HOUSE VOTES
FISHERIES RESEARCH: The House has passed the American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act (S. 497), sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, to create an American Fisheries Advisory Committee that would advise the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on grants for fisheries research. The vote, on April 26, was 404 yeas to 11 nays.
YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District; Jared Golden, D-2nd District
RUSSIA, UKRAINE, AND CHINA: The House has passed the Assessing Xi’s Interference and Subversion Act (H.R. 7314), sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. The bill would require the State Department to report to Congress on support from China for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Barr said: “We must assess the many ways in which Russia is seeking to evade sanctions. That includes the extent to which Russia is turning to China to enable its aggression.” The vote, on April 27, was 394 yeas to 3 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
RUSSIA AND GEORGIA: The House has passed the Georgia Support Act (H.R. 923), sponsored by Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va., to require sanctions against foreign individuals over Russia’s occupation of two sections of the country of Georgia. Connolly said the bill also “enhances the U.S.-Georgia relationship on several fronts by bolstering security assistance, promoting democratic governance reforms, enhancing cooperation to fight Russian disinformation, and strengthening economic ties.” The vote, on April 27, was 406 yeas to 20 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN EUROPE: The House has passed the Transatlantic Telecommunications Security Act (H.R. 3344), sponsored by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, to direct the State Department and other federal government agencies to support efforts by Eastern and Central European countries to improve their telecommunications security. A supporter, Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said: “Ensuring the security of the telecommunications network of our NATO allies and partners in Central and Eastern Europe is unquestionably in the U.S. national security interest.” The vote, on April 27, was 366 yeas to 60 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
RUSSIA AND AFRICA: The House has passed the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act (H.R. 7311), sponsored by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., to require the State Department to send Congress, every year, a report on U.S. measures to counter Russia’s activity in Africa. The vote, on April 27, was 415 yeas to 9 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
RELATIONS WITH CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES: The House has passed the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act (H.R. 4133), sponsored by Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., to develop a State Department disaster response strategy for Caribbean nations and authorize spending on the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. Espaillat said: “A safe and prosperous Caribbean region is in the United States’ national security interests.” The vote, on April 27, was 340 yeas to 86 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
MALNUTRITION OVERSEAS: The House has passed the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act (H.R. 4693), sponsored by Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas. The bill would require the U.S. Agency for International Development to take steps to address and prevent malnutrition globally. A supporter, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va., said: “By coordinating activities throughout the U.S. government with our partner countries with the United Nations’ specialized agencies, civil society, private-sector actors and more, we can sustain nutrition interventions that save lives.” The vote, on April 27, was 384 yeas to 44 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
TAIWAN AND THE WHO: The House has passed a bill (S. 812), sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to require the State Department to make a strategy for regaining observer status in the World Health Organization for Taiwan. A supporter, Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., said: “To kowtow to Communist China and exclude Taiwan from having even an observer status at the World Health Organization is to play politics with global health.” The vote, on April 27, was unanimous with 425 yeas.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
AID TO UKRAINE: The House has passed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act (S. 3522), sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to waive regulations in order to facilitate the lending or leasing of military weapons to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A supporter, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., called the bill “critical legislation to help Ukrainians avoid further loss of life at the hands of Putin’s murderous forces. ” The vote, on April 28, was 417 yeas to 10 nays.
YEAS: Pingree, Golden
SENATE VOTES
FEDERAL RESERVE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Lael Brainard to be vice chairman of the Federal Reserve bank’s board of governors. Brainard, a member of the board since mid-2014, was previously an Obama administration Treasury Department official. A supporter, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said: “She is committed to addressing and staying ahead of financial risks to our economy.” The vote, on April 26, was 52 yeas to 43 nays.
YEAS: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine
FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on the nomination of Lisa DeNell Cook to be a member of the Federal Reserve bank’s board of governors. Cook, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration, is an economics professor at Michigan State University. A supporter, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said Cook would bring a needed perspective to the board because she “has seen how economic policy affects all kinds of different people in different parts of the country–from the rural South, where she grew up, to the industrial Midwest, where she built a career.” An opponent, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he was “concerned about Lisa Cook’s qualifications to be fighting inflation when she refused to articulate any plan for dealing with inflation.” The vote to end debate, on April 26, was 47 yeas to 51 nays.
NAYS: Collins
YEAS: King
CALIFORNIA JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Sherilyn Garnett to be a judge on the U.S. district court for the central district of California. Garnett was an assistant U.S. attorney in the district for 13 years then, in 2014, became a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The vote, on April 27, was 62 yeas to 33 nays.
YEAS: Collins, King
ABORTION AND FAMILY PLANNING FUNDS: The Senate has rejected a motion to proceed to consideration of a resolution (S.J. Res. 41), sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that would have disapproved of and voided a Health and Human Services Department rule barring abortion providers from receiving federal funds through the title X Family Planning Program. Rubio said: “By reversing this administration’s ruling, abortion clinics will once again be excluded from receiving this taxpayer money, and it would put more money toward improving and saving lives instead of ending them.” An opponent, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the resolution would “bring back the gag rule and deny women across the country access to services made possible by title X.” The vote, on April 27, was 49 yeas to 49 nays.
NAYS: Collins, King
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