Along with roll call votes last week, the Senate also passed these measures by voice vote: the RAISE Family Caregivers Act (H.R. 3759), to provide for the establishment and maintenance of a Family Caregiving Strategy; and the Coordinated Ocean Monitoring and Research Act (S. 1425), to reauthorize the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009.

The House also passed the Securing American Non-Profit Organizations Against Terrorism Act (H.R. 1486); the Taiwan Travel Act (H.R. 535), to encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels; and a bill (H.R. 3320), to direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization.

HOUSE VOTES

IRAN PROTESTS: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 676), sponsored by Rep. Edward R. Royce, R-Calif., supporting the rights of Iranians to free expression and condemning Iran’s government for its crackdown on the recent protests against the government. Royce said Congress “must work together on an approach to Iran that empowers the Iranian people and targets the corrupt regime which oppresses a great people.” The vote, on Jan. 9, was 415 yeas to 2 nays.

NOT VOTING: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District

YEAS: Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District

THREATS FROM TERRORIST FIGHTERS: The House has passed the Post-Caliphate Threat Assessment Act (H.R. 4564), sponsored by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., to require the Homeland Security Department to assess threats to the U.S. posed by foreign terrorist fighter activities, particularly those stemming from Iraq and Syria. Higgins said that as jihadists flee territory previously controlled by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, they could seek to attack Europe or the U.S., and Homeland Security needed to be on guard against that danger. The vote, on Jan. 9, was unanimous with 413 yeas.

NOT VOTING: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

OVERSEAS HOMELAND SECURITY WORKERS: The House has passed the Department of Homeland Security Overseas Personnel Enhancement Act (H.R. 4567), sponsored by Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., to require Homeland Security to report to Congress on strategies for improving the effectiveness of agency employees working in foreign countries. Katko said Homeland Security has struggled to integrate its overseas employees into its overall counterterrorism mission, and a report should help it and Congress overcome institutional barriers to effective information sharing within Homeland Security. The vote, on Jan. 10, was unanimous with 415 yeas.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

SURVEILLANCE REFORMS: The House has rejected a substitute amendment sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., to the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (S. 139). The amendment would have replaced the bill with the USA RIGHTS Act, which proposed reauthorizing section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act while placing greater restrictions on data collection of American citizens than the original bill. Amash said “every American’s data is being seized by the Justice Department, the CIA, and the NSA” under section 702 without warrants, and new privacy protections were needed to preserve Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful searches. An amendment opponent, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said it would disable surveillance authority and make Congress “complicit in allowing terrorists to fly under the radar.” The vote, on Jan. 11, was 183 yeas to 233 nays.

YEAS: Pingree

NAYS: Poliquin

FOREIGN SURVEILLANCE: The House has passed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (S. 139), sponsored by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah. The bill would reauthorize and modify section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, which authorizes government surveillance of phone and other communications by suspected foreign adversaries. A supporter, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, said the changes adequately responded to concerns that such surveillance also infringes the rights of innocent Americans, and said section 702 surveillance was necessary “to keep the U.S. interests and troops abroad safe from harm.” An opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the bill had no meaningful requirement for the FBI and other intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant before searching the private communications of Americans. The vote, on Jan. 11, was 256 yeas to 164 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

CUSTOMS AND CRIMINAL NETWORKS: The House has passed the Counter Terrorist Network Act (H.R. 4578), sponsored by Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, to authorize operations against networks of terrorists and other international criminal organizations by the Customs and Border Protection agency. Vela said the authority, by helping the agency combat criminal networks overseas, will prevent those networks from operating with impunity to threaten the U.S. The vote, on Jan. 11, was 410 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

SENATE VOTES

TENNESSEE DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of William L. Campbell, Jr., to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Campbell has worked as a private practice lawyer at several law firms in Nashville and Birmingham, Ala. A supporter, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Campbell had “good character and good temperament,” and was needed to fill one of the two vacancies on the district court. The vote, on Jan. 9, was unanimous with 97 yeas.

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

SECOND TENNESSEE DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Thomas Lee Robinson Parker to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the Western District of Tennessee. Parker, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the district, has also worked as a private practice lawyer at two Memphis law firms. The vote, on Jan. 10, was unanimous with 98 yeas.

YEAS: Collins, King

GEORGIA DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Michael Lawrence Brown to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the Northern District of Georgia. Brown, a former federal attorney in Florida and the northern district, has also worked as a private practice lawyer at two Atlanta law firms. A supporter, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Brown’s experience in business law “will make a tremendous difference” in his ability to balance the competing claims of business and consumers when hearing cases. The vote, on Jan. 11, was unanimous with 92 yeas.

YEAS: Collins, King

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