Along with roll call votes last week, the Senate also passed the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act (H.R. 1493), to protect and preserve international cultural property threatened by war, political instability, or natural disaster; and passed the Nevada Native Nations Land Act (S. 1436), to require the Interior Department to take land into trust for certain Indian tribes in Nevada.

The House also passed the Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act (S. 2512), to expand the tropical disease product priority review voucher program to encourage treatments for the Zika virus; passed the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act (H.R. 2947), to amend the bankruptcy code in order to facilitate the resolution of an insolvent financial institution in bankruptcy; and passed the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act (S. 483), to improve enforcement efforts related to prescription drug diversion and abuse.

HOUSE VOTES

House Vote 1

FOOD AID FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: The House has passed the Global Food Security Act (H.R. 1567), sponsored by Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J. The bill would require the president and regulatory agencies to develop a global food security strategy that will supply food aid to developing countries with the goal of improving their nutrition, resilience to drought and other disasters that impact food supply, and help them achieve food security. Smith said the strategy should both improve the lives of many millions of malnourished children worldwide and work to free developing countries from food aid dependency, reducing the need for the U.S. to provide emergency food assistance to the countries. The vote, on April 12, was 370 yeas to 33 nays.
YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District; Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District

House Vote 2

FRAUD AND VETERANS BENEFITS: The House has passed the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act (H.R. 4676), sponsored by Rep. Thomas J. Rooney, R-Fla. The bill would punish individuals who defraud a veteran of military benefits with a fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both a fine and imprisonment. Rooney said currently people who attempt to fraudulently charge veterans for expediting their benefits claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs face little risk of punishment, and increasing fraud penalties would “bring justice to those veterans who have fallen victim to the immoral schemes committed by some of the lowest forms of criminals in our country.” The vote, on April 12, was unanimous with 411 yeas.
YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

House Vote 3

OVERSIGHT OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS: The House has passed the Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act (H.R. 3340), sponsored by Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. The bill would require the Financial Stability Oversight Council and Office of Financial Research government agencies to submit their budget information to Congress, make funding for the two agencies part of the annual appropriations process, and require the agencies to provide for public comment on their proposed rules and regulations. Emmer said a lack of oversight of the agencies “has led to nonsensical and heavy-handed abuse by the government of numerous financial companies,” and reforms were needed to prevent them from adopting misguided new regulations that increase consumer costs for home mortgages and other loans. A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said its budget oversight rules would leave the agencies at risk of having their funding eliminated, and called it an effort to curb their ability to “act with certainty, impartiality, and position resources to conduct robust oversight of our financial markets.” The vote, on April 14, was 239 yeas to 179 nays.
NAYS: Pingree
YEAS: Poliquin

House Vote 4

FINANCING RULES FOR SMALL BANKS: The House has passed a bill (H.R. 3791), sponsored by Rep. Mia B. Love, R-Utah. The bill would raise the Federal Reserve’s consolidated assets threshold for small bank holding companies from $1 billion to $5 billion, exempting those banks from various regulatory and capital standards. Love said the higher threshold would make it easier for smaller banks to issue debt and raise capital, thereby increasing their ability to provide loans to communities and small businesses that are creating jobs and boosting the economy. A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said it would encourage banks to consolidate, with a resulting decrease in access to banking for rural and underserved communities, and encourage the banks to take on dangerous levels of debt that leave them vulnerable to financial reversals. The vote, on April 14, was 247 yeas to 171 nays.
NAYS: Pingree
YEAS: Poliquin

SENATE VOTES

Senate Vote 1

REAUTHORIZING THE FAA: The Senate has passed a motion to end debate on an amendment sponsored by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act (H.R. 636). The amendment would reauthorize the FAA and change various aviation policies, including the adoption of new rules aimed at improving the safe operation of unmanned drone aircraft and avoiding midair collisions between drones and airplanes, and tighten mental health evaluation standards for commercial pilots. Thune said the reauthorization made improvements to many areas of the aviation industry, and cited terrorism threats, approval of aircraft designs, regulation of noncommercial pilots, and airport infrastructure as issues that will be improved by the amendment. The vote to end debate, on April 14, was 94 yeas to 4 nays.
YEAS: Susan Collins, R-Maine, Angus King I-Maine