Area Votes in Congress

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

House

Gulf of Mexico drilling. Voting 263-163, the House sent the Senate a bill (H.R. 1229) that would restore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to levels comparable to those in effect before last year's BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The bill would require the Interior Department to act within 60 days on about 40 permit applications now undergoing safety and environmental reviews. The administration lifted its post-spill drilling moratorium in October, and has since issued about 10 deepwater permits and nearly 40 permits for drilling in shallow water.

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.).

Blowout prevention. Voting 176-237, the House defeated a bid to expand H.R. 1229 (above) to include safety recommendations issued in January by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The amendment would have required the enactment of minimum standards in areas such as preventing blowouts, cementing wells, and installing redundant safety barriers inside wells - steps that would be subject to independent, third-party certifications. Though the commission's recommendations have been addressed to varying degrees by governmental regulators and the oil industry, they have not been added to federal law.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, Schwartz, and Smith.

Voting no: Holden, Gerlach, Meehan, Pitts, and Runyan.

Outer continental shelf oil. Voting 243-179, the House authorized oil and gas exploration in several expanses of the outer continental shelf where drilling is now banned for primarily environmental reasons. In part, the bill (H.R. 1231) would require the Department of the Interior to sell leases for drilling off the Atlantic Coast from Maine to North Carolina, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off southern California, in the Arctic Ocean, and off Alaska's Bristol Bay. Depending on the state, the outer continental shelf usually begins three to nine nautical miles from shore and reaches outward for at least 200 nautical miles.

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

Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, Meehan, and Pitts.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith, and Schwartz.

Ban on oil exports. Voting 180-243, the House defeated a Democratic motion to H.R. 1231 (above) to prohibit energy companies from selling abroad the outer continental shelf oil and natural gas they extract under federal leases. The measure also would have required the Department of the Interior, over the next five years, to reduce by half the large number of nonperforming oil and gas leases in the outer continental shelf.

A yes vote backed the motion.

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

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

Not voting: Dent.

2011 intelligence budget. Voting 392-15, the House passed a classified U.S. intelligence budget (H.R. 754) estimated at $55 billion or more for fiscal 2011. The bill would fund operations of civilian and military spy agencies such as the CIA, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. When other outlays in the federal budget are counted, total spending for intelligence activities is projected to top $80 billion this year.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

Not voting: Brady.

Senate

Judge Edward Chen. Voting 56-42, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Edward M. Chen as a federal judge for the Northern District of California. Chen, 58, has been a federal magistrate judge in San Francisco for 10 years, and before that he was an American Civil Liberties Union staff lawyer. Senate Republicans stalled the nomination for 21 months over concerns that Chen would be an "activist judge," while Democrats noted that Chen received the American Bar Association's highest rating for a judicial nominee.

A yes vote was to confirm Chen.

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.).

This week. The House will be in recess, and the Senate will vote on judicial nominations and take up a bill to rescind billions of dollars in oil-industry tax breaks.