Good morning! Here’s how Cascadia’s Members of Congress voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Friday, April 8th, 2022.
In the United States House of Representatives
SUBPOENAS FOR TRUMP AIDES INVOLVED IN INSURRECTION: The House on April 6th passed a resolution (H. Res. 1037), sponsored by Representative Bennie G. Thompson, D‑Mississippi, to recommend that Trump administration staffers Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro be held in contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas issued by the House subcommittee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Thompson said that because Scavino and Navarro were government employees, they should respond to legitimate legislative inquiries “about their roles in trying to overturn the 2020 election.”
An opponent, Representative Matt Gaetz, R‑Florida, said: “The reason Scavino and Navarro shouldn’t be held in contempt is that the January 6th Committee itself is so performative, illegitimate, and unconstitutional, kicking off the Republicans that Leader McCarthy sent to serve on the committee.”
The vote was 220 yeas to 203 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, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland Voting Nay (3): Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers Not Voting (1): Democratic Representative Derek Kilmer |
Cascadia total: 10 aye votes, 6 nay votes, 1 not voting
REVOKING RUSSIA AND BELARUS’ MFN STATUS: The House on April 7th passed the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act (H.R. 7108), sponsored by Richard E. Neal, D‑Massachusetts, to authorize the president to increase duties on goods imported from Russia or Belarus through 2023, and authorize a broader standard for applying visa and property-related sanctions against foreigners accused of serious human rights abuses.
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
SIMPLIFYING REGISTRATION FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA RESEARCH: The House on April 4th passed the Medical Marijuana Research Act (H.R. 5657), sponsored by Representative Earl Blumenauer, D‑Oregon, to create a new, less stringent federal registration process for research into medical marijuana.
The vote was 343 yeas to 75 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 (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: 14 aye votes, 3 nay votes
OBLIGING HEALTH INSURERS TO COVER TREATING BIRTH DEFECTS: The House on April 4th passed the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (H.R. 1916), sponsored by Representative Anna G. Eshoo, D‑California, to require health insurers to cover birth defect treatments in their plans. Eshoo said the bill was needed because “for babies who have oral defects such as cleft palates, skeletal defects, congenital cataracts, or hearing defects, insurance companies have systematically denied or delayed medically necessary treatments.”
An opponent, Representative H. Morgan Griffith, R‑Virginia, said vague language in the bill meant “that not one person can articulate which medical procedures or treatments would be required to be covered by insurance.”
The vote was 310 yeas to 110 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 (9): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 14 aye votes, 3 nay votes
TRADE AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ADVISORY COUNCIL AT DHS: The House on April 5th passed the DHS Trade and Economic Security Council Act (H.R. 4476), sponsored by Representative Peter Meijer, R‑Michigan, to create a trade and economic security advisory council at the Homeland Security Department. Meijer said the council’s work to “identify concentrated economic risks, set priorities, and coordinate enterprise-wide action on economic security matters” would be of critical importance for the country. The vote was 348 yeas to 75 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
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND DISASTER RECOVERY COORDINATION: The House on April 5th passed the Resilient Assistance for Mitigation for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by Americans Act (H.R. 5689), sponsored by Representative Peter DeFazio, D‑Oregon, to change various rules for federal funding to local governments and nonprofit groups for disaster hazard mitigation and planning programs. DeFazio said: “Federal policy that focuses on investment in mitigation and bolstering resilience is basic good governance and will lessen the impacts of future disasters.”
The vote was 383 yeas to 41 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
SOLIDARITY WITH NATO AND UKRAINE: The House on April 5th passed a resolution (H. Res. 831), sponsored by Representative Gerald E. Connolly, D‑Virginia, to stress the importance of democratic principles at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and NATO’s commitment to bolstering democratic institutions in NATO member countries. Connolly said of the need for the resolution: “The values upon which the alliance have been founded are being challenged by external enemies of democracy, all too tragically being witnessed in the Ukraine.” The vote was 362 yeas to 63 nays.
Voting Aye (1): Republican Representative Mike Simpson Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Russ Fulcher | |
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: 16 aye votes, 1 nay vote
HOLDING PUTIN’S REGIME ACCOUNTABLE FOR WAR CRIMES: The House on April 6th passed the Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act (H.R. 7276), sponsored by Representative Michael T. McCaul, R‑Texas. The bill would require the president to send to Congress a report on war crimes and other atrocities committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
McCaul said: “We cannot wait for the next atrocity before we act. We must do what we can now to deter Russian leaders, commanders, and troops in the field from committing further war crimes.” The vote was 418 yeas to 7 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
RESUSCITATING THE RESTAURANT REVITALIZATION FUND: The House on April 7th passed the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act (H.R. 3807), sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D‑Oregon, to add $55 billion to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a COVID relief grant program that began in spring 2021. Blumenauer said: “Our small, independent restaurants and other businesses have not fully recovered. This is why the legislation is critical.”
An opponent, Representative Byron Donalds, R‑Florida, said rather than appropriating billions of dollars of new funds and furthering inflation, Congress should use already appropriated funds to assist the restaurant industry.
The vote was 223 yeas to 203 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 (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: 12 aye votes, 5 nay votes
BARRING ENERGY IMPORTS FROM RUSSIA: The House on April 7th passed the Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act (H.R. 6968), sponsored by Representative Lloyd Doggett, D‑Texas, to bar the importation from Russia of a set of energy products, including petroleum and natural gas, with a potential waiver of the ban if U.S. interests warrant a waiver. A supporter, Representative Kevin Brady, R‑Texas, said the ban was needed to end “the flow of American dollars toward Russian oil that acts as a treasury for Russia’s war machine.”
The vote was 413 yeas to 9 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 (9): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Marilyn Strickland; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse Not Voting (1): Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 16 aye votes, 1 not voting
In the United States Senate
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT: The Senate on April 7th confirmed the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court. Jackson, a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals since June 2021, was earlier a U.S. district court for Washington, D.C., starting in 2013, and a commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 2010 to 2013.
A supporter, Senator Mazie Hirono, D‑Hawaii, said: “Judge Jackson has the intellect, the integrity, and the temperament befitting an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and she doesn’t have an ideological axe to grind.”
An opponent, Senator Rick Scott, R‑Florida, cited “her record as a federal judge, which includes numerous instances of the type of judicial activism that we cannot and should not tolerate from the federal judiciary.”
The vote was 53 yeas to 47 nays.
Voting Nay (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 4 aye votes, 2 nay votes
REVOKING RUSSIA AND BELARUS’ MFN STATUS: The Senate on April 7th passed the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act (H.R. 7108, above), to authorize the president to increase duties on goods imported from Russia or Belarus through 2023, and authorize a broader standard for applying visa and property-related sanctions against foreigners accused of serious human rights abuses. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑New York, said: “The legislation will go a long way to landing a painful, severe blow on Putin’s economy. It will hinder his ability to keep funding his war machine.”
The vote was unanimous with 100 yeas.
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
BARRING ENERGY IMPORTS FROM RUSSIA: The Senate on April 7th passed the Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act (H.R. 6968, above), sponsored by Representative Lloyd Doggett, D‑Texas, to bar the importation from Russia of a set of energy products, including petroleum and natural gas, with a potential waiver of the ban if U.S. interests warrant a waiver.
The vote was unanimous with 100 yeas.
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
JAMES O’BRIEN, STATE DEPARTMENT: The Senate on April 6th confirmed the nomination of James O’Brien to be the head of the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination. O’Brien, a State Department staffer and official starting in 1989, has, since 2017, been an executive at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business consultancy. A supporter, Senator Robert Menendez, D‑New Jersey, said that at State, O’Brien “led a large and successful sanctions program and advised on a range of issues, including peace negotiations in Europe, scientific and environmental agreements, and initiatives to investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes.” The vote was 71 yeas to 26 nays.
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Aye (2): |
Cascadia total: 6 aye votes
ADDITIONAL SENATE VOTES: Along with this week’s roll call votes, the Senate also passed the following measures by voice vote: the Strengthening Oversight for Veterans Act (S. 2687), to give the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs testimonial subpoena authority; and a resolution (S. Res. 503), expressing the sense of the Senate that China’s government should immediately guarantee the safety and freedom of tennis star Peng Shuai.
LWIC will be on hiatus until May
The House of Representatives and Senate have begun their Easter recess and will not be in session until the Monday after Easter. Therefore, Last Week In Congress will be on hiatus until the first Sunday in May (May 1st). Pro forma sessions will be held at various times in between now and when Congress reconvenes. The Senate is expected to consider some of President Biden’s Fed nominees when it returns, while the House’s schedule was to be announced.
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