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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, November 20th, 2022

Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (November 14th-18th)

Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Novem­ber 18th, 2022.

In the United States House of Representatives

Chamber of the United States House of Representatives

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

DETERRING HORSE SORING: The House has passed the Pre­vent All Sor­ing Tac­tics Act Act (H.R. 5441), spon­sored by Rep. Steve Cohen, D‑Tenn., to have the Agri­cul­ture Depart­ment inspect hors­es at var­i­ous pub­lic facil­i­ties for cas­es of sor­ing, which is putting var­i­ous restric­tions on a horse’s legs in order to give the horse a high­er gait. Cohen said: “The plague of sor­ing has marred the Ten­nessee Walk­ing Horse and relat­ed breeds for more than six decades. I am proud to lead the fight to end it.” An oppo­nent, Rep. Scott Des­Jar­lais, R‑Tenn., said the sor­ing law would “place an undue ban on equip­ment mak­ing horse shows and events impos­si­ble to put on. Equine experts them­selves have said these bans are not based on sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence.” The vote, on Nov. 14, was 304 yeas to 111 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher

Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader

Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Aye (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Not Vot­ing (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beut­ler and Dan Newhouse

Cas­ca­dia total: 13 aye votes, 2 nay votes, 2 not voting

COMBATING WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT: The House on Novem­ber 16th passed the Speak Out Act (S. 4524), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Kirsten E. Gilli­brand, D‑New York, to ren­der unen­force­able nondis­clo­sure and nondis­par­age­ment claus­es in employ­ment con­tracts that apply to sex­u­al harass­ment or sex­u­al assault cases.

A sup­port­er, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jer­rold Nadler, D‑New York, said: “These con­fi­den­tial­i­ty claus­es have con­tributed to the cul­ture of silence in cas­es involv­ing sex­u­al mis­con­duct. As such, they have rou­tine­ly enabled sex­u­al preda­tors to evade account­abil­i­ty.” An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jim Jor­dan, R‑Ohio, said the bill was “too broad and will affect con­trac­tu­al mat­ters com­plete­ly unre­lat­ed to sex­u­al mis­con­duct.” The vote was 315 yeas to 109 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson

Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader

Vot­ing Nay (1): 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 Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beutler

Cas­ca­dia total: 14 aye votes, 2 nay votes, 1 not voting

MULTI-BILL PACKAGE: The House on Novem­ber 17th approved a motion spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Troy A. Carter, D‑Louisiana, to pass 7 bills en bloc, with­out a sep­a­rate vote on each bill. Sub­jects cov­ered by the bills includ­ed research by Vet­er­ans Health Admin­is­tra­tion employ­ees, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty at the VA, estab­lish­ing the DisasterAssistance.gov web­site, and estab­lish­ing record­keep­ing require­ments for Ama­zon and oth­er online hosts of third-par­ty retail­ers. Carter said the DisasterAssistance.gov bill “is designed to put sur­vivors first and get them back on their feet after dis­as­ters faster.” The vote was 381 yeas to 39 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson

Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher

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 Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beutler

Cas­ca­dia total: 15 aye votes, 1 nay vote, 1 not voting

NAMING VA MEDICAL CENTER: The House on Novem­ber 17th passed the Max Cle­land VA Med­ical Cen­ter Act (S. 3369), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Raphael G. Warnock, D‑Georgia, to name the Vet­er­ans Affairs Depart­men­t’s Atlanta med­ical cen­ter after Joseph Maxwell Cle­land. Cle­land, who died in 2021, was a sen­a­tor, VA admin­is­tra­tor, and vet­er­an of the Viet­nam War. A sup­port­er, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jake Ellzey, R‑Texas, said of Cle­land: “His spir­it served as an inspi­ra­tion, and that same spir­it will con­tin­ue to inspire excel­lence at the Atlanta VA Med­ical Cen­ter which should proud­ly bear his name.” The vote was 359 yeas to 62 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 Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beutler

Cas­ca­dia total: 16 aye votes, 1 not voting

LYMPHEDEMA AND MEDICARE: The House on Novem­ber 17th passed the Lym­phede­ma Treat­ment Act (H.R. 3630), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jan­ice D. Schakowsky, D‑Illinois, to autho­rize Medicare cov­er­age for expens­es for using gra­di­ent com­pres­sion gar­ments and oth­er treat­ments for lym­phede­ma, which is swelling in body tis­sues caused by the buildup of lymph fluid.

Schakowsky said Medicare cov­er­age “will absolute­ly help the 3 mil­lion Amer­i­cans who have lym­phede­ma to be able to have some of the relief that they need at a cost that they can afford.” The vote was 402 yeas to 13 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Aye (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Aye (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Peter DeFazio; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cliff Bentz

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Kurt Schrader

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 Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jaime Her­rera Beutler

Cas­ca­dia total: 14 aye votes, 3 not voting

In the United States Senate

Chamber of the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 16th vot­ed to invoke clo­ture on H.R. 8404, the Respect for Mar­riage Act, which the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives passed back in July. The vote cleared the way for the Sen­ate to actu­al­ly take up the leg­is­la­tion. It could see final pas­sage in Decem­ber. The bill would repeal the so-called “Defense of Mar­riage” Act and ensure fed­er­al recog­ni­tion of mar­riages by same-sex cou­ples. The vote to invoke clo­ture, which need­ed six­ty votes, was 62–37; a sub­se­quent vote to pro­ceed passed 53–23 with 24 not vot­ing; that vote only need­ed a sim­ple major­i­ty to pass.

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

MARIA DEL R. ANTONGIORGI-JORDAN, DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 15th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Maria del R. Anton­gior­gi-Jor­dan to be a judge on the U.S. dis­trict court for Puer­to Rico. The dis­trict court’s chief clerk since 2019, Anton­gior­gi-Jor­dan was, from 1995 to 2018, a lawyer at the McConnell Valde law firm in San Juan, spe­cial­iz­ing in employ­ment cas­es. A sup­port­er, Sen­a­tor Dick Durbin, D‑Ill., called her “a ded­i­cat­ed pub­lic ser­vant and accom­plished lit­i­ga­tor who will be a tremen­dous asset” on the court.

The vote was 55 yeas to 43 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

INCORRECTLY DECLARING THE PANDEMIC EMERGENCY OVER: The Sen­ate on Novem­ber 15th passed a res­o­lu­tion (S.J. Res. 63), spon­sored by Sen­a­tor Roger Mar­shall, R‑Kan., to declare an end to the nation­al emer­gency regard­ing COVID-19 that Don­ald Trump began in March 2020.

Mar­shall said the res­o­lu­tion was need­ed because “this White House is more than will­ing and able to use this emer­gency dec­la­ra­tion to advance as many of their infla­tion­ary give­aways as pos­si­ble.” An oppo­nent, Sen­a­tor Ron Wyden, D‑Oregon, said that by can­celling var­i­ous health care mea­sures adopt­ed under the declared emer­gency, the res­o­lu­tion would be “a recipe for chaos in Amer­i­can health­care and seri­ous headaches for mil­lions of patients who would have their cov­er­age and their care upend­ed.” The vote was 61 yeas to 37 nays.

The State of Idaho

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

The State of Oregon

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

The State of Washington

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

Cas­ca­dia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes

LWIC will be on hiatus next Sunday

The House and Sen­ate will be in recess this week for Thanksgiving.

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!

© 2022 Tar­get­ed News Ser­vice, LLC. 

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