Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Sep­tem­ber 30th, 2022.

In the United States House of Representatives

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 30th gave final approval to a bill that keeps the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment open and fund­ed through mid-Decem­ber, along with mak­ing appro­pri­a­tions for dis­as­ter recov­ery and sup­port­ing Ukraine. The bill was signed by Pres­i­dent Joe Biden sev­er­al hours later.

The Con­tin­u­ing Appro­pri­a­tions and Ukraine Sup­ple­men­tal Appro­pri­a­tions Act, 2023 “address­es key pri­or­i­ties,” Speak­er Nan­cy Pelosi said in a press conference.

“$12.3 bil­lion for the fight for democ­ra­cy in Ukraine. $4.5 bil­lion for dis­as­ter relief for New Mex­i­co, Puer­to Rico, Flori­da and Alas­ka and oth­er com­mu­ni­ties. An addi­tion­al – as I said – 18.9, almost $19 bil­lion, for FEMA’s Dis­as­ter Relief Fund – some of that need­ed right away for Iran – [Hur­ri­cane] Ian, but more will be need­ed. And then a bil­lion dol­lars to help work­ing fam­i­lies pay high­er ener­gy bills. And $20 mil­lion to respond to the water needs in Mis­sis­sip­pi, in Jack­son, Mississippi.”

The vote was 230 yeas to 201 nays. Alaska’s at-large vote was cast in favor of the res­o­lu­tion by new U.S. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mary Pel­to­la, D‑Alaska. Ten Repub­li­cans also vot­ed yea, most­ly from blue states or bat­tle­ground states.

	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

NEW AVIATION CENTER: The House on Sep­tem­ber 28th passed the Nation­al Cen­ter for the Advance­ment of Avi­a­tion Act (H.R. 3482), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andre Car­son, D‑Indiana, to cre­ate the Nation­al Cen­ter for the Advance­ment of Avi­a­tion, which would be an enter­prise for improv­ing part­ner­ships between mil­i­tary and civ­il avi­a­tion and aero­space par­ties. Car­son said the Cen­ter was intend­ed to address the prob­lem that “inno­va­tion and lessons learned in var­i­ous avi­a­tion sec­tors have not been shared in a col­lab­o­ra­tive or even a time­ly man­ner, espe­cial­ly con­sid­er­ing rapid devel­op­ments in new technology.”

The vote was 369 yeas to 56 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: 14 aye votes, 2 nay votes

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS ACT: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Men­tal Health Mat­ters Act (H.R. 7780), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mark DeSaulnier, D‑California, to cre­ate fed­er­al grant pro­grams to fund schools’ pro­vi­sion of men­tal health ser­vices and bar cer­tain pro­vi­sions in employ­er-spon­sored ben­e­fit plans that restrict men­tal health care coverage.

The vote was 220 yeas to 205 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 (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Dan Newhouse

Cas­ca­dia total: 11 aye votes, 5 nay votes, 1 not voting

INCREASING MERGER FILING FEES: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Merg­er Fil­ing Fee Mod­ern­iza­tion Act (H.R. 3843), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Joe Neguse, D‑Colorado, to increase the fees for com­pa­nies fil­ing appli­ca­tions for approval by fed­er­al reg­u­la­tors of pro­posed large merg­ers, and index the fees to the rate of infla­tion. The vote was 242 yeas to 184 nays.

	Vot­ing Aye (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: 13 aye votes, 4 nay votes

INFECTIOUS DISEASE PLANNING: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Chai Sutham­manont Healthy Fed­er­al Work­places Act (H.R. 8466), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ger­ald E. Con­nol­ly, D‑Virginia. The bill would estab­lish a require­ment for all fed­er­al gov­ern­ment agen­cies to make plans for infec­tious dis­eases that prompt a nation­wide pub­lic health emergency.

Con­nol­ly said: “Fed­er­al agen­cies must place the health and safe­ty of fed­er­al employ­ees at the fore­front of their plans and oper­a­tions while con­tin­u­ing to pro­vide vital ser­vices to the pub­lic, ensur­ing con­ti­nu­ity of operations.”

The vote was 351 yeas to 73 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

BOLSTERING TOURISM: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Vis­it Amer­i­ca Act (H.R. 6965), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Dina Titus, D‑Nevada. The bill would require the Com­merce Depart­ment to make a ten year plan for increas­ing the amount of for­eign tourism into the U.S., and cre­ate an Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Com­merce for Trav­el and Tourism, with duties that include pro­mot­ing such tourism. The vote was 325 yeas to 93 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 and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Rick Larsen

Cas­ca­dia total: 13 aye votes, 3 nay votes, 1 not voting

AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE PERFORMED ABROAD: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Glob­al Air­craft Main­te­nance Safe­ty Improve­ment Act (H.R. 7321), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Peter A. DeFazio, D‑Oregon. The bill would estab­lish Fed­er­al Avi­a­tion Admin­is­tra­tion (FAA) work­er cer­ti­fi­ca­tion and report­ing and inspec­tion require­ments for for­eign facil­i­ties that repair U.S. aircraft.

A sup­port­er, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andre Car­son, D‑Indiana, said the bill “will cor­rect the FAA’s unac­cept­ably lax over­sight of for­eign aero­nau­ti­cal repair sta­tions that work on U.S. air­line fleets and help increase the safe­ty of our glob­al avi­a­tion system.”

The vote was 374 yeas to 52 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

FOOD AID AND VETERANS: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Food Secu­ri­ty for All Vet­er­ans Act (H.R. 8888), spon­sored by new Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mary Sat­tler Pel­to­la, D‑Alaska, to estab­lish an Office of Food Secu­ri­ty at the Depart­ment of Vet­er­ans Affairs. The Office would give vet­er­ans infor­ma­tion about pos­si­ble enroll­ment in fed­er­al nutri­tion assis­tance programs.

Pel­to­la said: “There is noth­ing more impor­tant than ensur­ing our vet­er­ans and their fam­i­lies can enjoy a safe and healthy life after their ser­vice for our country.”

The vote was 376 yeas to 49 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

PROTECTING THE GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Glob­al Food Secu­ri­ty Reau­tho­riza­tion Act (H.R. 8446), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Bet­ty McCol­lum, D‑Minnesota, to reau­tho­rize through fis­cal 2028 the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s Glob­al Food Secu­ri­ty Strat­e­gy effort to improve food avail­abil­i­ty over­seas. McCol­lum said the effort helped “mil­lions of peo­ple in the world’s poor­est coun­tries become self-suf­fi­cient in feed­ing themselves.”

The vote was 331 yeas to 95 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (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: 15 aye votes, 2 nay votes

MCC AID EXPANSION: The House passed the Mil­len­ni­um Chal­lenge Cor­po­ra­tion Eli­gi­bil­i­ty Expan­sion Act (H.R. 8463), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Joaquin Cas­tro, D‑Texas. The bill would expand the num­ber of coun­tries eli­gi­ble for receiv­ing aid from the Mil­len­ni­um Chal­lenge Cor­po­ra­tion (MCC), an inde­pen­dent fed­er­al agency that sends grant mon­ey to devel­op­ing countries.

Cas­tro said the expand­ed eli­gi­bil­i­ty would “ensure that the MCC will con­tin­ue its impor­tant work and max­i­mize its impact fight­ing pover­ty and pro­mot­ing devel­op­ment.” The vote was 334 yeas to 87 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 Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 16 aye votes, 1 nay vote

MULTI-BILL PACKAGE: The House on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed a motion spon­sored by Major­i­ty Leader Ste­ny Hoy­er, D‑Maryland, to pass en bloc, with­out a sep­a­rate roll call vote on each bill, twelve dif­fer­ent bills, and also agree to the Sen­ate amend­ment to the Small Project Effi­cient and Effec­tive Dis­as­ter Recov­ery Act (H.R. 5641). The vote was 296 yeas to 127 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, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beutler

Cas­ca­dia total: 13 aye votes, 4 nay votes

In the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 29th passed the Con­tin­u­ing Appro­pri­a­tions and Ukraine Sup­ple­men­tal Appro­pri­a­tions Act (H.R. 6833, above), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ang­ie Craig, D‑Minnesota, to pro­vide con­tin­u­ing appro­pri­a­tions for gov­ern­ment spend­ing through Decem­ber 16th, and add $12.3 bil­lion of aid to Ukraine in its war with Rus­sia, as well as increase fund­ing for dis­as­ter response programs.

The vote was 72 yeas to 25 nays.

A yes vote was to send the bill back to the House, where it originated.

	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

ARIANNA FREEMAN, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 29th approved, upon recon­sid­er­a­tion, the nom­i­na­tion of Ari­an­na Free­man to be a judge on the U.S. Third Cir­cuit Court of Appeals. Free­man has been a fed­er­al com­mu­ni­ty defend­er attor­ney in Philadel­phia since 2009. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Bob Casey, D‑Pennsylvania, cit­ed Free­man’s “exten­sive legal expe­ri­ence, keen intel­lect, and ded­i­ca­tion to the prin­ci­ples of fair­ness and equal justice.”

The vote was 50 yeas to 47 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

LISA GOMEZ, ASSISTANT LABOR SECRETARY: The Sen­ate on Sep­tem­ber 29th approved, upon recon­sid­er­a­tion, the nom­i­na­tion of Lisa M. Gomez to be the Labor Depart­men­t’s Assis­tant Sec­re­tary for Employ­ee Ben­e­fits Security.

Gomez has, since 1994, been an employ­ee ben­e­fits lawyer, most recent­ly as a part­ner at a New York City law firm. A sup­port­er, Sen. Pat­ty Mur­ray, D‑Washington, said Gomez would “fight to hold employ­ers account­able to the law, ensure work­ers get the ben­e­fits they are owed, and pro­tect fam­i­lies’ finan­cial secu­ri­ty.” The vote was 49 yeas to 36 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

LWIC will be on hiatus next Sunday

The House and Sen­ate will be in recess this week to allow mem­bers to cam­paign in their home states or dis­tricts pri­or to the con­clu­sion of the midterms.

The Sen­ate is expect­ed to recon­vene briefly on Octo­ber 11th to work on the Nation­al Defense Autho­riza­tion Act.

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!

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