Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (December 13th-17th)

Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Fri­day, Decem­ber 17th, 2021.

In the United States House of Representatives

MEADOWS CONTEMPT RESOLUTION: The House on Decem­ber 14th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H. Res. 851), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ben­nie G. Thomp­son, D‑Miss., to find Mark Mead­ows, Pres­i­dent Trump’s chief of staff, in con­tempt of Con­gress for not com­ply­ing with a sub­poe­na from the House Select Com­mit­tee to Inves­ti­gate the Jan­u­ary 6th Attack on the Unit­ed States Capitol.

Thomp­son said: “This is about Mr. Mead­ows refus­ing to com­ply with a sub­poe­na to dis­cuss the records he him­self turned over. Now he is hid­ing behind excuses.”

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jim Banks, R‑Indiana, said the select com­mit­tee had no legal author­i­ty because it had failed to meet the House char­ter that required it to have 13 mem­bers rather than its actu­al nine.

The vote was 222 yeas to 208 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

COMBATING ISLAMOPHOBIA: The House on Decem­ber 14th passed the Com­bat­ing Inter­na­tion­al Islam­o­pho­bia Act (H.R. 5665), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ilhan Omar, D‑Minnesota, to estab­lish the Office to Mon­i­tor and Com­bat Islam­o­pho­bia at the State Department.

Omar said: “Islam­o­pho­bia is glob­al in scope and we must lead the glob­al effort to address it.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Michael McCaul, R‑Texas, said: “This leg­is­la­tion is dan­ger­ous­ly vague and unnec­es­sar­i­ly duplica­tive. It does­n’t frame things in terms of anti-Mus­lim persecution.”

The vote was 219 yeas to 212 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

RAISING THE DEBT CEILING: The House on Decem­ber 15th passed a res­o­lu­tion (S.J. Res. 33), spon­sored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D‑N.Y., to increase the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s debt ceil­ing by $2.5 trillion.

A sup­port­er, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Sheila Jack­son Lee, D‑Texas, said the increase was need­ed to “pre­serve the sanc­ti­ty of the full faith and cred­it of the Unit­ed States, pro­tect Amer­i­can jobs and busi­ness­es of all sizes, and ensure the con­tin­ued growth of the economy.”

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Kevin Brady, R‑Texas, said the increase was “about mak­ing room for new waste­ful spend­ing, tril­lions that will pour more fuel on the infla­tion fire that marks Joe Biden’s pres­i­den­cy, the high­est rate in decades.”

The vote was 221 yeas to 209 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

In the United States Senate

RAISING THE DEBT CEILING: The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 15th passed a res­o­lu­tion (S.J. Res. 33, above), spon­sored by Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑New York, to increase the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s debt ceil­ing by $2.5 tril­lion. Schumer said the increase was need­ed to pre­vent default on the debt.

An oppo­nent, Sen­a­tor Mike Lee, R‑Utah, said the increase was exces­sive and, by requir­ing only a bare major­i­ty rather than a 60-vote major­i­ty, would dam­age the Sen­ate’s use of the fil­i­buster going for­ward. The vote was 50 yeas to 49 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

LUCY KOH, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 13th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Lucy Koh to serve as a judge on the U.S. Ninth Cir­cuit Court of Appeals. Koh, cur­rent­ly a fed­er­al dis­trict judge for north­ern Cal­i­for­nia, was pre­vi­ous­ly a pri­vate prac­tice attor­ney and a fed­er­al prosecutor.

A sup­port­er, Sen. Alex Padil­la, D‑California, said Koh “is well known, not only in her dis­trict but across the coun­try as tal­ent­ed, thought­ful, smart, and fair.” An oppo­nent, Sen­a­tor Dan Sul­li­van, R‑Alaska, crit­i­cized the White House for fail­ing to afford him the chance to meet with Koh to eval­u­ate her before the con­fir­ma­tion vote, and said Koh lacked famil­iar­i­ty with the unique laws that apply to Alaska’s native tribes. The vote, on Decem­ber 13th, was 50 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

2022 NDAA (DEFENSE SPENDING): The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 15th agreed to the House amend­ment to the Nation­al Defense Autho­riza­tion Act (S. 1605), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Rick Scott, R‑Fla., to autho­rize fis­cal 2022 spend­ing on the mil­i­tary, mil­i­tary con­struc­tion projects, and mil­i­tary-relat­ed pro­grams at the Ener­gy Depart­ment. A sup­port­er, Sen. Jack Reed, D‑Rhode Island, said the bill “autho­rizes sig­nif­i­cant increas­es in mil­i­tary con­struc­tion projects, mod­ern­iz­ing our nuclear tri­ad and mis­sile defense sys­tems, and invest­ing in cut­ting-edge tech­nolo­gies such as arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, micro­elec­tron­ics, advanced mate­ri­als, 5G, and biotech­nol­o­gy.” The vote was 88 yeas to 11 nays.

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

JENNIFER SUNG, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 15th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Jen­nifer Sung to serve as a judge on the U.S. Ninth Cir­cuit Court of Appeals. Since 2007, Sung has been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer spe­cial­iz­ing in labor law and work­ers’ rights. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, called Sung “a dis­tin­guished jurist who will bring a vital, and under­rep­re­sent­ed, per­spec­tive to the fed­er­al bench.”

The vote was 50 yeas to 49 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

SAMANTHA ELLIOTT, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 15th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Saman­tha Elliott to serve as a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for New Hampshire.

Elliott has been a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer since 2006, focus­ing on com­mer­cial and employ­ment law. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Dick Durbin, D‑Illinois, said: “With her deep knowl­edge of the state’s legal sys­tem and her even­hand­ed approach to the law, she will make an out­stand­ing fed­er­al judge.”

The vote  was 62 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

NICHOLAS BURNS, AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 16th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Nicholas Burns to serve as the U.S. ambas­sador to Chi­na. Burns, a long­time diplo­mat in the State Depart­ment, has been an ambas­sador to NATO and to Greece. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor James Risch, R‑Idaho, said Burns “has done an out­stand­ing job, has an out­stand­ing rep­u­ta­tion amongst the cadre of ambas­sadors,” and could han­dle a dif­fi­cult assign­ment in China.

The vote was 75 yeas to 18 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

RAMIN TOLOUI, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: The Sen­ate has con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Ramin Toloui to serve as Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of State for Eco­nom­ic and Busi­ness Affairs. Toloui, cur­rent­ly an eco­nom­ics pro­fes­sor at Stan­ford Uni­ver­si­ty, was pre­vi­ous­ly an invest­ment man­ag­er at PIMCO and a Trea­sury Depart­ment offi­cial dur­ing the Oba­ma administration.

A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Robert Menen­dez, D‑N.J., said Toloui would help the gov­ern­ment “rein­vig­o­rate the instru­ments of our eco­nom­ic diplomacy.”

The vote was 76 yeas to 13 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Mike Crapo Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Jim Risch
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 5 aye votes, 1 not voting

RASHAD HUSSAIN, AMBASSADOR AT-LARGE: The Sen­ate on Decem­ber 16th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Rashad Hus­sain to serve as the State Depart­men­t’s Ambas­sador at Large for Inter­na­tion­al Reli­gious Free­dom. Hus­sain was a senior offi­cial in sev­er­al roles dur­ing the Oba­ma admin­is­tra­tion, includ­ing Spe­cial Envoy to the Orga­ni­za­tion of Islam­ic Cooperation.

A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Robert Menen­dez, D‑New Jer­sey, said: “Through­out his impres­sive pub­lic ser­vice, Mr. Hus­sain has demon­strat­ed his strong com­mit­ment to pro­tect­ing the rights of reli­gious and eth­nic minorities.”

The vote was 85 yeas to 5 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Mike Crapo Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Jim Risch
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Aye (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 5 aye votes, 1 not voting

ADDITIONAL SENATE VOTES: Along with this week’s roll call votes, the Sen­ate also passed by voice vote the fol­low­ing leg­is­la­tion: a bill (H.R. 6256), to ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xin­jiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Chi­na do not enter the Unit­ed States mar­ket; and the Accel­er­at­ing Access to Crit­i­cal Ther­a­pies for ALS Act (H.R. 3537), to direct the Health and Human Ser­vices Depart­ment to sup­port research on, and expand­ed access to, inves­ti­ga­tion­al drugs for amy­otroph­ic lat­er­al sclerosis.

LWIC will be on hiatus until 2022

Con­gress has adjourned for the year, so there will be no fur­ther install­ments of Last Week In Con­gress until the new year. Sea­son’s greet­ings from NPI!

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