For the week ending September 13
DRILLING BAN IN ARCTIC WILDLIFE REFUGE: Voting 225 for and 193 against, the House on Sept. 12 passed a bill (HR 1146) that would prohibit oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Alaska’s North Slope. This would repeal a mandate in the Republicans’ 2017 tax-cut law that would open the refuge’s pristine coastal plain to energy development. The plain accounts for 1.5 million of ANWR’s 19.3 acres. The area where drilling would be centered consists of a 2,000-acre footprint plus thousands of adjacent acres to accommodate roads, gravel pits, housing and other support facilities. A Department of the Interior plan to start offering leases this year faces court challenges.
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
ARCTIC DRILLING, RUSSIAN ENERGY: Voting 189 for and 229 against, the House on Sept. 12 defeated a Republican motion that sought to prevent HR 1146 (above) from taking effect unless President Trump certifies it would not result in a net increase of American oil and natural gas imports from Russia.
A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
NO: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
DRILLING BAN OFF ATLANTIC, PACIFIC COASTS: Voting 238 for and 189 against, the House on Sept. 11 passed a bill (HR 1941) would prohibit the federal government from awarding leases for oil and gas development at least through 2024 in the Outer Continental Shelf off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The OCS typically begins three-to-nine nautical miles from the U.S. shoreline and reaches outward for at least 200 nautical miles. The bill would thwart Trump administration plans to open certain OCS areas along both coasts to oil and gas exploration as part of a five-year federal energy plan now in the works.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
OFFSHORE DRILLING, GASOLINE PRICES: Voting 194 for and 233 against, the House on Sept. 11 defeated a Republican motion to prevent a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling (HR 1941, above) from taking effect without presidential certification that it would not contribute to an increase in the national average price of gasoline.
A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
NO: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
MICHELLE BOWMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR: Voting 60 for and 31 against, the Senate on Sept. 12 confirmed Michelle Bowman to a 14-year term on the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors starting Feb. 1, 2020. Until then, she will continue to fill an unexpired term on the board. Bowman was the top banking regulator in Kansas and a community bank executive before joining the Fed in November 2018. She held posts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush administration.
A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.
NO: Tom Udall, D, Martin Heinrich, D
Contact your legislators at the U.S. Capitol
Zip codes: House 20515, Senate 20510
Capitol operator: (202) 224-3121
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