WASHINGTON — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the week ending May 24.
House
POLICE FATALITIES: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 1213), sponsored by Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., to condemn calls to defund the police and resulting increases in violence against law enforcement officers. Stauber said: “The honorable men and women in law enforcement in America deserve better treatment.” An opponent, Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., said the resolution was disrespectful to federal law enforcement officers in agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, because it did not mention such officers. The vote, on May 17, was 337 yeas to 61 nays.
YEAS:
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez D-3rd
TAXES AND DISASTER AID: The House has passed the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5863), sponsored by Rep. Gregory W. Steube, R-Fla. The bill would exempt money that has been received as compensation for losses resulting from wildfire disasters or the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, from being counted as gross income for income tax purposes. Steube said: “This bill helps everyday Americans and provides them the ability to deduct their expenses from a natural disaster from their taxes.” The vote, on May 21, was 382 yeas to 7 nays.
YEAS:
Perez
OVERSIGHT OF FEDERAL PRISONS: The House has passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act (H.R. 3019), sponsored by Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., to adopt an oversight and prison inspections program at the federal Bureau of Prisons, including establishing a Justice Department ombudsman who will receive complaints and investigate complaints of wrongdoing at the prisons. McBath said the bill was a response to “alarming corruption, misconduct, and a lack of oversight in this country’s prison systems that has led to tragedy and loss for far too many families across this nation.” The vote, on May 21, was 392 yeas to 2 nays.