Area Votes in Congress
WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week: House Voting 226-202, the House approved the conference report on a bill (HR 2346) to appropriate $80 billion through Sept. 30 for U.S. combat operations and $26 billion for nonmilitary programs. The bill was backed by 221 Democrats and five Republicans and opp
WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week:
House
Voting 226-202, the House approved the conference report on a bill (HR 2346) to appropriate $80 billion through Sept. 30 for U.S. combat operations and $26 billion for nonmilitary programs. The bill was backed by 221 Democrats and five Republicans and opposed by 170 Republicans and 32 Democrats. Republicans objected mainly to the bill's $5 billion outlay for the International Monetary Fund, and most Democratic foes were casting antiwar votes.
A yes vote was to approve the conference report.
Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).
Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).
Justice Department budget. Voting 259-157, the House passed a bill (HR 2847) appropriating $64.4 billion for the fiscal 2010 budgets of the Justice and Commerce Departments, NASA, and several other agencies. The bill represents a 12 percent spending increase over 2009.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, Murphy, LoBiondo, Schwartz, and Smith.
Voting no: Castle and Pitts.
Guantanamo Bay. Voting 212-213, the House refused to bar the use of funds in HR 2847 (above) to carry out President Obama's decision to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The amendment went beyond a ban already in the bill on releasing Guantanamo prisoners into the United States.
A yes vote was to keep Guantanamo open.
Voting yes: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.
Legal Services Corp. Voting 105-323, the House defeated an amendment to HR 2847 (above) to shut down the Legal Services Corp., which is the main federal program for providing the poor with legal representation.
Voting yes: Pitts.
Voting no: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.
Senate
War budget. Voting 91-5, the Senate sent President Obama a bill (HR 2346) appropriating $106 billion through September for purposes such as funding U.S. combat in Afghanistan and Iraq; sending nonmilitary aid to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East; containing flu on a global scale; fighting Mexican drug cartels; supporting the International Monetary Fund; providing disaster aid to areas of the United States, and funding a new program to help consumers replace gas-guzzlers with fuel-efficient vehicles.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Ted Kaufman (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).
This week. The House will take up an energy and global-warming bill, while the Senate will resume debate on a bill to promote foreign tourism in the United States.