Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed the Enhancing State Energy Security Planning and Emergency Preparedness Act (H.R. 3050), to provide federal financial assistance to states to implement, review, and revise state energy security plans.

HOUSE VOTES

ISLAMIC IDEOLOGIES AND TERRORISM: The House has rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (H.R. 2810). The amendment would have required the Defense Department to make two strategic assessments of the use of violent or unorthodox Islamic religious doctrines to support terrorist activity. Franks said the assessments would help the U.S. “categorize those perpetrating violence in the name of Islam and help us to identify our allies within the Muslim world who can assist in countering the Islamic message of global jihad.” An opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said the assessments would be “sending a dangerous message and signal that America is at war with Islam” rather than with terrorism. The vote, on July 14, was 208 yeas to 217 nays.

NAYS: Chellie Pingree D-1st District

YEAS: Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District

TESTING MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810). The amendment would direct the military to manage its operational test and evaluation process for acquisitions under the U.S. ballistic missile defense system in the same way as its other major weapons systems. Lamborn said bringing the missile defense acquisition process in line with other weapons processes will make it easier for the Missile Defense Agency to “do its vital job of protecting us from missile attack.” An opponent, Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., said erasing stringent quality tests for missile defense would be “a defense contractor’s dream, because it would enable them to sell stuff to us, the American taxpayer and to the citizens of this country, promising national defense, but not proving it.” The vote, on July 14, was 235 yeas to 189 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

LAWSUITS BY FOREIGN SAILORS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810). The amendment would block seamen who are citizens of foreign countries and serve on cruise ships and other passenger vessels registered in foreign countries and operating outside U.S. waters from bringing damage lawsuits against ship owners in U.S. courts. Hunter said preventing such lawsuits “would help safeguard U.S. courts against crowding of court dockets by foreign maritime crewmembers.” An amendment opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called it an effort to “make it easier for U.S.-owned but foreign-flagged cruise ship operators to exploit and abuse the seafarers they employ.” The vote, on July 14, was 234 yeas to 190 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

2018 MILITARY BUDGET: The House has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810), sponsored by Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas. The bill would authorize $696 billion of funding for the Defense Department and military construction programs in fiscal 2018, including overseas combat operations. Thornberry cited the bill’s substantial increases in funding for missile defense, key munitions and intelligence programs, and personnel increases for the Army, Navy, and Air Force as improving the government’s obligation to provide for the common defense. The vote, on July 14, was 344 yeas to 81 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

PERMITTING SMALL HYDROPOWER PROJECTS: The House has passed a bill (H.R. 2786), sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., that would end the current 5-megawatt cap on electricity capacity of a conduit hydropower plant that can apply for a federal operating license, and streamline permitting of such projects. Hudson said easing the path for conduit hydropower projects to be constructed would work to “create clean energy jobs, increase production of affordable renewable power, reduce consumer electricity costs, and improve energy diversity.” The vote, on July 18, was 420 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

REGULATING OZONE EMISSIONS: The House has passed the Ozone Standards Implementation Act (H.R. 806), sponsored by Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas. The bill would extend deadlines for states to implement federal standards for ground-level ozone emissions and provide several exemptions under which states can seek relief from having to meet the standards. Olson said the changes to current emissions rules would give local regulators the ability to make sure the rules work for their communities and protect those communities from being penalized for pollution from sources they can’t control. An opponent, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said the bill would mean that “polluters will win, science will lose, and citizens will pay more” and be in poorer health due to lax emissions rules. The vote, on July 18, was 229 yeas to 199 nays.

NAYS: Pingree, Poliquin

PERMITTING CROSS-BORDER ENERGY PROJECTS: The House has passed the Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act (H.R. 2883), sponsored by Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. The bill would remove a requirement for companies to receive a permit from the president in order to build a pipeline or electric transmission line crossing the U.S. border with Mexico or Canada. Mullin said the change meant Congress will reassert its constitutional authority to regulate foreign commerce and adopt “a more transparent, efficient, and effective review process.” A bill opponent, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said the permitting change “would move us backwards in our fight for the clean energy economy and the jobs of the future.” The vote, on July 19, was 254 yeas to 175 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

REVIEWING NATURAL GAS PIPELINES: The House has passed the Promoting Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act (H.R. 2910), sponsored by Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas. The bill would establish the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the lead federal agency coordinating state, federal, and local government reviews of a given proposed natural gas pipeline. Flores said making FERC the lead agency would increase “certainty, accountability, and transparency to the siting process for interstate natural gas pipelines.” A bill opponent, Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., said it would result in weaker reviews of proposed pipelines and “make it easier for private pipeline companies to claim eminent domain and seize private property of hardworking American citizens.” The vote, on July 19, was 248 yeas to 179 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

REAUTHORIZING HOMELAND SECURITY: The House has passed the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act (H.R. 825), sponsored by Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas. The bill would reauthorize Homeland Security for the first time since its establishment in 2002, and restructure the department by changing and eliminating a variety of its programs. McCaul said reauthorization was a long overdue effort to improve Homeland Security’s ability to combat terrorism and cross-border crime, as well as respond to terror attacks and natural disasters. The vote, on July 20, was 386 yeas to 41 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

BUILDING ROAD IN ALASKA WILDLIFE REFUGE: The House has passed the King Cove Road Land Exchange Act (H.R. 218), sponsored by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. The bill would authorize transfer of 43,000 acres of state-owned land in Alaska to the federal government in exchange for 337 acres of land inside the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, to be used to build a gravel road for use by people living in the refuge. Young said the road would do no harm to the refuge, and claimed that 19 residents of the refuge have died recently for lack of a road giving them ready access to a nearby airport. A bill opponent, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the road “will destroy an irreplaceable ecosystem, and there are other ways to improve transportation in the area.” The vote, on July 20, was 248 yeas to 179 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

SENATE VOTES:

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Patrick M. Shanahan to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense. Shanahan had spent the last 30 years at Boeing. A supporter, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., cited Shanahan’s reputation at Boeing “as someone capable of taking on challenging programs, fixing problems, and turning them into successes,” and said that experience showed his ability to improve the military’s effectiveness while supplying soldiers with first-rate equipment. The vote, on July 18, was 92 yeas to 7 nays.

YEAS: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine

APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of John Kenneth Bush to serve as a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Bush has been a private practice lawyer in Louisville for the past 21 years. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., cited statements from a diversity of lawyers supporting Bush’s “fairness, thoughtfulness, and respect for the views of others, regardless of his personal opinions.” An opponent, Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan, D-N.H., called Bush’s nomination “yet another attempt by this administration to undermine the rights of American women” to have abortions, and claimed Bush “does not recognize the basic equality of all Americans.” The vote, on July 20, was 51 yeas to 47 nays.

YEAS: Collins

NAYS: King

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