This bill would give employers standing to shift facilities to right-to-work states or overseas despite the law's stipulation that such moves cannot be a retaliation against legitimate union activity and can be subjected to collective bargaining. Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.) called the measure "the outsourcers' bill of rights. It says to an employer, if you want to use as an excuse the collective and union activities of your employees and you want to pick up and move to Central or South America or Asia, here's the way to do it."
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).
Voting no: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).
Charter schools funding. Voting 365-54, the House on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 2218) to fund charter schools at $300 million annually through fiscal 2018. The bill would provide grants for operating expenses and to leverage private loans for building or renovating classroom space. The nation's 5,000 charter schools, which educate about 5 percent of K-12 students, receive public funding but are freed of many of the rules that bind traditional public schools.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.
Voting no: Holden.
Green school construction. Voting 195-220, the House on Tuesday refused to promote green practices and materials in the building and renovating of charter schools. The nonbinding amendment to HR 2218 (above) would have called upon the Department of Education to give preference to applications from states that use tax incentives and other policies to encourage green construction in school systems.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Dent, Carney, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, Meehan, and Schwartz.
Voting no: LoBiondo, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Debt limit revisited. By a tally of 232-186, members on Wednesdayvoted to rescind some of the new U.S. borrowing authority that Congress and President Obama enacted in August as the government neared default. The vote on HJ Res 77 was only symbolic because the Senate already had refused to go along.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Senate
Federal disaster aid. Voting 62-37, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (HJ Res 66) to provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $6.9 billion in deficit spending to help communities and individuals recover from recent natural disasters such as Hurricane Irene, the earthquake centered in Virginia, wildfires, and Tropical Storm Lee. The legislation also would ensure the continued flow of FEMA aid to victims of tornadoes in cities such as Joplin, Mo., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. The bill awaits House action.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
Foreign aid vs. disaster aid. Voting 20-78, the Senate on Thursday defeated an amendment to offset $6.9 billion in disaster aid (HJ Res 66, above) by cutting foreign aid and other overseas programs by that amount. Foreign aid accounts for about 1 percent of the federal budget.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Toomey.
Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.
Aviation, highway funding. Voting 92-6, the Senate on Thursday sent Obama a bill (HR 2887) to fund federal aviation programs though January at a $5.4 billion level and highway and transit programs through March at $20 billion. The stopgap measure is designed to buy time for settling several major disagreements over aviation and highway programs.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.
Voting no: Toomey.
This week. The House will take up a bill to track the economic impact of environmental laws and a continuing resolution to fund the government when fiscal 2012 begins on Oct. 1. The Senate will debate 2012 appropriations bills.
