House
Dispute Over Abortion
Voting 245 for and 182 against, the House on July 13 passed a bill (S 304) that would make it legal for employers, medical personnel and other parties to impede women’s access to abortions on the basis of religious beliefs or moral convictions. Employers, for example, could cite religious objections to justify their refusal to allow company health plans to cover employees’ abortions. The bill establishes a ight to file civil lawsuits to uphold conscience-based objections to abortion. Under the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, abortion is a woman’s constitutionally protected privacy right up to the time when the fetus reaches viability or later if the procedure is necessary to protect her health or life.
YEA: McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks
NAY: Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema
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Zika Virus, Reproductive Care
A yes vote was to add a Zika-virus exception to the underlying bill.
Voting 182 for and 244 against, the House on July 13 defeated a Democratic motion that sought to prohibit S 304 (above) from applying to reproductive care that helps pregnant women prepare for or respond to the Zika virus. The mosquito-borne and sexually transmitted virus can cause microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.
YEA: Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema
NAY: McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert
Did not vote: Franks
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Federal Rules, Separation of Powers
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it appeared likely to fail.
Voting 240 for and 171 against, the House on July 12 passed a Republican-drafted bill (HR 4768) that would increase the judicial branch’s power over the regulations agencies implement to carry out laws passed by Congress. The bill would overturn certain legal doctrines that require judges to defer to agency interpretations of congressional intent in writing laws. Bill backers said Environmental Protection Agency air-pollution rules exemplify regulations that go beyond the scope of statutes and would be reined in by this bill.
YEA: McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks
NAY: Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema
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Lead, Copper, Drinking Water
A yes vote was to exempt EPA drinking-water regulations from the bill.
Voting 194 for and 223 against, the House on July 12 defeated a Democratic-sponsored amendment that would exempt Environmental Protection Agency regulations on lead and copper in drinking water, now in draft stage, from the scope of HR 4768 (above).
YEA: Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego
NAY:, Sinema, McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks
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`Heavy Water’ from Iran
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting 249 for and 176 against, the House on July 13 passed a bill (HR 5119) that would prohibit funding for U.S. government purchases of “heavy water” from Iran’s former nuclear-arms program. Iran is dismantling the program under an international agreement requiring it to dispose of the heavy-water component. This bill would kill a Department of Energy plan to buy 32 metric tons of the non-radioactive water for nearly $9 million and divert it to semi-conductor development and other technological pursuits in the U.S.
YEA: McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks
NAY: Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema
Senate
Librarian of Congress Confirmation
A yes vote was to confirm Hayden.
Voting 74 for and 18 against, the Senate on July 14 confirmed Carla D. Hayden, the chief executive of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and a former president of the American Library Association, for a 10-year term as Librarian of Congress. Hayden, 63, becomes the first woman and first African-American to head the national library. With a $620 million budget and 3,200 employees, the library provides services to members of Congress and the public and oversees the U.S. Copyright Office.
YEA: Flake
NAY: McCain
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Addressing Painkiller, Heroin Crisis
A yes vote was to send the bill to President Obama.
Voting 92 for and two against, the Senate on July 13 gave final congressional approval to a bill (S 524) that would authorize $515 million through 2021 for Department of Justice grants to help communities deal with a nationwide epidemic in which dependence on opioid pain medicines often leads to heroin addiction and death by overdose. The bill would fund state, local and tribal actions such as expanding treatment and recovery programs; developing non-addictive pain-management treatments; adding drug task forces to police departments; conducting public-education and prevention programs; combating drug trafficking across international borders and state lines; developing evidence-based treatments for substance abuse and taking steps to keep unused and expired drugs from reaching children and traffickers.
YEA: McCain, Flake
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Sanctuary Cities, Immigration
A yes vote was to advance the bill.
The Senate on July 6 failed, 53-44, to reach 60 votes for advancing a bill (S 3001) that would deny economic-development and community-block grants to “sanctuary” cities or states that refuse to act as an arm of federal immigration enforcement. Officials in sanctuary cities say that to assist the Department of Homeland Security in this fashion would undercut community-policing efforts that depend on rapport with immigrant populations.
YEA: McCain, Flake
