WASHINGTON — The House and Senate adjourned for President’s Day week; they are scheduled to reconvene Monday.

HOUSE VOTES

House Vote 1

NUTRITION INFORMATION AT RESTAURANTS: The House has passed the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act (H.R. 2017), sponsored by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. The bill would modify nutrition information requirements for restaurants by requiring them to include calorie per serving information either on site or on the Internet, while allowing a degree of variation in the actual number of calories in a serving by accommodating variability in the way food is prepared. Rodgers said the changes replaced a one size fits all approach to regulation with a flexible standard that acknowledges nutrition variations at buffets and made to order restaurants that serve meals with many possible ingredients, as well as the need for online information at restaurants that fulfill takeout and delivery orders. A bill opponent, Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky, D-Ill., said it “would allow for inconsistent or confusing menu information” by allowing restaurants to establish their own serving sizes, and said concerns about overly complicated nutrition information on menus were overstated because restaurants only need to post calorie information for their standard menu items. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 266 yeas to 144 nays.

NAYS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District

YEAS: Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District

House Vote 2

SANCTIONS AGAINST NORTH KOREA: The House has concurred in the Senate amendment to the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act (H.R. 757), sponsored by Rep. Edward R. Royce, R-Calif. The bill would require the president and his administration to apply sanctions against groups that provide forbidden aid and goods to North Korea, and report to Congress on U.S. efforts to use mass media to topple North Korea’s government and on North Korea’s cyberterrorism efforts. Royce said that by further blocking financing of North Korea’s violent and suppressive actions against its citizens and its neighbors, the bill “will help sever a key subsidy for North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program” and improve prospects for peace and security in northeast Asia. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 408 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

There were no key votes in the Senate last week.