Washington, D.C., Roll Call report

WASHINGTON — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the week ending Nov. 17.

Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed, by voice vote, the No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act (H.R. 1505), to modify the prohibition on recognition by United States courts of certain rights relating to certain marks, trade names, or commercial names.

House

HOMELAND SECURITY IMPEACHMENT: The House has passed a motion to refer a resolution (H. Res. 863), sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, to the House Homeland Security Committee. The vote, on Nov. 13, was 209 yeas to 201 nays.

YEAS:

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-3rd

CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS: The House has passed the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, to provide fiscal 2023 levels of funding for the federal government into 2024, giving Congress added time to pass a fiscal 2024 budget. Granger said: “This plan will allow us to avoid harmful government shutdowns during the holidays, prevent a last-minute omnibus, and allow us to discuss supplemental funding separately from full-year spending.” The vote, on Nov. 14, was 336 yeas to 95 nays.

YEAS:

Perez

GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5894), to block funding of research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into injuries and fatalities caused by firearms. Miller-Meeks said such research was outside the agency’s proper scope, and called the funding block “an important first step in eliminating costly programs at the CDC.” An opponent, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., said: “We should be united in finding ways to save lives and end gun violence.” The vote, on Nov. 15, was 216 yeas to 211 nays.

NAYS:

Perez

ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5894), to bar funding of colleges and universities that support on their campuses events that promote antisemitism. Lawler said of the events: “People have the right to free speech. They have the right to voice their opinions, but we do not have to pay for it.” The vote, on Nov. 15, was 373 yeas to 54 nays.

YEAS:

Perez

Senate

APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Ana de Alba to be a judge on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. De Alba has been a judge on a U.S. District Court in California since June 2022, after four years in the state as a county court judge and a decade at a private law firm. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said De Alba had “significant judicial experience and an unwavering dedication to equal justice under law.” The vote, on Nov. 13, was 48 yeas to 43 nays.

YEAS:

Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Patty Murray, D-Wash.

AID TO ISRAEL: The Senate has passed a motion to table the motion to proceed to consideration of the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6126), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas. The bill would have provided added funding for the military and State Department in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, by rescinding $14.3 billion of unspent funding for the Internal Revenue Service. The vote to table, on Nov. 14, was 51 yeas to 48 nays.

YEAS:

Cantwell, Murray

REPAYING STUDENT LOANS: The Senate has rejected a resolution (S.J. Res. 43), sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., that would have disapproved of and voided an Education Department rule issued this summer that created an income-based plan, Saving on a Valuable Education, for repaying higher education loans. Cassidy said the plan “transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans to the 87 percent of Americans who don’t have student loans, who chose not to go to college, or who already responsibly paid off their debts.” A resolution opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said the federal government should “be doing everything possible to make sure every young person in this country, regardless of income, receives the best quality education our nation can provide.” The vote, on Nov. 15, was 49 yeas to 50 nays.

NAYS:

Cantwell, Murray

CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS: The Senate has passed the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, to provide fiscal 2023 levels of funding for the federal government into 2024, giving Congress added time to pass a fiscal 2024 budget. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the bill “will avoid a government shutdown, and it will do so without any of the cruel cuts or poison pills that the hard right pushed for.” The vote, on Nov. 15, was 87 yeas to 11 nays.

YEAS:

Cantwell, Murray

NEGOTIATING MILITARY SPENDING BILL: The Senate has passed a motion to insist on its amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (H.R. 2670), in the conference with the House on negotiating the two chambers’ versions of the bill. Motions to instruct conferees in the negotiations include provisions to: support Afghan allies, including a pathway for them to obtain permanent residency in the U.S.; revoke visas for foreigners in the U.S. who have endorsed the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7; and an effort to secure U.S. supplies of uranium to fuel the military’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The vote, on Nov. 15, was 90 yeas to 8 nays.

YEAS:

Cantwell, Murray