WASHINGTON — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the week ending Oct. 29.
House
BREAST MILK AT WORK: The House has passed the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (H.R. 3110), sponsored by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., to extend requirements for an employer to accommodate women to pump their breast milk at work. Maloney said it “would ensure that working moms who want to breastfeed can continue to do so and prevent nursing mothers from being singled out, ridiculed, or fired.” An opponent, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said the bill “falsely victimizes employees and is truly just another payout for trial lawyers” filing unwarranted lawsuits against employers. The vote, on Oct. 22, was 276 yeas to 149 nays.
YEAS
Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-3rd
GUIDANCE ON SOVEREIGN DEBT: The House has passed the Sovereign Debt Contract Capacity Act (H.R. 4111), sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. The bill would require the U.S. representative at the International Monetary Fund to urge the fund to help member countries evaluate the terms of their sovereign debt contracts. Waters said that with China using secretive sovereign debt contracts to exert power over vulnerable countries, training would help those countries improve transparency and reduce corruption by political leaders. The vote, on Oct. 25, was 391 yeas to 29 nays.
YEAS
Herrera Beutler
FINANCIAL DATA: The House has passed the Financial Transparency Act (H.R. 2989), sponsored by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., to establish transparency standards for data submitted to federal financial regulators. Maloney said the bill would produce “more transparent and open data sources and data that is readily comparable across businesses and sectors.” The vote, on Oct. 25, was 400 yeas to 19 nays.