Along with roll call votes last week, the Senate also passed the TSP Modernization Act (H.R. 3031), to provide for flexibility in making withdrawals from a Thrift Savings Plan account; the Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign Authorization Act (H.R. 1370), to require the Homeland Security Department to issue guidance and develop training programs as part the department’s Blue Campaign; and the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act (S. 1015), to require the Federal Communications Commission to study the feasibility of designating a simple, easy-to-remember dialing code to be used for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system.

The House also passed the Veterans Care Financial Protection Act (H.R. 3122), to protect individuals who are eligible for increased pension under laws administered by the secretary of Veterans Affairs on the basis of need of regular aid and attendance from dishonest, predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices; a bill (H.R. 3657) to authorize the secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide headstones and markers for the graves of spouses and children of veterans who are buried in tribal cemeteries; the Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Healthcare Act (H.R. 918), to direct the secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish mental health care to certain former members of the Armed Forces who are not otherwise eligible to receive such care; and the Veterans E-Health and Telemedicine Support Act (H.R. 2123), to improve the ability of health care professionals to treat veterans through the use of telemedicine.

HOUSE VOTES

COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE: The House passed the Community Health And Medical Professionals Improve Our Nation Act (H.R. 3922), sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. The bill would extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program for 5 years, extend the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program for 2 years, and extend several other health care programs. Walden said the extensions “will deliver quality health care and peace of mind to millions of Americans,” including more than 8 million children. A bill opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said the extensions were wrongly offset by cutting funding for Medicare and health care reform programs by billions of dollars. The vote, on Nov. 3, was 242 yeas to 174 nays.

NAYS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District

YEAS: Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District

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RECOVERY FOR DISABLED VETERANS: The House passed a bill (H.R. 3562) sponsored by Rep. Jodey C. Arrington, R-Texas, that would authorize the Veterans Affairs Department to use its Specially Adapted Housing program to help disabled veterans install new equipment in their residences to improve their ability to rehabilitate from injuries. Arrington said reassigning the rehab responsibility from VA vocational counselors to the housing program should make it faster and easier for veterans to recover from their service-connected disabilities. The vote, on Monday, was unanimous with 400 yeas.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

RESTRUCTURING THE VA: The House passed the Veterans Affairs Management Alignment Act (H.R. 1066), sponsored by Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash. The bill would require the Veterans Affairs Department to submit to Congress a report describing the department’s organizational structure and potential ways to improve the structure. Kilmer said the report would help Congress work to reshape the VA “into a system that can deliver on our nation’s responsibilities to our military veterans” by improving health care and other services for the veterans. The vote, on Monday, was unanimous with 399 yeas.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

REGULATORY DEFINITION OF EMPLOYERS: The House passed the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441), sponsored by Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala. The bill would define a joint employer, for the purposes of labor law, as someone who directly supervises and manages the work activities of an employee. Byrne said the bill’s revocation of a 2015 National Labor Relations Board decision that gave a confusing definition of “joint employer” was needed to give regulatory certainty to small businesses who currently face complex standards under federal law. A bill opponent, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said upholding the 2015 decision was necessary to hold both employers and subcontractors accountable for mistreating employees who are paid by staffing agencies and other labor contractors. The vote, on Tuesday, was 242 yeas to 181 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

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YEAS: Poliquin

OVERSEEING CREDIT AGENCIES: The House passed the Risk-Based Credit Examination Act (H.R. 3911), sponsored by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. The bill would authorize the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Credit Ratings to require credit rating agencies to use a risk-based method to rate the credit worthiness of debt-issuing companies. Wagner said the risk-based approach would alleviate regulatory burdens on small credit rating agencies, helping them compete against large agencies while still holding all of the agencies accountable to regulators. The vote, on Tuesday, was 389 yeas to 32 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

REGULATING HYDROPOWER: The House passed the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act (H.R. 3043), sponsored by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. The bill would designate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the lead federal regulatory agency responsible for coordinating all reviews of applications to develop or maintain hydropower facilities, and define hydropower as a renewable energy resource. Rodgers said assigning FERC the responsibility should improve the efficiency of reviews of hydropower applications, helping lower energy costs and create jobs. A bill opponent, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said it wrongly gave hydropower first priority for use of the public’s waterways, marginalizing the rights and the interests of Indian tribes, recreational users, and environmental needs. The vote, on Wednesday, was 257 yeas to 166 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

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YEAS: Poliquin

VETERANS AND DEBT NOTICES: The House passed the Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act (H.R. 3705), sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine. The bill would direct the Veterans Affairs Department to develop a standard letter to send to veterans who owe money to the VA and send the letters either electronically or via certified mail. Pingree said the VA has frequently failed to deliver such letters to veterans, imposing financial hardships on former soldiers who may not even know that they owe the VA money. The vote, on Wednesday, was unanimous with 422 yeas.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

SMALL STOCK OFFERINGS: The House passed the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act (H.R. 2201), sponsored by Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., which would exempt businesses selling less than $500,000 of stock to parties who have pre-existing relationships with the business from a federal ban on interstate solicitation of potential investors. Emmer said the bill, by making it easier for small businesses to raise money from family and close associates, sought to help entrepreneurs “dream, innovate, and create jobs that grow our economy.” A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said that removing regulatory safeguards against the fraudulent sale of unregistered securities “would leave investors vulnerable to an array of investment scams.” The vote, on Thursday, was 232 yeas to 188 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

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SENATE VOTES

MANAGING THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: The Senate confirmed the nomination of John H. Gibson II to serve as the Defense Department’s deputy chief management officer. Gibson, formerly the chief executive officer of XCOR Aerospace, a rocket engine developer, had also served as a management official in the Air Force and at the Defense Department. The vote, on Tuesday, was 91 yeas to 7 nays.

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

LEGAL COUNSEL AT JUSTICE: The Senate confirmed the nomination of Steven Andrew Engel to serve as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. A supporter, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, cited Engel’s experience in the office during the George W. Bush administration and, more recently, as a business lawyer. Grassley said that if confirmed, Engel would “be a friend of congressional oversight” of the Trump administration and ensure its accountability to Congress. An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., cited Engel’s work on the transition team for President Trump in saying Engel “has not demonstrated the independence and judgment we need from the head of this critical office.” The vote, on Tuesday, was 51 yeas to 47 nays.

YEAS: Collins

NAYS: King

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LABOR RELATIONS BOARD COUNSEL: The Senate confirmed the nomination of Peter B. Robb to serve as general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board for a four-year term. A supporter, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called Robb an extremely qualified nominee with experience in labor law and as a labor board attorney, and predicted that Robb will “help restore the Board to the role of a neutral umpire in labor disputes.” An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., cited Robb’s employment at corporate law firms defending companies against workers’ lawsuits in questioning whether Robb would work toward the board’s mission of protecting workers’ rights to form or join unions and bargain collectively with their employers. The vote, on Wednesday, was 49 yeas to 46 nays.

YEAS: Collins

NAYS: King

ASSISTANT EPA ADMINISTRATOR: The Senate confirmed the nomination of William L. Wehrum to serve as an assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation. Wehrum, currently an environmental lawyer at the Hunton & Williams law firm, had previously served in the same role at the office on an interim basis during the George W. Bush administration. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wehrum would “implement clean air policies in a balanced way” that reverses the tendency of the Obama administration’s EPA to overreach its authority. An opponent, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said Wehrum had a track record of being “dismissive of the science that is the core of EPA’s actions to protect public health” and fighting federal environmental protections. The vote, on Thursday, was 49 yeas to 47 nays.

NAYS: Collins, King


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