WASHINGTON, D.C. — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.
Along with the week’s roll call votes, the House also agreed to pass the following measures: the Grant Transparency Act (H.R. 5536), to require transparency in notices of funding opportunity; the Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act (H.R. 825), to prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with the Maduro regime; a resolution (H. Res. 554), affirming U.S. support for the religious and ethnic minority survivors of genocide in Iraq; a resolution (H. Res. 837), reaffirming the ties between the United States and the Philippines; and a resolution (H. Res. 1328), deeming the actions of the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias in the Darfur region of Sudan against non-Arab ethnic communities to be acts of genocide.
The Senate also passed the FAFSA Deadline Act (H.R. 8932), to establish an earlier application processing cycle for the FAFSA; and 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
Veterans programs
The House on Nov. 18 voted 389-9 to pass the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (H.R. 8371), sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz. The bill would make various changes to Department of Veterans Affairs programs, including homelessness, job training, health care, and GI Bill education benefits. Ciscomani said the bill sought to “ensure we provide our veterans and their families with the support and benefits they earned through their service.”
U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, D-Gardiner; and U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-Catskill, voted yes.
Tracking mailed ballots
The House on Nov. 18 voted 396-6 to pass the Vote by Mail Tracking Act (H.R. 5658), sponsored by Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., to require mail-in ballots in federal elections to meet several design requirements, including a tracking barcode for the ballot. Porter said: “This commonsense modernization can improve transparency and trust in our elections for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike.”
Ryan and Molinaro voted yes.
Geothermal energy leases
The House on Nov. 19 voted 244-171 to pass the Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act (H.R. 1449), sponsored by Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho. The bill would require the Interior Department to hold at least one annual sale of geothermal energy leases on federal land in a given state. Currently, a sale is required every two years. Fulcher said that “prioritizing geothermal exploration on federal land will increase certainty for domestic companies looking to explore for geothermal resources while still requiring a full environmental assessment” of potential development. An opponent, Rep. Melanie A. Stansbury, D-N.M., said the bill had unrealistically tight deadlines for regulatory reviews of geothermal permit applications, which “would undercut community voices and potential protections in sensitive places” and “make projects themselves more vulnerable to delays should lawsuits happen or there are shoddy reviews or a lack of outside input.”
Ryan voted no. Molinaro voted yes.
North Korea
The House on Nov. 20 voted 335-37 to pass the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3012), sponsored by Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., to reauthorize through fiscal 2028 several U.S. measures to promote democracy and non-government media in North Korea. Kim said: “We cannot ignore the threat posed by North Korea, and holding the North Korean regime accountable without supporting human rights is a nonstarter.”
Ryan and Molinaro voted yes.
Relocating Afghans to U.S.
The House on Nov. 20 voted 334-63 to pass the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts Authorization Act (H.R. 8368), sponsored by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev. The bill would require the State Department to name a Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts who will oversee movement from Afghanistan to the U.S. by Afghan allies and U.S. citizens. Titus said the bill would help satisfy “our moral obligation to help those who helped us so much, and to fulfill our promise to all of those who stood with us” during the war in Afghanistan.
Ryan and Molinaro voted yes.
Anti-Semitism
The House on Nov. 20 voted 388 to 21 to pass a resolution (H. Res. 1449), sponsored by Rep. Kathy E. Manning, D-N.C., to condemn the rise of anti-Semitism globally and urge international cooperation to counter anti-Semitism. Manning said anti-Semitism “deserves to be condemned, countered, and eradicated by all governments around the world.”
Ryan and Molinaro voted yes.
Terrorism and taxes
The House on Nov. 21 voted 219-184 to pass the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495), sponsored by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y. The bill would postpone tax filing deadlines and fines for Americans who are or have been held hostage or otherwise detained in foreign countries, and remove tax-exempt status for organizations deemed to be supporting terrorism. Tenney said waiving the tax penalties would “ensure that returning hostages and their families, who have endured unimaginable hardship, don’t have the burden of having to deal with it upon return.” An opponent, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, claimed that the bill “empowers Donald Trump to extinguish the life of any nonprofit, of any civic society group, which happens to be on his enemies list.”
Ryan voted no. Molinaro voted yes.
Ukraine and adoptions
The House on Nov. 21 voted 372-6 to pass a resolution (H. Res. 915), sponsored by Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., to urge Ukraine to change its policy, begun in March 2022, of suspending adoptions of Ukrainian children by Americans. Smith said the policy has left hundreds of orphaned Ukrainian children stranded as adoption efforts by Americans are halted.
Ryan and Molinaro voted yes.
Senate
Appeal Court judge
The Senate on Nov. 18 voted 49-45 to confirm the nomination of Embry J. Kidd to be a judge on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. For the past decade, Kidd has been first an assistant U.S. attorney and then a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., voted yes.
Oregon judge
The Senate on Nov. 19 voted 51-44 to confirm the nomination of Mutafa Kasubhai to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Oregon. After six years as a private practice lawyer in Eugene, then spending a decade as an Oregon county circuit court judge, in 2018 Kasubhai took his present role as a magistrate judge for the Oregon district.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
Connecticut judge
The Senate on Nov. 19 voted 50-44 to confirm the nomination of Sarah French Russell to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Connecticut. Russell has been a law professor at Yale and then at Quinnipiac University since 2007, after several years as a federal public defender in New Haven.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
Washington judge
The Senate on Nov. 20 voted 50-48 to confirm the nomination of Rebecca L. Pennell to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. A judge on Washington’s appeals court since 2016, Pennell had previously been a public defender in Eastern Washington and Idaho. A supporter, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., cited Pennell’s “extensive legal knowledge and deep commitment to making sure equal justice is there for all who come to her courtroom.”
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
Washington, D.C., judge
The Senate on Nov. 20 voted 50-49 to confirm the nomination of Amir H. Ali to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. Ali has been a law instructor at Harvard since 2018, and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center since 2021.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
Weapons sales to Israel
The Senate voted 80-17 to reject a motion to discharge from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a resolution (S.J. Res. 115), sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, ID-Vt. The resolution would have disapproved of and voided the sale to Israel of materials and data that support use of Boeing Direct Attack Weapons. Sanders said the sale cancellation was necessary because the U.S. cannot legally “provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid.” An opponent, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said cancelation would “embolden Iran and its terrorist proxies to continue and even to increase their vicious and deadly attacks” on Israel.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted no.
Forgiving Ukrainian debt
The Senate on Nov. 20 voted 61-37 to reject a motion to proceed to consideration of a resolution (S.J. Res. 117), sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that would have canceled President Biden’s intended forgiveness of $4.65 billion of U.S. loans to Ukraine for its war with Russia. Paul said providing such aid to Ukraine was wrong, because “while American families struggle to put food on the table and keep the lights on, U.S. taxpayers are paying for the salaries of thousands of Ukrainian bureaucrats.” A resolution opponent, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., called the forgiven loans “a very small price for us to pay to maintain our democracy and to prevent the need for American soldiers fighting on foreign soil.”
Schumer and Gillibrand voted no.
Arizona judge
The Senate on Nov. 21 voted 82-12 to confirm the nomination of Sharad Desai to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Arizona. Desai has been a lawyer at the Honeywell company since 2015, after eight years as a private practice lawyer in Phoenix.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
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