A yes vote was to extend tax cuts for all income levels.
Voting yes: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., 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.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).
Democratic tax cuts. The House on Wednesday defeated, 170-257, a Democratic alternative to HR 8 (above) that sought to allow Bush-era tax cuts on incomes above the $250,000 and $200,000 thresholds to expire Jan. 1. This would boost rates for the top 2 percent of taxpayers while generating about $400 billion for the Treasury. Democrats also would extend Bush tax cuts through 2013 for couples with incomes under $250,000 and single filers under $200,000, benefiting 98 percent of taxpayers and costing the Treasury a projected $250 billion in lost revenue for the year. The Democratic plan also would raise capital gains, dividends, and estate tax rates next year.
A yes vote was to raise taxes on the top 2 percent of taxpayers.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Voting no: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
GOP tax-overhaul plan. Voting 232-189, the House on Thursday sent the Senate a bill (HR 6169) laying out House Republicans' objectives in any overhaul of the Tax Code undertaken by the next Congress. The blueprint calls, in part, for lowering the top corporate and individual tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent; combining today's six personal-income brackets into two brackets of 10 percent and 25 percent; repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax and limiting federal revenue to 18-to-19 percent of the gross domestic product.
A yes vote backed the Republican plan.
Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Home-mortgage deduction. Members on Thursday defeated, 188-235, a Democratic motion stating that the home-mortgage and charitable-contribution tax deductions should be preserved in the Republicans' plan (HR 6169, above) to simplify and flatten the Tax Code next year.
A yes vote was to preserve home-mortgage and charitable-contribution tax deductions.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Voting no: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Emergency drought aid. Voting 223-197, the House on Thursday passed a bill (HR 6233) to appropriate $383 million this year to help livestock producers, tree growers, and certain other producers cope with this year's severe drought, with the cost offset by cuts in conservation spending. Now awaiting Senate action, the bill is a stopgap measure put forth by Republican leaders after they failed to bring a Senate-passed, five-year farm bill to the floor.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Dent, Holden, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, and Meehan.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, LoBiondo, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.
District of Columbia abortions. Voting 220-154, the House on Tuesday failed to reach a two-thirds majority needed to pass a bill (HR 3803) outlawing abortions in the District of Columbia as early as the 20th week of pregnancy. 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.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, and Schwartz.
Census Bureau, Senate confirmations. Voting 261-116, the House on Tuesday sent President Obama a bill (S 679) setting a five-year term for the directors of the U.S. Census Bureau to insulate him or her from political pressure. Census chiefs now serve at presidential discretion for terms that have averaged three years for the past 11 directors. The bill also reduces from about 1,200 to about 1,000 the number of presidential appointees other than judicial nominees subject to the Senate's cumbersome confirmation process.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the White House.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.
Voting no: Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, and Pitts.
Sanctions on Iran. Voting 421-6, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 1905) to toughen existing U.S. economic sanctions on Iran. The Senate then sent the bill to Obama for his expected signature. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.
Senate
Federal Judge Gershwin Drain. Voting 55-41, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Gershwin A. Drain, a state trial judge in Michigan, as a federal judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. Drain drew Republican opposition over views he has expressed during a 25-year judicial career against the National Rifle Association and the death penalty.
A yes vote was to confirm Judge Drain.
Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).
Voting no: Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
Cyber-security impasse. Voting 52-46, the Senate on Thursday failed to reach 60 votes needed to end Republican blockage of a bill (S 3414) setting up a voluntary system by which major companies would harden their computer systems against cyber-attacks and share information about cyber-threats with other firms and the government. FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress the possibility of cyber-attacks is rivaling terrorist threats as an imminent danger to the United States. But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce objected to the bill as government overreach into private-sector operations.
A yes vote was to end GOP blockage of the bill.
Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.
Voting no: Toomey.
Ahead. Congress is in recess until the week of Sept. 10.
