Here’s a look at how members of Congress voted over the previous week.
Mobile Phone Subsidy: The House has rejected the End Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act (H.R. 5525), sponsored by Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican. The bill would have ended universal service support payments to mobile phone carriers under the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program for providing phones to low-income consumers. Scott said after Lifeline was expanded in 2005 to include mobile phones, fraud and abuse have resulted in millions of phones being given to people who are not low income, and “Congress must act to impose fiscal discipline” on Lifeline to stop the wasteful phone subsidies.
A bill opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, said Lifeline’s mobile phone expansion gave millions of low-income consumers a way to get jobs and emergency services, helping them emerge from poverty.
The vote, on Tuesday, was 207 yeas to 143 nays, with a two-thirds majority required for passage.
Voting yes: Frank Guinta, a Republican
Voting no: Annie Kuster, a Democrat
Funding Cybersecurity Technologies: The House has passed the Support for Rapid Innovation Act (H.R. 5388), sponsored by Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican. The bill would require the Homeland Security Department’s Science and Technology Directorate to increase its backing and funding of the research and development of cybersecurity technologies. Ratcliffe said that with cybersecurity threats growing, the increased backing was needed to “help spur innovation and break down bureaucratic barriers that are currently preventing government from leveraging the private sector’s emerging technologies” for improving the security of information technology.
The vote, on Tuesday, was 351 yeas to 4 nays.
Voting yes: Guinta, Kuster
Homeland Security Partnerships: The House has passed the Leveraging Emerging Technologies Act (H.R. 5389), sponsored by Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican. The bill would direct the Homeland Security Department to work with technology developers to address homeland security needs and considering opening offices in areas with concentrations of technology developers to help Homeland Security partner with the developers. Ratcliffe said the bill sought to “move us toward further addressing homeland security needs by supporting technology innovation” by the private sector and Homeland Security working together.
The vote, on Tuesday, was 347 yeas to 8 nays.
Voting yes: Guinta, Kuster
Rule on Investing For Retirement: The House has sustained President Obama’s veto of a resolution (H.J. Res. 88), sponsored by Rep. David P. Roe, a Tennessee Republican, disapproving of a proposed Labor Department rule defining the term “fiduciary” as it applies to financial advisers managing the retirement funds of their clients. Roe criticized the rule as too complex and misguided, and creating restrictions on the access working families and small businesses have to advice on the best ways to save for retirement and create employee retirement plans.
A veto supporter, Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, said the fiduciary rule will keep advisers from costing those saving for retirement up to $17 billion yearly by steering them into financial products that give the advisers large commissions but hurt investors.
The vote to override the veto, on Wednesday, was 239 yeas to 180 nays, with a two-thirds majority needed to override.
Voting yes: Guinta
Voting no: Kuster
Military Construction, VA, Zika Funding: The House has agreed to the conference report with the Senate for the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 2577). The bill would provide $82.5 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction programs in fiscal 2017, and provide $1.1 billion to fund programs for responding to the Zika virus outbreak. A supporter, Rep. Harold Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, said the Zika funding gave agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on ways to combat Zika.
An opponent, Rep. James P. McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, criticized the bill for inadequately funding the response to Zika, which he called a “potentially devastating crisis.”
The vote, on Thursday, was 239 yeas to 171 nays.
Voting yes: Guinta
Voting no: Kuster
Terrorists and Gun Purchases: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on an amendment sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2578). The amendment would have authorized measures to notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation of attempts by people who have been on terrorist watch lists in the past five years to purchase a gun. Cornyn said the notifications would start an FBI process that could result in terrorists being arrested and stopped from carrying out planned attacks.
An amendment opponent, Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, said the notifications would do nothing to stop gun violence.
The vote to end debate on the amendment, on Monday, was 53 yeas to 47 nays, with a three-fifths majority required for approval.
Voting yes: Kelly Ayotte, a Republican
Voting no: Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat
Suspected Terrorists and Gun Purchases: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2578). The amendment would have authorized Justice Department measures to block individuals on the FBI’s terrorist watch list from buying firearms. Feinstein said FBI data indicated that known or suspected terrorists are often able to buy firearms, and closing “this dangerous loophole” to stop such purchases would prevent potential attacks.
An amendment opponent, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said it would “deny American citizens their constitutional rights without due process of law based on a secret list that the government maintains.”
The vote, on Monday, was 47 yeas to 53 nays.
Voting yes: Ayotte, Shaheen
Background Checks For Gun Purchases: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Sen. Christopher Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2578). The amendment would have required background checks for private gun sales and expanded the national instant criminal background check system for potential gun purchasers. Murphy said the checks were a needed way to protect against terrorists and others buying assault weapon firearms to carry out mass shootings. No amendment opponents spoke on the Senate floor.
The vote to table, on Monday, was 56 yeas to 42 nays.
Voting yes: Ayotte
Voting no: Shaheen
FBI Searches of Online Data: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on an amendment sponsored by Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2578). The amendment would have made permanent a provision authorizing individual terrorists to be legally treated as agents of foreign powers, and authorize the FBI’s use of national security letters to request Internet customer data from telecommunications companies without a warrant. McCain said timely access to the data was an important tool for law enforcement to defend the country against terrorist threats without compromising the privacy of Americans.
An amendment opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said giving the FBI warrantless access to data on online activities of Americans threatened judicial due process and citizens’ liberties.
The vote to end debate, on Wednesday, was 58 yeas to 38 nays, with a three-fifths majority needed to end debate.
Voting yes: Ayotte
Voting no: Shaheen
No-Fly List and Firearms Purchases: The Senate has rejected a motion to table an amendment sponsored by Sen. Susan M. Collins, a Maine Republican, to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2578). The amendment would block purchases of firearms by people who are on the federal government’s no-fly list, alert the FBI and local law enforcement agencies of firearms purchases by people who were recently on the federal government’s terrorist watch list, and authorized a judicial process for people denied firearms purchases to appeal the rejection. Collins said the amendment would cover only a small number of Americans on the no-fly list while protecting against terrorist acts such as the Orlando shootings, while preserving a robust appeals process for Americans wrongly blocked from buying firearms.
The vote on the motion to table, on Thursday, was 46 yeas to 52 nays.
Voting no: Ayotte, Shaheen
Firearms Sales to Suspected Terrorists: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2578). The amendment would have authorized the Justice Department to block firearms and explosives purchases by known or suspected terrorists, subject to a judicial burden of proof before the government can block the purchase. Johnson said it would “accomplish the goal of keeping weapons out of the hands of terrorists, would-be terrorists, while not giving up our constitutional rights.”
An amendment opponent, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat, said it would not enable Justice to block any potential terrorists from buying guns, and the Senate should instead pass more effective legislation against terrorist gun purchases.
The vote to table the amendment, on Thursday, was 67 yeas to 31 nays.
Voting yes: Ayotte, Shaheen