Area Votes in Congress

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

House

Government funding, Wall Street deregulation. Voting 219-206, the House on Thursday passed a bipartisan bill (HR 83) to fund most government operations through Sept. 30, 2015, at an annual level of $1.1 trillion while rolling back new controls on derivatives trading by large banks on Wall Street; abolishing environmental limits on mountaintop mining in states such as West Virginia; allowing exponentially larger individual and family contributions to the Democratic and Republican national committees; permitting shaky multiemployer pension plans to remain solvent by cutting current benefits, and increasing funding to counter Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria and the spread of Ebola in West Africa, among hundreds of other provisions.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Voting yes: Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Donald Norcross (D., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Matt Cartwright (D., Pa.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Taxpayer-backed terrorism insurance. Voting 417-7, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (S 2244) renewing through calendar 2021 a post-9/11 program of taxpayer backing to help the property and casualty insurance industry meet the catastrophic costs of any future terrorist attacks. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) obligates the Treasury to cover 80 percent of losses above varying deductible levels and then seek repayment from insurers. The program would be triggered by any foreign or domestic attack causing damages of $200 million or more. The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon cost insurers $40 billion, according to industry calculations.

A yes vote was to send the bill to President Obama for his signature.

Voting yes: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Norcross, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.

Fiscal 2015 intelligence budget. Voting 325-100, the House on Wednesday gave final congressional approval to a bill (HR 4681) authorizing an estimated $80 billion in fiscal 2015 for the 16 U.S. civilian and military intelligence agencies.

A yes vote was to send the bill to President Obama for his signature.

Voting yes: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Norcross, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.

California drought relief. Voting 230-182, the House on Tuesday passed a Republican bill (HR 5781) to deal with California's prolonged drought, in part by pumping water during rainy periods from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the benefit of farms and communities in the San Joaquin Valley. The emergency measure would expire Sept. 30, 2016.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it appeared certain to die.

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

Voting no: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, Norcross, and Schwartz.

Senate

2015 military budget. Voting 89-11, the Senate on Friday authorized an $585 billion military budget (HR 3979) for fiscal 2015, including $63.7 billion for actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other war zones. The bill authorizes funding of expanded operations against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.

A yes vote was to give final congressional approval to the bill.

Voting yes: Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).

Labor board confirmation. The Senate on Monday voted, 54-40, to confirm Lauren M. McFarren to a five-year term on the National Labor Relations Board, which is charged with overseeing collective bargaining and protecting the workplace rights of both labor and management. Her confirmation to fill a soon-to-be-vacant seat means the board will continue to operate with a full complement of five members, three appointed by President Obama and two by President George W. Bush.

A yes vote was to confirm McFarren.

Voting yes: Booker, Carper, Casey, Coons, and Menendez.

Voting no: Toomey.

Next. The 114th Congress is to convene Jan. 6.