Area Votes in Congress

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress voted on major issues last week:

House

DREAM Act. Voting 216-198, the House passed a bill (HR 5281) that would enable as many as 1.8 million sons and daughters of illegal immigrants to gain a path to citizenship by first serving in the military or completing two years of higher education. The path would be available to high school graduates without criminal records who were brought to the United States before age 16 and, at the time of the bill's enactment, were younger than 29 and had lived in the United States for at least five years. The bill is named the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

$250 payment to seniors. Voting 254-153, the House failed to reach a two-thirds majority needed to pass a bill (HR 5987) providing Social Security recipients and disabled veterans with one-time payments of $250 to compensate them for not receiving cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in their 2010 and 2011 benefit levels. The bill would add $14 billion to the national debt.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

Voting no: Pitts.

Not voting: Murphy.

Underground-mine safety. Voting 214-193, the House failed to reach a two-thirds majority needed to pass a bill (HR 6495) cracking down on underground mines with poor safety records. In part, the bill would require stepped-up measures to prevent dust explosions; set tougher penalties on noncompliant operators; increase penalties on those who tamper with safety devices or leak word of unannounced inspections; bolster whistle-blower protections for workers who report unsafe conditions to authorities; and guarantee no loss of worker pay when the government closes a mine for inspections.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Stopgap 2011 budget. Voting 212-206, the House sent the Senate a $1.1 trillion discretionary spending bill (HR 3082) that would fund the government at essentially fiscal 2010 levels for the remaining nine-plus months of fiscal 2011. The bill implements President Obama's recently announced two-year pay freeze for federal civilian workers while funding a 1.4 percent pay raise for military personnel.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Medicare doctor payments. Voting 409-2, the House sent Obama a bill (HR 4994) to avert a 25 percent cut next year in Medicare payments to doctors. The projected $15 billion cost is to be offset cutting certain subsidies for insurance purchases in the new health law.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

Senate

"Don't ask, don't tell." Voting 57-40, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to end GOP blockage of the fiscal 2011 defense budget (S 3454). The Republicans' opposition centered on the bill's repeal of the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law that bans gays from serving openly in the military. The House has passed a 2011 military budget that would repeal the ban.

A yes vote was to advance the defense budget with its language allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

9/11 responders' benefits. Voting 57-42, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to end GOP blockage of a House-passed bill (HR 847) establishing a fund to benefit thousands of individuals who developed health problems as a result of working at or near the World Trade Center site after 9/11. The bill would provide $3.2 billion in medical benefits and $4.2 billion for death and physical-injury claims through 2020.

A yes vote was to advance the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Judge Porteous impeachment. Voting 90-6, the Senate approved an article of impeachment against U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, 64, of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The article charged him with having lied under oath to the FBI and Senate during his confirmation process in 1994.

A yes vote was to impeach Judge Porteous.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

$250 for seniors. Voting 53-45, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes for ending GOP blockage of a bill (S 3985) to provide one-time payments of $250 to Social Security recipients and disabled veterans to compensate them for having been denied cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in their 2010 and 2011 benefits.

A yes vote was to advance the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Police, firefighter unions. Voting 55-43, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to end GOP blockage of a bill (S 3991) granting limited union rights to police, firefighters, corrections officers, and other public-safety personnel.

A yes vote was to advance the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

This week. Both chambers will take up the economic-stimulus and tax-cut package drafted by Obama and congressional Republicans.