A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.) Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.) Tim Holden (D., Pa.).
Voting no: John Carney (D., Del.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.) Not voting: Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.)
Oil-industry tax breaks: Voting 166 for to 243 against, the House on Thursday rejected a Democratic motion to bar the five largest oil companies from receiving new drilling leases under HR 4480 (above) unless they first relinquish their federal tax breaks. Those taxpayer subsidies total about $4 billion annually for BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell.
A yes vote backed the motion.
Voting yes: Carney, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Schwartz, Holden.
Voting no: LoBiondo, Runyan, Gerlach, Meehan, Fitzpatrick, Dent, Pitts.
Not voting: Smith
Senate
Clean-air regulations: Voting 46 for and 53 against, the Senate on Wednesday turned back a Republican bid (SJ Res 37) to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency's first national regulations for curbing air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Twenty years in the making, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are set to take effect this year, with plants allowed at least three years to comply. More than half of U.S. power plants already have installed the scrubbers or other cleansing technology needed for compliance. The rules will limit discharges of particulate matter, gases such as hydrogen chloride and cyanide and metals such as mercury, arsenic, and nickel. Critics argue the rules will cost tens or hundreds of thousands of jobs and drive up the cost of electricity. The EPA says they will greatly reduce the incidence of asthma attacks, mercury poisoning, heart disease, cancer and other ailments while generating tens of thousands of short-term construction jobs.
A yes vote was to nullify the air-pollution rule.
Voting yes: Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
Voting no: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Chris Coons (D., Del.) Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) Robert Casey Jr. (D., Pa.).
Five-year farm bill: Voting 64 to 35, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (S 3240) to renew federal agriculture and nutrition programs for five years at a projected cost of nearly $1 trillion over 10 years, down $23 billion from current spending levels. About $800 billion of the outlay is for food stamps and other food and nutrition programs, with the remainder allocated to programs to protect farm incomes, boost exports, expand domestic markets, promote land conservation, and fund rural development. The bill ends the decades-old system of direct payments that has been sending $5 billion annually to farmers regardless of whether they grow crops, relying instead on taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance to help growers and farm investors turn a profit in the face of weather risks and price drops beyond their control.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Carper, Coons, Menendez, Casey.
Voting no: Lautenberg, Toomey
