter­na­tion­al Development.

Adams-Allen has been a offi­cial at the agency, spe­cial­iz­ing in Latin Amer­i­ca and the Caribbean, as well as an advi­sor at the Orga­ni­za­tion of Amer­i­can States.

A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Robert Menen­dez, D‑New Jer­sey, called Adams-Allen “a ded­i­cat­ed pub­lic ser­vant who has spent her entire career focus­ing on inter­na­tion­al devel­op­ment and elim­i­nat­ing glob­al poverty.”

The vote was 79 yeas to 20 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 aye votes

LAUREN KING, U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE FOR WASHINGTON: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 5th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Lau­ren J. King to serve as a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for the West­ern Dis­trict of Washington.

King has been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer in the state since 2008, with a spe­cial­ty in Indi­an trib­al law. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Pat­ty Mur­ray, D‑Washington, said: “I firm­ly believe Ms. King has the expe­ri­ence, knowl­edge, and per­spec­tive required to serve on our fed­er­al judi­cia­ry with dis­tinc­tion.” The vote was 55 yeas to 44 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Nay (2):
Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

SARAH MERRIAM, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE FOR CONNECTICUT: The Sen­ate on Octo­ber 6th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Sarah Mer­ri­am to serve as a judge on the U.S. Dis­trict Court for Con­necti­cut. Mer­ri­am has been a fed­er­al mag­is­trate judge since 2015, and pre­vi­ous­ly was a pub­lic defend­er in Con­necti­cut’s fed­er­al courts. A sup­port­er, Sen. Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, cit­ed “the wide­spread respect she has earned for her skill, qual­i­fi­ca­tions, tem­pera­ment, and fideli­ty to the rule of law.” The vote was 54 yeas to 46 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Nay (2):
Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (2):
Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes

Key votes ahead

The Sen­ate will be in recess this week, with a pro for­ma ses­sion sched­uled for this Fri­day. The House will return to con­sid­er the short term lift­ing of the debt ceil­ing and con­sid­er oth­er leg­isla­tive business.

Edi­tor’s Note: The infor­ma­tion in NPI’s week­ly How Cas­ca­di­a’s U.S. law­mak­ers vot­ed fea­ture is pro­vid­ed by Tar­get­ed News Ser­vice. All rights are reserved. Repro­duc­tion of this post is not per­mit­ted, not even with attri­bu­tion. Use the per­ma­nent link to this post to share it… thanks!

© 2021 Tar­get­ed News Ser­vice, LLC. 

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