CONGRESSIONAL REPORT CARD; DID THEY VOTE YOUR WAY?
As of June 24, 2013
Recent Senate Votes:
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Froman Nomination Confirmation
Vote Confirmed (93-4, 1 Present, 2 Not Voting)
Last Wednesday, the Senate took a short break from the immigration bill to confirm President Barack Obama’s nomination of Michael Froman to be United States Trade Representative. He replaces Ron Kirk, who resigned in March. Froman was previously Obama’s deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.
He now has the Cabinet-level position handling international trade agreements and investment issues on behalf of the administration.
Sen. Al Franken voted: YES
Sen. Amy Klobuchar voted: YES
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U.S. Immigration Policy Motion to Table Cornyn Amendment
Vote Agreed to (54-43, 3 Not Voting)
The Senate’s last vote of the week on Thursday was the approval of Majority Leader Harry Reid’s motion to table (kill) Texas Republican John Cronin’s amendment that would require the Homeland Security Department to verify certain standards, including a 90 percent apprehension rate of illegal border crossers and a biometric screening system at all seaports and airports, are met before illegal immigrants could be granted permanent legal status. The largely partisan vote included only two Democrats, Manchin (WV) and Pryor (AR) voting no; four Republicans voted yes: Flake and McCain (AZ), Graham (SC) and Paul (KY).
Sen. Al Franken voted: YES
Sen. Amy Klobuchar: Did Not Vote
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Farm Bill
Vote Passed (66-27, 7 Not Voting)
As the Senate gave overwhelming approval to the five-year reauthorization of farm, conservation, and nutrition programs, a legislative showdown brewed in the House. The final vote of 66-27 came after two weeks of debate and more than 200 amendments offered on the Senate floor. Seven senators missed the vote because of travel delays. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate bill would cost $18 billion less than the 2008 farm policy law (PL 112-240), which expires Sept. 30. Senators trimmed $4 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides aid to the poor for food and by requiring that recipients receive a minimum payment of $10 from a heating assistance program to be eligible for SNAP. Nutrition assistance will be a major sticking point with the House version, which cuts SNAP by $20.5 billion. The Senate bill ends $5 billion a year in direct payments made to farmers and landowners, using those funds to create a hybrid of insurance-like plans and other price controls in order to protect against steep market drops. It would reduce support for farmers earning more than $750,000 annually. The bill requires subsidized insurance program participants to meet soil and water conservation requirements. It also replaces dairy price support programs with new insurance and a supply management plan to reduce price-depressing supply surpluses. Before passing the bill, the chamber adopted, 48-38, an amendment from Vermont Democrat Patrick J. Leahy that would provide for ultra-high-speed broadband service in a rural Internet pilot program.
Sen. Al Franken voted: YES
Sen. Amy Klobuchar voted: YES
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Student Loan Rates Bill
Vote Rejected (40-57, 2 Not Voting)
Congress last year passed a compromise extension of the current rate –3.4 percent – until July 1, 2013. After this date, interest rates on these loans will double. With that deadline looming, both Democrats and Republicans wide apart on a method for setting interest rates permanently. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK, authored this alternative to House Republicans’ bill for setting some federal student loan rates. The House plan (H.R. 1911) pegs Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans to the rate of 10-year Treasury notes plus 2.5% and plus 4.5% for Direct PLUS loans. Coburn’s bill more or less split the difference, pegging Stafford and Direct PLUS loans to the 10-year Treasury rate plus 3.0% at the time of loan origination. With current Treasury bill rates at 1.75 percent, Coburn argued that college students enrolling this fall would lock in a rate of 4.75 percent for the life of the loan. Senate Democrats rejected any approach to setting student loans permanently that ties interest rates to financial markets. Only Democrat Thomas R. Carper of Delaware crossed the aisle to vote for the bill, while five Republicans voted against the measure.
Sen. Al Franken voted: NO
Sen. Amy Klobuchar voted: NO
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CMS Nominee Confirmation
Vote Confirmed (91-7, 2 Not Voting)
The Senate confirmed Marilyn Tavenner to be the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Tavenner will play a prominent role in overseeing implementation of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. She is the first Senate-confirmed CMS administrator since 2004.
Sen. Al Franken voted: YES
Sen. Amy Klobuchar voted: YES
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Recent House Votes:
Abortion Ban –
Vote Passed (228-196, 10 Not Voting)
The House stopped briefly from debating the farm bill to pass a measure that forbids abortions performed at 20 weeks after fertilization or later. This bill makes exceptions for cases where the woman’s life is in danger or where rape or incest has been reported to authorities. Physicians who violate the ban would face a maximum five-year prison sentence, fines or both.
Six Republicans voted against the legislation, while six Democrats voted in favor. The medical controversy over this bill has been debated. The final justification for the 20-week limit is the belief that an unborn fetus can feel pain by 20 weeks of pregnancy. There are a few states that have passed laws with the same time limit. The White House issued a veto threat on the bill, and Democrats who control the Senate are expected to ignore the measure.
Rep. Collin Peterson voted: YES
Rep. Kevin Cramer voted: YES
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Farm Bill
Vote Failed (195-234, 6 Not Voting)
After working through at least 100 amendments, the House determined to reject a five-year, $939 billion reauthorization of agricultural and nutrition programs. Sixty-two Republicans ignored their leaders and voted against the bill. All but two dozen Democrats voted no as well. Nutritional aid to the poor was the major point of conflict for passage of the bill.
The bill cuts $33 billion from current law. Conservative Republican members argued spending reductions did not go far enough. Democrats claimed the bill’s $20.5 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), made mainly by changing eligibility requirements, would disproportionately harm low-income families. Democrats also objected to a provision that mandated work requirements for SNAP recipients. Like the Senate bill, the measure would have ended direct payments to farmers, instead replacing them with revenue protections that would assist farmers only when county revenue levels fall 15 percent to 25 percent below a five-year benchmark. It also consolidated several rural conservation programs.
But due to the bills defeat, the House now will have to draft a new bill, adopt the one the Senate passed earlier this month, or pass another one-year extension like Congress had to do last year.
Rep. Collin Peterson voted: YES
Rep. Kevin Cramer voted: YES
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FY 2014 Defense Authorization –
Vote Passed (315-108, 11 Not Voting)
After voting on amendments, plus rejecting one from Adam Smith, D-Wash. to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba by the end of 2014, the House passed this bill authorizing spending on the Defense Department and national security programs for fiscal year 2014. The White House administration is threatening to veto the bill. The House passed a $638.4 billion measure that includes $85.8 billion for war costs, requirements for the Defense secretary to detail military intervention options in Syria, and new guidelines and harsher penalties for sexual assault in the armed services. Sexual assault amendments from Lois Frankel, D-FL, and Michael R. Turner, R-OH, making it an offense to abuse one’s authority in the chain of command and establishing mandatory minimum sentences of discharge, dismissal and confinement for certain offenses, respectively, were adopted.
Rep. Collin Peterson voted: YES
Rep. Kevin Cramer voted: YES
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Keystone Pipeline Approval (Final Passage)
Vote Passed (241-175, 1 Present, 16 Not Voting)
Returning to an issue from last Congress, the House passed a bill last week to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport diluted bitumen (or tar sands) from Canada through the American heartland to refining facilities on the Gulf Coast. Keystone requires presidential approval because it crossed an international boundary, thus placing President Obama in the middle of a fight that places labor unions and environmentalists, two of his key constituencies, on opposing sides. H.R. 3 would seek to remove Obama from the approval process by declaring a presidential permit was not a necessity. It would deem various documents and reports that have been issued by federal and state entities over the last two years as satisfying the various regulatory thresholds to begin construction of the pipeline. It would essentially cut the Environmental Protection Agency out of the oversight process, and would force the Army Corps of Engineers to issue construction permits within 90 days of an application being filed. The president has threatened to veto the bill, though the Senate is unlikely to take it up in any case.
Rep. Collin Peterson voted: YES
Rep. Kevin Cramer voted: YES
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