Good morn­ing! Here’s how Cascadia’s Mem­bers of Con­gress vot­ed on major issues dur­ing the leg­isla­tive week end­ing Feb­ru­ary 10th, 2023.

In the United States House of Representatives

The House cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

ENERGY AND INFORMATION NETWORKS: The House on Feb­ru­ary 6th passed the Ener­gy Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Uni­ver­si­ty Lead­er­ship Act (H.R. 302), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Deb­o­rah K. Ross, D‑North Car­oli­na, to have the Ener­gy Depart­ment estab­lish an Ener­gy Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Uni­ver­si­ty Lead­er­ship Pro­gram for fund­ing research into ener­gy infra­struc­ture and cyber­se­cu­ri­ty by grad­u­ate stu­dents and post-doc­tor­ate researchers.

Ross said the pro­gram “will con­front grow­ing cyber threats against our coun­try’s crit­i­cal ener­gy infra­struc­ture by mak­ing real invest­ments in a strong and diverse work­force that is ready to meet the chal­lenges we face.”

The vote was 357 yeas to 56 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	Vot­ing Yea (9): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strick­land; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers Not Vot­ing (1): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Derek Kilmer

Cas­ca­dia total: 16 yea votes, 1 nay vote, 1 not voting

ENDING COVID-19 VACCINE REQUIREMENT FOR FOREIGN VISITORS: The House on Feb­ru­ary 8th passed a bill (H.R. 185), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Thomas Massie, R‑Kentucky, to end the Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion’s COVID-19 vac­cine require­ment for for­eign­ers vis­it­ing the U.S. by air. (The require­ment does not apply to return­ing U.S. cit­i­zens.) Massie ref­er­enced the “tens of thou­sands, hun­dreds of thou­sands, mil­lions of peo­ple who have been sep­a­rat­ed at our bor­der because of this ridicu­lous, illog­i­cal, unsci­en­tif­ic policy.”

A bill oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Frank Pal­lone Jr., D‑New Jer­sey, said if the man­date end­ed, “I would be very con­cerned about peo­ple com­ing from places like Rus­sia, Chi­na, and Cuba not being vac­ci­nat­ed because of the lack of atten­tion to pub­lic health in those coun­tries.” The vote was 227 yeas to 201 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer Vot­ing Nay (4):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas
	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, 12 nay votes

IMPACT OF COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATE: The House on Feb­ru­ary 8th approved an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lau­ren Boe­bert, R‑Colorado, to a bill (H.R. 185, above) that would require the Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion (CDC) to send both cham­bers of Con­gress a report on the num­ber of for­eign­ers denied entry to the U.S. because of the CDC’s COVID vac­cine require­ment for for­eign tourists.

Boe­bert said the report would require the CDC to account for those “who have felt the neg­a­tive ram­i­fi­ca­tions of this rule. It will also pro­vide trans­paren­cy and allow con­gres­sion­al over­sight of the con­se­quences of this vac­cine mandate.”

An oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Frank Pal­lone Jr., D‑New Jer­sey, said the require­ment was a pub­lic health mea­sure, there­fore the pro­posed report was irrel­e­vant. The vote was 253 yeas to 168 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (3): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRe­mer; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andrea Salinas Vot­ing Nay (3):  Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Val Hoyle
	Vot­ing Yea (4): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Marie Glue­senkamp Perez and Kim Schrier Vot­ing Nay (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Kim Schri­er, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 9 yea votes, 9 nay votes

COVID TESTING AND CHINA: The House on Feb­ru­ary 8th approved an amend­ment spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive John W. Rose, R‑Tennesee, to a bill (H.R. 185, above) that would state that it does not impact a recent Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion rule requir­ing vis­i­tors to the U.S. from Chi­na to show proof of a neg­a­tive COVID-19 test or recent recov­ery from COVID-19.

Rose said: “We can­not fall asleep at the wheel when it comes to pro­tect­ing our nation, its peo­ple, and our safe­ty with respect to the adver­sar­i­al and all-too-often nefar­i­ous actions and inten­tions of the Peo­ple’s Repub­lic of China.”

The vote was 426 yeas to 8 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Russ Fulcher Vot­ing Nay (1): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	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 nay vote

DENOUNCING CHINA’S BALLOON SURVEILLANCE: The House on Feb­ru­ary 9th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H. Res. 104), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Michael T. McCaul, R‑Texas, to con­demn Chi­na for send­ing a high-alti­tude sur­veil­lance bal­loon across the U.S. last week as a vio­la­tion of U.S. sov­er­eign­ty. McCaul said the res­o­lu­tion “sends a clear, bipar­ti­san sig­nal to the CCP [Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Par­ty] and our adver­saries around the world that this action will not be tolerated.”

The vote was unan­i­mous with 419 yeas.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Val Hoyle, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Andrea Sali­nas; Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer
	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: 18 yea votes

VOIDING D.C. VOTING LAW: The House on Feb­ru­ary 9th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H.J. Res. 24), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive James Com­er, R‑Kentucky, to dis­ap­prove of and void a Dis­trict of Colum­bia city law adopt­ed by its coun­cil allow­ing non-cit­i­zens liv­ing in the Dis­trict to vote in local elections.

A sup­port­er, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Nicholas A. Lang­wor­thy, R‑New York, said “D.C.‘s new law poten­tial­ly allows for­eign agents from Chi­na, Rus­sia, and oth­er adver­saries to par­tic­i­pate in local elec­tions held with­in this nation’s cap­i­tal city.”

A res­o­lu­tion oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jamie Raskin, D‑Maryland, said it “vio­lates the prin­ci­ple of local, demo­c­ra­t­ic self-gov­ern­ment, which is at the heart of the home rule char­ter for Wash­ing­ton, D.C., and also vio­lates the equal pro­tec­tion and demo­c­ra­t­ic prin­ci­ples that ani­mate our Constitution.”

The vote was 260 yeas to 162 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (3): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRe­mer; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andrea Salinas Vot­ing Nay (3): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Val Hoyle
	Vot­ing Yea (6): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Rick Larsen, Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, and Kim Schrier Vot­ing Nay (4): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 11 yea votes, 7 nay votes

VOIDING D.C. CRIMINAL CODE CHANGE: The House on Feb­ru­ary 9th passed a res­o­lu­tion (H.J. Res. 26), spon­sored by Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andrew S. Clyde, R‑Ga., to dis­ap­prove of and void a Wash­ing­ton, D.C., Coun­cil law that made var­i­ous changes to the Dis­tric­t’s crim­i­nal laws, includ­ing reduc­ing pun­ish­ments and expand­ing the right to a jury tri­al for mis­de­meanor cas­es. Clyde said the law, by “elim­i­nat­ing manda­to­ry min­i­mum sen­tences for all crimes except first-degree mur­der, elim­i­nat­ing life sen­tences, and reduc­ing max­i­mum penal­ties for vio­lent crimes includ­ing bur­glary, car­jack­ing, and rob­beries will undoubt­ed­ly embold­en crim­i­nals and threat­en the safe­ty of both res­i­dents and visitors.”

A res­o­lu­tion oppo­nent, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jamie Raskin, D‑Maryland, said Con­gress “should leave demo­c­ra­t­ic self-gov­ern­ment and local self-gov­ern­ment of Wash­ing­ton to the peo­ple of Wash­ing­ton, D.C.”

The vote was 250 yeas to 173 nays.

	Vot­ing Yea (2): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson
	Vot­ing Yea (3): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRe­mer; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Andrea Salinas Vot­ing Nay (3): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzanne Bonam­i­ci, Earl Blu­me­nauer, and Val Hoyle
	Vot­ing Yea (5): Repub­li­can Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Dan New­house and Cathy McMor­ris Rodgers; Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Marie Glue­senkamp Perez, Derek Kilmer, and Kim Schrier Vot­ing Nay (5): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Suzan Del­Bene, Rick Larsen, Prami­la Jaya­pal, Adam Smith, and Mar­i­lyn Strickland

Cas­ca­dia total: 10 yea votes, 8 nay votes

In the United States Senate

The Sen­ate cham­ber (U.S. Con­gress photo)

DEANDREA GIST BENJAMIN, APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Sen­ate on Feb­ru­ary 9th con­firmed the nom­i­na­tion of DeAn­drea Gist Ben­jamin to be a judge on the U.S. Fourth Cir­cuit Court of Appeals. Ben­jamin was a pri­vate prac­tice lawyer with her own law firm in Colum­bia, South Car­oli­na, from 2001 to 2011, and since 2011 has been a cir­cuit court judge in the state.

The vote was 53 yeas to 44 nays.

	Vot­ing Nay (2): Repub­li­can Sen­a­tors Jim Risch and Mike Crapo
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
	Vot­ing Yea (2): Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tors Maria Cantwell and Pat­ty Murray

Cas­ca­dia total: 4 yea votes, 2 nay votes

Key votes ahead

The House is in recess and no votes are expect­ed next week.

The Sen­ate plans to con­sid­er the nom­i­na­tion of Cindy K. Chung, of Penn­syl­va­nia, to be Unit­ed States Cir­cuit Judge for the Third Cir­cuit, and the nom­i­na­tion of Gina R. Mendez-Miro to be Unit­ed States Dis­trict Judge for the Dis­trict of Puer­to Rico.

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