Area Votes in Congress

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress voted on major issues last week:

House

Student-loan interest rates. Voting 215-195, the House on Friday passed a Republican bill (HR 4628) to prevent student-loan interest rates from doubling on July 1 from the present 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. This affects the pocketbooks of 7.4 million students who have received Stafford Loans for college expenses. The bill would offset the subsidy's $5.9 billion annual cost by cutting the 2010 health law's fund to promote preventive-care, or "wellness," programs.

The bill is now before the Senate, where Democrats, who control that chamber, also want to keep the student-loan interest rate from doubling July 1. But they would offset the cost by effectively raising payroll taxes on some wealthy owners of S Corporations.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).

Not voting: Tim Holden (D., Pa.).

Women's, children's health care. Voting 178-231, the House on Friday defeated a Democratic motion that sought to prevent health-care spending cuts in HR 4628 (above) from reducing benefits in or raising the cost of private medical insurance for women and children. The motion sought to protect treatments such as mammogram, cervical-cancer, and pregnancy screenings from being diminished by the "pay for" in the Republicans' student-loan bill.

A yes vote backed the motion.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, and Schwartz.

Voting no: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Not voting: Holden.

Cybersecurity, civil liberties. Voting 248-168, the House on Thursday sent the Senate a bill (HR 3523) to expand data-sharing between federal security agencies and private businesses in order to bolster U.S. defenses against cybersecurity attacks from terrorists, foreign governments, rogue hackers, overseas business competitors, and others.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Carney, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, and Schwartz.

Not voting: Holden.

Financial deregulation. Voting 312-111, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 3336) to exempt derivatives transactions by small banks, credit unions, nonprofit-cooperative lenders, and farm-credit institutions from transparency and collateral requirements set by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation law.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Carney, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.

Voting no: Brady and Fattah.

Not voting: Holden.

Senate

Violence Against Women Act. Voting 68-31, the Senate on Thursday sent the House a bill (S 1925) to renew the Violence Against Women Act through fiscal 2016 and expand it to cover gay men and undocumented immigrants who are abused by spouses or partners. The bill also expands protections for children and the elderly and Native American women.

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.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

Voting no: Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).

Republican substitute. Voting 37-62, the Senate on Thursday defeated a Republican substitute to S 1925 (above). While the GOP plan also extended coverage to gay men, it was less comprehensive and costly than the underlying bipartisan bill. The substitute differed, in part, by setting mandatory minimum sentences for child pornographers, bolstering the role of U.S. marshals in tracking sex offenders, and imposing stricter oversight over Department of Justice funding of antiviolence programs.

A yes vote backed the GOP substitute.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

Rules for union elections. Voting 45-54, the Senate on Tuesday failed to kill a new rule by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that will advance the date of union-organizing elections by days or weeks. This defeated a GOP measure (SJ Res 36) that sought to quash the rule, which is due to take effect April 30. Under the rule, elections on whether workers will form into collective-bargaining units could be held as soon as 10 days after the NLRB certifies the election petition, not the usual 35 days or longer.

A yes vote was to kill the new rule.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

Postal Service overhaul. Voting 62-37, the Senate on Wednesday approved a restructuring of the U.S. Postal Service aimed at putting the agency on a profitable basis by October 2015. The bill (S 1789) would use buyouts and early retirements to trim today's 547,000-employee workforce by 100,000 positions; start new delivery services that do not compete unfairly with the private sector; use $11 billion in retirement-fund assets to finance the massive staff reduction; delay rural post-office closings for at least one year; continue Saturday deliveries for at least two years; close some mail-distribution centers; cut payments to employees' retirement and health-care accounts; reduce worker's compensation obligations; and cap the pay of top postal executives at $199,000.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, and Lautenberg.

Voting no: Menendez and Toomey.

Collective-bargaining rights. Voting 23-76, the Senate on Wednesday defeated an amendment to S 1789 (above) to strip U.S. Postal Service employees of their collective-bargaining rights, in response to the fact that 80 percent of the agency's total expenditures are labor costs.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

Local postal autonomy. Voting 35-64, the Senate on Wednesday defeated an amendment to S 1789 (above) to start testing a decentralization of the U.S. Postal Service in which local postmasters would have autonomy to cut costs, define service levels, and launch innovative programs without approval from headquarters. Opponents called this a step toward privatization that could end the Postal Service as a nationwide institution with uniform standards.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

This week. Congress is in recess. In the week of May 7, the Senate will take up a bill to hold down student-loan interest rates, while the House schedule is to be announced.