WASHINGTON — Along with roll call votes last week, the House also passed the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act (S. 142), to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to adopt a rule requiring child safety packaging for liquid nicotine containers; and passed the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act (H.R. 1069), to require the disclosure of information about contributors to presidential library fundraising.

SENATE VOTES

Senate Vote 1

CONFIRMING APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Luis Felipe Restrepo to serve as a judge on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. A supporter, Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., cited Restrepo’s experience as a federal magistrate judge and district judge, and said Restrepo had the integrity, experience, intellect, and education to meet the urgent need to fill a vacancy on the appeals court. The vote, on Jan. 11, was 82 yeas to 6 nays.

YEAS: Republican Susan Collins, Independent Angus King

Senate Vote 2

AUDITING THE FEDERAL RESERVE: The Senate has rejected a cloture motion to end debate on the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (S. 2232), sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. The bill would require the U.S. Comptroller General to carry out a full audit of the Federal Reserve board of governors and its regional reserve banks. Paul said that given the Federal Reserve’s extensive powers to shape the economy, with little oversight or disclosure requirements, an audit was needed to ensure the Fed’s solvency and increase its accountability to the American people. A bill opponent, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said an audit would discourage the Fed from acting quickly and flexibly to adopt policies that help the economy. The vote to end debate, on Jan. 12, was 53 yeas to 44 nays, with a three-fifths majority required to end debate.

YEAS: Collins, King

HOUSE VOTES

House Vote 1

ASBESTOS LITIGATION: The House has rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, to the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act (H.R. 1927). The amendment would have allowed plaintiffs in asbestos class action lawsuits to access information in asbestos trusts related to their damage claims made in the lawsuits. An amendment opponent, Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, said the plaintiffs already had ample access to information from the trusts that could further their claims. The vote, on Jan. 8, was 174 yeas to 228 nays.

YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District

NAYS: Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District

House Vote 2

CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS: The House has passed the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act (H.R. 1927), sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. The bill would block federal courts from certifying class action lawsuits for personal injury damages unless the group filing the lawsuit has shown that all members of the group suffered injury. Goodlatte said the vast majority of consumers represented by class action lawsuits have no grievance against the companies against whom the lawsuits are brought, showing that most such lawsuits are wasteful and only benefit the lawyers filing them. A bill opponent, Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., said that by repressing class action litigation, it would encourage corporations to perpetrate wrongdoing against consumers with little fear of legal consequences. The vote, on Jan. 8, was 211 yeas to 188 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

House Vote 3

WASTEFUL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS: The House has passed the Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act (H.R. 598), sponsored by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich. The bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to make available on the Internet an inventory of every federal government program that spends $1 million or more annually, as well as the agency’s reviews of the effectiveness of those programs. Walberg said reviews by the Office of Management and Budget have identified opportunities to save many billions of dollars by cutting wasteful and duplicative federal programs, and increasing awareness of such waste will allow the public “to better evaluate the effectiveness and utility of government programs.” The vote, on Jan. 11, was unanimous with 413 yeas.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

House Vote 4

COAL MINING RULES: The House has passed the STREAM Act (H.R. 1644), sponsored by Rep. Alexander X. Mooney, R-W.Va. The bill would require the government’s Office of Surface Mining to increase disclosure of studies that support its adoption of rules governing coal mining, and require a review of an existing agency stream buffer zone rule for coal mines near waterways. Mooney said that by delaying implementation of a new stream buffer rule proposed by the Obama administration, the bill could save up to 77,000 coal mining jobs nationwide and, by making coal a more economical fuel, lower energy bills for Americans. A bill opponent, Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., called it an effort to block a rule that will “protect people and the environment from the destructive impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining.” The vote, on Jan. 12, was 235 yeas to 188 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin

House Vote 5

ANTI-NORTH KOREA EFFORTS: The House has passed the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act (H.R. 757), sponsored by Rep. Edward R. Royce, R-Calif. The bill would require the president and his administration to apply sanctions against groups that provide forbidden aid and goods to North Korea, and report to Congress on U.S. efforts to use mass media to topple North Korea’s government and on North Korea’s cyberterrorism efforts. Royce said the bill, by blocking Kim Jong-un and his top officials from access to hard currency and their overseas bank accounts, was “our best bet to end North Korea’s threat to its own people, to our South Korean allies, and ultimately to us.” The vote, on Jan. 12, was 418 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Poliquin

House Vote 6

EPA WATER REGULATION: The House has passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 22), sponsored by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, stating congressional disapproval of the Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency rule defining “waters of the United States” and voiding the rule. A resolution supporter, Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, said the Government Accountability Office found that the EPA broke the law in using covert propaganda to build support for its rule, which Gibbs said would give the federal government “virtually limitless authority over land in this country that could contain water.” A resolution opponent, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said it would derail efforts to improve on an unworkable and incomprehensible George W. Bush administration water rule. The vote, on Jan. 13, was 253 yeas to 166 nays.

NAYS: Pingree

YEAS: Poliquin