For the week ending September 25th
DEVELOPING CLEAN ENERGY TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CRISIS: Voting 220 for and 185 against, the House on Sept. 23 approved a $135 billion, five-year package (HR 4447) of clean-energy measures designed to create jobs while reducing the impact of climate change on the U.S. and global economies. The bill would increase the number of electric vehicles on American roads; advance the development of wind, marine, solar and other clean energies; fund “blue collar to green collar” job-training programs; build infrastructure for transmitting clean energy to consumers; fund research into the health effects of wildfire smoke; raise energy-efficiency standards for homes, factories, schools and other buildings; fund “environmental justice” programs to reduce pollution in poor communities and phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons, the coolants used in air conditioning and refrigeration. The bill was judged deficit-neutral by the Congressional Budget Office because its price tag would be offset by revenue increases and spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
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
DENYING BENEFITS TO CHINESE STATE-OWNED COMPANIES: Voting 193 for and 214 against, the House on Sept. 24 defeated a proposed Republican requirement that any recipient of funds under HR 4447 (above) would have to certify in advance to the administration that no intellectual property resulting from its work would benefit state-owned enterprises in China or other countries. Supporters said the requirement would safeguard national security, while critics said it would enable the White House to choose the U.S. recipients of clean energy spending.
A “yes” vote was to adopt the motion.
YES: Torres Small
NO: Haaland, Luján
APPROVING STOPGAP FEDERAL BUDGET: Voting 359 for and 57 against, the House on Sept. 22 passed a bill (HR 8337) that would fund the government on a stopgap basis for the first 10 weeks of fiscal 2021, which begins Oct. 1. The continuing resolution became necessary when Congress failed to pass regular appropriations bills for the new budget year. The measure will fund agencies at 2020 spending levels through Dec. 11. No member spoke against the bill.
A “yes” vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
CONFIRMING COMMISSIONER SONDERLING: Voting 52 for and 41 against, the Senate on Sept. 22 confirmed Keith E. Sonderling as one of the five members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws against discrimination in the workplace. Sonderling had been a top official at the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, and he practiced employment law at a Florida law firm before
joining the Trump administration in 2017.
A “yes” vote was to confirm the nominee.
NO: Tom Udall, D, Martin Heinrich, D
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