Good morning! Here’s how Cascadia’s Members of Congress voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Friday, December 3rd, 2021.
KEEPING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OPEN: The House on December 2nd passed the Further Extending Government Funding Act (H.R. 6119), sponsored by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D‑Connecticut, to extend appropriations for federal government programs through February 18th, 2022. DeLauro said: “A vote against this continuing resolution is a vote to shut the government down.”
An opponent, Representative Ken Calvert, R‑California, said the bill represented a “failure to govern” by the Democratic majority by substituting stopgap legislation for a proper fiscal 2022 budget plan. The vote was 221 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
STRENGTHENING VACCINATION INITIATIVES: The House on November 30th passed the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act (H.R. 550), sponsored by Rep. Ann Kuster, D‑N.H., to require the Health and Human Services Department to take measures to improve vaccination administration monitoring systems, including authorizing $400 million of grants to states for that purpose.
A supporter, Representative Frank Pallone Jr., D‑New Jersey, said updating immunization information systems would “help control disease outbreaks, and put our public health infrastructure on a solid foundation for years to come.”
The vote was 294 yeas to 130 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 (9): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers Not Voting (1): Democratic Representative Rick Larsen |
Cascadia total: 15 aye votes, 2 nay votes
PLANNING FOR 6G WIRELESS NETWORKS: The House on December 1st passed the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (H.R. 4045), sponsored by Representative Michael F. Doyle, D‑Pennsylvania.
The bill would create the 6G Task Force at the Federal Communications Commission. Doyle said: “To ensure that all Americans benefit from the next generation of wireless technology, 6G, we need to be considering it now.”
The vote was 394 yeas to 27 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
CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION: The House on December 1st passed the American Cybersecurity Literacy Act (H.R. 4055), sponsored by Representative Adam Kinzinger, R‑Illinois, to require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to adopt a cybersecurity literacy campaign to educate the general public of ways to reduce cybersecurity risks.
The vote was 408 yeas to 17 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
RESTORING TRIBAL LANDS: The House on December 1st passed a bill (H.R. 4352), sponsored by Representative Betty McCollum, D‑Minnesota, to override a 2009 Supreme Court ruling and allow the Interior Department to take land into trust on behalf of Native American tribes regardless of when the tribes were recognized by the federal government. McCollum said the 2009 ruling imposed on the tribes “an unfair, separate, and unequal process, a fundamentally discriminatory process for restoring their homelands.”
A bill opponent, Representative Paul A. Gosar, R‑Arizona, said it would “allow for new off-reservation casinos to be opened in your states, in your communities, and in your backyard, and for land to be ripped away from local jurisdictions without recourse.”
The vote was 302 yeas to 127 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 (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, 2 nay votes
BARRING THE EXPORT OF TRIBAL ARTIFACTS: The House on December 2nd passed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (H.R. 2930), sponsored by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D‑New Mexico, to bar the exportation of illegally acquired American Indian tribal materials. Leger Fernandez said: “The protection of these cultural items must be a priority for our country, because once they are stolen and taken out of our country, they become lost to those who revere them.”
The vote was 364 yeas to 57 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
KEEPING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OPEN: The Senate has passed the Further Extending Government Funding Act (H.R. 6119, above) sponsored by Representative Rosa L. DeLauro, D‑Conn., to extend appropriations for federal government programs through February 18th, 2022.
A supporter, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, D‑Vermont, said that along with providing needed time to adopt 2022 spending legislation, the bill “will include critical funding to support Afghan refugees as we help them get resettled here in the United States.” The vote was 69 yeas to 28 nays.
Voting Nay (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
BRIAN NELSON, TREASURY UNDERSECRETARY: The Senate on December 2nd confirmed the nomination of Brian Nelson to be the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial crimes. Nelson, a longtime official in California’s Justice Department whose assignments there included money laundering and transnational crime, is currently chief legal officer for the organizing committee for the 2028 summer Olympics.
The vote was 50 yeas to 49 nays.
Voting Nay (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
REJECTING REPUBLICAN AMENDMENT TO BLOCK COVID-19 TESTING OR VACCINATION MANDATE: The Senate on December 2nd rejected an amendment sponsored by Senator Roger Marshall, R‑Kansas, to the Further Extending Government Funding Act (H.R. 6119). The amendment would have barred funding for enforcement of the Biden administration’s various federal government and private employer Covid-19 vaccination requirements.
Marshall said: “No precedent exists in American history for punishing private employers who don’t enforce government vaccine edicts.” An amendment opponent, Senator Patty Murray, D‑Washington, called the requirements among “the strongest tools we have to get people vaccinated, keep them safe, and end this pandemic once and for all.” The vote was 48 yeas to 50 nays.
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Nay (2): | |
Voting Nay (2): |
Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
The House of Representatives plans to take up the Protecting our Democracy Act and the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. The House may also consider legislation related to increasing the debt limit and end of year healthcare provisions. The Senate schedule was to be announced.
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