WASHINGTON – Here’s a look at how area members of the U.S. House voted over the previous week.
Below are the House votes. Senate votes will run in Tuesday’s edition.
• House Vote 1:
CENSURING REPRESENTATIVE: The House has tabled a motion (H. Res. 829), sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., that would have censured Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for allegedly sympathizing with Hamas and other terrorist organizations and leading an insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 18. The vote, on Nov. 1, was 222 yeas to 186 nays.
YEAS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd)
NAYS: Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 2:
IRAN AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 559), sponsored by Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas, to declare it U.S. policy to use all necessary means to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. McCaul said: “We need to restore deterrence against Iran. We need to use every tool at our disposal to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.” An opponent, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said the resolution could lead to the U.S. invading Iran to stop its nuclear weapons program, and “the language we are voting on today goes too far” in that direction. The vote, on Nov. 1, was 354 yeas to 53 nays.
YEAS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd), Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 3:
HAMAS SANCTIONS: The House has passed the Hamas and Other Palestinian Terrorist Groups International Financing Prevention Act (H.R. 340), sponsored by Rep. Brian J. Mast, R-Fla., to impose sanctions on people affiliated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and similar groups found to be taking terrorist actions against Israel. Mast said sanctions were needed to “cut off the material support, whether that is money or equipment or something that we might label here in Washington as a dual-use item, from making it to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank or into the hands of Hezbollah or somewhere else.” A bill opponent, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, cited the absence of “a broad humanitarian exemption that would have protected the provision of food, medicine, and other lifesaving supplies into Gaza.” The vote, on Nov. 1, was 363 yeas to 46 nays.
YEAS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd), Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 4:
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET: The House has passed the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 4364), sponsored by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., to provide $5.3 billion of fiscal 2024 funding for the federal government’s legislative branch other than the Senate, including the House and the Library of Congress, Capitol Police, and Government Accountability Office. Amodei said the bill made a fiscally responsible close to 5 percent cut in spending from fiscal 2023 levels while adequately funding efforts to provide services to constituents and oversee the executive branch. An opponent, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., claimed the bill would eliminate programs, such as the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, “that help to grow and diversify our country as well as welcome everybody to the table.” The vote, on Nov. 1, was 214 yeas to 197 nays.
NAYS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd)
YEAS: Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 5:
EXPELLING HOUSE MEMBER: The House has rejected a resolution (H. Res. 773), sponsored by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., that would have expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from the House. D’Esposito cited the filing of 23 criminal charges against Santos, and said he had lied about “his education, his work history, his faith, the fact that he was Jewish.” Santos said: “Voting for expulsion at this point would circumvent the judicial system’s right to due process that I am entitled to and desanctify the long-held premise that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty.” The vote, on Nov. 1, was 179 yeas to 213 nays, with 19 voting present.
NAYS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd), Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 6:
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 4821). The amendment would prohibit funding for the finalization of three proposed Endangered Species Act rules published this June. Boebert said adopting the rules “will only result in further one-size-fits-all responses to threatened and endangered species that will benefit absolutely nobody, including the species.” An opponent, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said the rules were merely “intended to improve and clarify the interagency consultation processes; listing, delisting, and reclassification decisions; and designation of critical habitat.” The vote, on Nov. 2, was 213 yeas to 212 nays.
NAYS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd)
YEAS: Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 7:
AID TO ISRAEL: The House has passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6126), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, to provide added funding for the military and State Department in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, by rescinding $14.3 billion of unspent funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Granger said: “We must stand firm with our great ally and do all we can to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself.” An opponent, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., said “it is outrageous that a major emergency funding bill in response to the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust is tied to offsets” that reduce tax revenue and increase the deficit. The vote, on Nov. 2, was 226 yeas to 196 nays.
NAYS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd)
YEAS: Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 8:
HAMAS AND UNIVERSITIES: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 798), sponsored by Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, to condemn support for Hamas and other anti-Israel entities at universities and colleges and the support’s potential to create a hostile environment for Jewish faculty and students. Owens cited an event at Cooper Union college in New York City in saying: “No students, regardless of race, creed, color, or religion, should ever have to use the back door of a campus library out of fear for their safety.” The vote, on Nov. 2, was 396 yeas to 23 nays.
YEAS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd), Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 9:
INCREASING FEDERAL LANDS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 4821), to block funding for a Biden administration executive order that would seek to put 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters under federal jurisdiction by 2030. Fulcher said the federal government was already overwhelmed by the attempt to manage its existing lands, and an increase would further degrade land management. The vote, on Nov. 2, was 212 yeas to 202 nays.
NAYS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd)
YEAS: Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)
• House Vote 10:
FUNDING EXECUTIVE ORDERS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Richard McCormick, R-Ga., to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 4821). The amendment would block funding to implement several Biden administration executive orders regarding renewable energy, electric vehicles, and environmental justice policies in poor and minority communities. McCormick said the orders were unfeasible and too costly, and would impose a disparate burden on poor communities. An amendment opponent, Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said the environmental justice order aimed to make sure “that everybody gets the same degree of protection from environmental health hazards.” The vote, on Nov. 2, was 217 yeas to 202 nays.
NAYS: Davids (KS) D-KS (3rd)
YEAS: Estes R-KS (4th), LaTurner R-KS (2nd), Mann R-KS (1st)