A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), 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.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).
U.S. nuclear arsenal. Voting 138-281, the House on Wednesday refused to cap spending at $7 billion in fiscal 2013 for programs to upgrade the U.S. nuclear arsenal and apply the $298 million in savings to deficit reduction. The amendment was offered to a bill (HR 5325), later passed, that would appropriate $32.1 billion for civilian and military energy programs in fiscal 2013. Backers said the amendment would leave America unchallenged as the world's foremost nuclear power; opponents said it would slow a needed modernization of the U.S. arsenal.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Andrews and Brady.
Voting no: Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.
Homeland Security budget. Voting 234-182, the House on Thursday approved a $46 billion Department of Homeland Security budget (HR 5855) for fiscal 2013 that will fund operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, and Secret Service as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, Meehan, and Smith.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Not voting: Runyan.
Immigration enforcement by local police. The House on Thursday voted, 250-164, to fully fund a program in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been training local police in about 100 communities nationwide for help in enforcing immigration laws. Offered to HR 5855 (above), the amendment would retain $17 million for this program in 2013.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, and Smith.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, and Schwartz.
Not voting: Runyan.
2 percent budget cut. Voting 99-316, the House on Thursday refused to cut the Department of Homeland Security's 2013 appropriations bill (HR 5855, above) by 2 percent, or $640 million. The cut was to be applied across the board to all departmental programs except FEMA grants and counterterrorism operations.
Voting yes: Pitts.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Schwartz, and Smith.
Not voting: Runyan.
Senate
Five-year farm bill. Voting 90-8, the Senate on Thursday began weeks of debate on a bill (S 3240) to renew federal agriculture and nutrition programs for five years at a projected cost of nearly $100 billion over 10 years, down $23 billion from current spending levels. The bill would end the decades-old system of direct payments that sends checks to farmers for crops they don't grow, and would rely instead on taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance to help growers turn a profit in the face of weather risks and price drops beyond their control.
A yes vote was to advance 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.).
Female-male pay equity. Voting 52-47, the Senate on Tuesday failed to reach 60 votes for ending GOP blockage of a bill (S 3220) giving women more legal tools for gaining pay equity with male coworkers. The so-called Paycheck Fairness Act would require equal pay for comparable work except when differences can be justified by narrowly defined business necessities or factors such as education, training, or experience.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.
Voting no: Toomey.
This week. The House will be in recess; the Senate will continue debating the new five-year farm bill.
