For the week ending July 24th
REMOVING CONFEDERATE STATUES FROM CAPITOL: Voting 305 for and 113 against, the House on July 22 passed a bill
(HR 7573)that would remove from the Capitol building a bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the Dred Scott vs. Sandford ruling in 1857 that African-Americans could not be citizens of the United States or sue in federal courts. The bill also would banish from the Capitol the statues or busts of Confederate and/or pro-slavery leaders. Under the bill, the Taney bust on the Senate side of the Capitol would be replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice. All removals would have to occur within 45 or 120 days and the statues would be returned to their donor states.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
YES: Deb Haaland, D-1, Xochitl Torres Small, D-2, Ben Ray Luján, D-3
APPROVING $741 BILLION FOR MILITARY IN 2021: Voting 295 for and 125 against, the House on July 21 approved a $741 billion military budget (HR 6395) for fiscal 2021 that includes more than $60 billion for active-duty and retiree health care, a $1 billion fund for dealing with present and future pandemics, and hundreds of billions for weapons systems and personnel. In addition, the bill would require Confederate names to be removed from U.S. bases within one year;
prohibit public display of the Confederate flag on military property; treat global warming as a national security threat; combat foreign interference in U.S. elections; fund a 3% pay raise for uniformed personnel; expand programs for military victims of sexual assault; require a Pentagon report on alleged Russian bounty payments for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and provide Ukraine with $250 million for defending itself against Russian belligerence.
The bill would add a “violent extremism” article covering hate crimes and other offenses to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and install an inspector general to probe white supremacist activities in the armed forces and review racial and ethnic disparities in the administration of military justice.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
PROHIBITING UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR TESTING: The House on July 20 voted, 227 for and 179 against, to deny funding of Trump administration plans to possibly lift a 28-year moratorium on the underground testing of nuclear weapons. The amendment was added to HR 6395 (above). Since 1992, federal weapons laboratories have used technological simulations and scientific probes to ensure the safety and potency of the nation’s aging nuclear arsenal. But a Senate version of next year’s military budget includes $10 million to prepare for a resumption of explosive underground testing.
A yes vote was to adopt the amendment.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
REPAIRING NATIONAL PARKS, FUNDING PUBLIC LANDS: Voting 310 for and 107 against, the House on July 22 passed a bill (HR 1957) that would authorize $9.5 billion over five years for repairing facilities at the National Park Service, other federal land agencies and Indian Education Service schools. In addition, the bill would permanently require an annual budget of at least $900 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. All funding in the bill would come from royalties from oil and gas drilling operations on federal property. The bill would set aside about $6.5 billion over five years for long-neglected repairs at scores of national parks and related properties.
A yes vote was to send the bill to President
Trump for his expected signature.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
NULLIFYING BANS ON MUSLIM-MAJORITY IMMIGRATION: Voting 233 for and 183 against, the House on July 22 passed legislation (HR 2486; HR 2214) that would nullify executive orders by President Trump prohibiting permanent immigration into the United States by residents of 12 named countries, many of which have Muslim-majority populations. In addition, the bill would limit the ability of presidents to use Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to close American borders to immigrants who pose no threat to U.S. public safety or national security.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
ENSURING LEGAL COUNSEL AT PORTS OF ENTRY: Voting 231 for and 184 against, the House on July 22 passed legislation (HR 2486; HR 5581) that would ensure that lawful permanent residents and other holders of U.S. visas can obtain prompt access to counsel when they are held by Customs and Border Protection for screening at U.S. ports of entry for more than one hour.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
APPROVING $741 BILLION FOR MILITARY IN 2021: Voting 86 for and 14 against, the Senate on July 23 approved a $740.5 billion military budget for fiscal 2021 that includes $69 billion to fund combat operations overseas and hundreds of billions
for weapons, personnel and research and development. The bill (S 4049) would authorize a 3% pay raise for uniformed personnel; prohibit U.S. troop deployments against Americans exercising their constitutional right to peaceably protest and fund preparations for possibly ending the 1992 moratorium on underground nuclear testing. In addition, the bill would require the removal over three years of Confederates’ names from 10 Army bases and from other U.S. military assets — including naval vessels — named in commemoration of Confederate military figures or battlefield prowess.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
YES: Tom Udall, D, Martin Heinrich, D
OUTLAWING TRANSFER OF MILITARY WEAPONS TO LOCAL POLICE: Voting 51 for and 49 against, the Senate on July 21 failed to reach 60 votes needed to adopt an amendment to S 4049 (above) that would permanently outlaw the U.S. military’s transfer of combat-level weapons and equipment to local police at no cost. Items that could not be transferred would include bayonets, tear gas, tanks, armed drones, grenade launchers and explosives. But police departments could continue to receive nonlethal items such as highwater vehicles, cold-weather gear, computers, first-aid kits and flashlights
under what is called the “1033 Program.”
A yes vote was to adopt the amendment.
YES: Udall, Heinrich
HOUSE Deb Haaland (D) Ben Ray Luján (D) Xochitl Torres Small (D)
SENATE Martin Heinrich (D) Tom Udall (D)
Contact your legislators at the U.S. Capitol
Zip codes: House 20515, Senate 20510
Capitol operator: (202) 224-3121
