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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, January 29th, 2023

Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (January 23rd-27th)

Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Jan­u­ary 27th, 2023.

In the United States House of Representatives

Chamber of the United States House of Representatives

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

ASSESSING GOVERNMENT JOB APPLICANTS: The House on Jan­u­ary 24th passed the Chance to Com­pete Act (H.R. 159), spon­sored by Rep. Vir­ginia Foxx, R‑N.C., to change the hir­ing sys­tem for the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s civ­il ser­vice jobs by pri­or­i­tiz­ing skills-based assess­ments of an appli­can­t’s qual­i­fi­ca­tions. Foxx said the cur­rent sys­tem, by over-empha­siz­ing aca­d­e­m­ic qual­i­fi­ca­tions, “seri­ous­ly under­mines the fed­er­al work­force’s abil­i­ty to serve the Amer­i­can peo­ple in both a prop­er and effi­cient man­ner.” The vote was 422 yeas to 2 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

DISCLOSING LAWSUIT SETTLEMENTS: The House on Jan­u­ary 24th passed the Set­tle­ment Agree­ment Infor­ma­tion Data­base Act (H.R. 300), spon­sored by Rep. Gary Palmer, R‑Alabama, to require fed­er­al gov­ern­ment agen­cies to release to the pub­lic infor­ma­tion about con­sent decrees and set­tle­ment agree­ments they have reached with lit­i­gants. Palmer said: “Cit­i­zens have a right to access the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s records and oper­a­tions to facil­i­tate over­sight of the pub­lic busi­ness.” The vote was unan­i­mous with 425 yeas.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

STUDYING WAYS TO IMPROVE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: The House on Jan­u­ary 25th passed the NOTAM Improve­ment Act (H.R. 346), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Pete Stauber, R‑Minnesota. The bill would cre­ate a task force at the Fed­er­al Avi­a­tion Admin­is­tra­tion (FAA) to sug­gest improve­ments to the agen­cy’s notices to air mis­sions (NOTAM) sys­tem. Stauber said the ground­ing of all domes­tic air­line depar­tures two weeks ago due to a NOTAM out­age high­light­ed the need for the FAA to improve its com­pli­cat­ed, out­dat­ed sys­tem for com­mu­ni­cat­ing safe­ty and traf­fic alerts to pilots.

The vote was 424 yeas to 4 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

INVESTING IN SMALL BUSINESSES: The House on Jan­u­ary 25th passed the Invest­ing in Main Street Act (H.R. 400), spon­sored by Rep. Judy Chu, D‑California, to increase the amount a bank can invest in small busi­ness invest­ment com­pa­nies from 5 per­cent to 15 per­cent of the bank’s cap­i­tal and surplus.

Chu said: “Rais­ing this cap will dra­mat­i­cal­ly increase the amount of invest­ment cap­i­tal avail­able to our coun­try’s small busi­ness­es for whom even small invest­ments can mean so much.” The vote was 411 yeas to 13 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

COMMENDING IRANIANS PROTESTING THEIR GOVERNMENT: The House on Jan­u­ary 25th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H. Con. Res. 7), spon­sored by Rep. Clau­dia Ten­ney, R‑N.Y., to com­mend Ira­ni­ans protest­ing against their gov­ern­ment and con­demn Iran for vio­lent­ly sup­press­ing protests and killing some pro­tes­tors. Ten­ney said the res­o­lu­tion “reaf­firms our resound­ing sup­port for the brave Ira­ni­ans who con­tin­ue to put their lives on the line to secure their fun­da­men­tal rights and free­doms.” The vote was 420 yeas to 1 nay.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

MORATORIUM ON ATLANTIC COAST FOSSIL FUEL PRODUCTION: The House on Jan­u­ary 26th approved an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Nan­cy Mace, R‑S.C., to the Strate­gic Pro­duc­tion Response Act (H.R. 21) that would pre­serve a mora­to­ri­um on oil and nat­ur­al gas pro­duc­tion leas­es off the South­east coast. Mace said the mora­to­ri­um “pro­tects South Car­oli­na’s coast­line, which every South Car­olin­ian and vis­i­tor to our state knows is vital to our liveli­hoods and our econ­o­my.” The vote was 389 yeas to 42 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

ALTERING STRATEGIC PRODUCTION RESPONSE ACT: The House on Jan­u­ary 26th approved an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lau­ren Boe­bert, R‑Colorado, to the Strate­gic Pro­duc­tion Response Act (H.R. 21) that would change the increase in fed­er­al lands that can be leased for oil and nat­ur­al gas pro­duc­tion in response to a draw­down of the Strate­gic Petro­le­um Reserve from a ten per­cent to a fif­teen per­cent increase. Boe­bert said the increase “allows for respon­si­ble emer­gency use of the Strate­gic Petro­le­um Reserves while also allow­ing for respon­si­ble Amer­i­can ener­gy pro­duc­tion on fed­er­al lands.”

An amend­ment oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Frank Pal­lone Jr., D‑New Jer­sey, said it would impair the abil­i­ty to release sup­plies from the Reserve in response to emer­gen­cies. The vote was 220 yeas to 212 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Vot­ing Nay (3): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Vot­ing Nay (8): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 6 yea votes, 11 nay votes, 1 not voting

BARRING OIL SALES TO ADVERSARIES: The House on Jan­u­ary 26th approved an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Josh Got­theimer, D‑New Jer­sey, to the Strate­gic Pro­duc­tion Response Act (H.R. 21) that would require the Ener­gy Depart­ment to ensure that oil sold from the Strate­gic Petro­le­um Reserve is not sold to Iran, Chi­na, Rus­sia, or North Korea.

Got­theimer said the restric­tion was need­ed to “prop­er­ly pro­tect from the ter­ri­fy­ing prospect of oil from our Strate­gic Petro­le­um Reserve end­ing up in the wrong hands.” The vote was 418 yeas to 12 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson

The State of Oregon

Vot­ing Yea (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Suzanne Bonamici

The State of Washington

Vot­ing Yea (10):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers

Cas­ca­dia total: 17 yea votes, 1 not voting

LEGISLATION PASSED BY VOICE VOTE: Along with the record­ed roll call votes this week, the House also passed the fol­low­ing bills:

  • the Post-Dis­as­ter Assis­tance Online Account­abil­i­ty Act (H.R. 259), to cre­ate an online repos­i­to­ry for cer­tain report­ing require­ments for recip­i­ents of fed­er­al dis­as­ter assistance;
  • the Secu­ri­ties and Exchange Com­mis­sion Real Estate Leas­ing Author­i­ty Revo­ca­tion Act (H.R. 388), to elim­i­nate the SEC’s leas­ing authority;
  • and the Microloan Trans­paren­cy and Account­abil­i­ty Act (H.R. 449), to amend the Small Busi­ness Act to increase transparency.

In the United States Senate

Chamber of the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

BRENDAN OWENS, ASSISTANT DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Sen­ate on Jan­u­ary 23rd con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of Bren­dan Owens to be the Defense Depart­men­t’s Assis­tant Sec­re­tary for Ener­gy, Instal­la­tions and Envi­ron­ment. Owens, cur­rent­ly a con­sul­tant at Black Vest Strat­e­gy, was an offi­cial at the U.S. Green Build­ing Coun­cil for nine­teen years, and before that the ener­gy man­ag­er for the Army’s Fort Belvoir in Vir­ginia. The vote was 60 yeas to 35 nays.

The State of Idaho

Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­to Mike Crapo

Not Vot­ing (1): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tor Jim Risch

The State of Oregon

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

The State of Washington

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

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 yea votes, 1 nay vote, 1 not voting

Key votes ahead

The House is slat­ed to take up a num­ber of Repub­li­can bills, includ­ing the “Free­dom for Health Care Work­ers Act” and the “Pan­dem­ic is Over Act.” Mem­bers have been told that there will be floor votes through­out the week.

The Sen­ate will recon­vene on Mon­day, Jan­u­ary 30th for leg­isla­tive busi­ness. Roll call votes are expect­ed, but the items to be vot­ed on have yet to be announced.

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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