Along with last week’s roll call votes, the Senate also passed the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (S. 712), to provide assistance for United States nationals taken hostage or unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad;  a resolution (S. Res. 620), designating June 19, 2020, as “Juneteenth Independence Day” in recognition of June 19, 1865, the date on which news of the end of slavery reached the slaves in the southwestern states; the Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act (S. 3731), to provide for a single point of contact at the Social Security Administration for individuals who are victims of identity theft; and a resolution (S. Res. 511), supporting the role of the United States in helping save the lives of children and protecting the health of people in developing countries with vaccines and immunization through GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

There were no key votes in the House this week.

SENATE VOTES

FUNDING PARKS: The Senate has passed a substitute amendment sponsored by Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., to the Taxpayer First Act (H.R. 1957). The amendment, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would fund deferred maintenance programs at the national parks and provide for the purchase of land and waterways to expand public lands. Gardner said the funding would make badly needed repairs to overused park facilities and help communities across the country access recreational opportunities. The vote, on June 15, was 73 yeas to 24 nays.
YEAS: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine

MAINTAINING GOVERNMENT LANDS: The Senate has passed the Great American Outdoors Act (H.R. 1957), to establish the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund for covering maintenance backlogs at various federal land management agencies, and establish dedicated funding sources for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill “will bring much needed resources to the long-deferred maintenance and upkeep in parks and other public lands all across our country.” The vote, on June 17, was 73 yeas to 25 nays.
YEAS: Collins, King

APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Justin Reed Walker to serve as a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Walker, a U.S. district court judge in Kentucky since October 2019, had been a private practice lawyer in Louisville and Washington, D.C., since 2010, and a law professor at the University of Louisville since 2015. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Walker “has built a national reputation as a leading academic scholar of the law.” An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Walker lacked “the necessary experience and maturity of judgment” to be an appeals court judge, and criticized Walker for opposing the 2010 health care reform law. The vote, on June 18, was 51 yeas to 42 nays.
NAYS: Collins, King

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