How they voted: NC congressional votes for the week ending Dec. 15

WESTERN SALT LAKES: The House has passed the Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act (S. 1466), sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., to require the U.S. Geological Survey to study salt lake ecosystems in the Great Basin region of the West. A supporter, Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., said: "This bill will inform and support coordinated federal, state, and local management and conservation efforts to benefit those ecosystems, migratory birds, and other wildlife." The vote, on Dec. 12, was 356 yeas to 56 nays.

QUANTUM COMPUTING SECURITY: The House has agreed to the Senate amendment to the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act (H.R. 7535), sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to require federal government agencies to prepare information technology systems for encryption capabilities that can withstand attacks from future quantum computing technologies. The vote, on Dec. 13, was 420 yeas to 3 nays.

PASSING LEGISLATION: The House has passed a motion sponsored by Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., to pass 13 bills en bloc, without a separate roll call vote for each bill. Issues covered by the bills included: rider safety in taxis; the naming of several post office facilities; severe weather forecasting and alerts; and fire investigation procedures. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 349 yeas to 80 nays.

SHORT-TERM GOVERNMENT FUNDING: The House has agreed to the Senate amendment to the Further Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 1437), sponsored by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., to extend funding for the federal government through Dec. 23. A supporter, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., called the extension "a simple date change that keeps the government up and running as we negotiate the details of final spending bills and complete the work of funding the government programs that meet the needs of hardworking Americans." An opponent, Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, said: "We should be passing a continuing resolution into next year instead of buying more time to rush through a massive spending package." The vote, on Dec. 14, was 224 yeas to 201 nays.

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT: The House has passed the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act (S. 3905), sponsored by Sen. Gary C. Peters, D-Mich. The bill would require changes in federal government acquisition regulations regarding both agency and personal conflicts of interest with potential contractors to the government. A supporter, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said of the need for changes: "If we do not take steps to prevent conflicts of interest, and thereby safeguard the integrity of government decisionmaking and operations, then we risk potentially serious breaches in the public trust." A bill opponent, Rep. Fred Keller, R-Pa., said adding to existing conflicts of interest rules "will burden businesses and shrink the pool of eligible contractors, not reduce conflicts of interest." The vote, on Dec. 14, was 219 yeas to 205 nays.

LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING: The House has passed the Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act (S. 4003), sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. The bill would have the Justice Department develop training and grant programs for law enforcement departments to adopt alternative responses to individuals in a mental, behavioral health, or suicidal crisis. A supporter, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called it an effort "to not only improve policing practices through increased training, but also to make our communities safer by ensuring individuals in crisis receive the help they need." An opponent, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said it would wastefully spend $133 million on duplicative programs and "advances a soft-on-crime approach" to policing that increases crime. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 264 yeas to 162 nays.

PUERTO RICO: The House has passed the Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 8393), sponsored by Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., to hold a plebiscite in Puerto Rico in November 2023, in which voters will be asked to choose between independence, statehood, or free association with the U.S. for Puerto Rico. Free association would be limited independence, and include the loss of guaranteed U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans. Grijalva said Puerto Rico's "territory status is no longer viable and is incapable of providing either adequate political or economic benefits" for Puerto Ricans. An opponent, Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said it was an error to require the plebiscite without first allowing Congress and its committees to hold hearings evaluating the impact of changing Puerto Rico's status. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 233 yeas to 191 nays.

VA COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: The House has passed the VA Employee Fairness Act (H.R. 1948), sponsored by Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., to change collective bargaining standards for Veterans Health Administration workers by including professional competence and compensation matters as eligible for bargaining. Takano said the changes were needed to help the VA "recruit and retain the best and brightest medical professionals that our country has to offer." A bill opponent, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., said allowing VA medical staff to bargain pay and patient care measures could lead to delayed care, undiagnosed critical illnesses, and higher costs for patients. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 219 yeas to 201 nays.

APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves to be a judge on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Montgomery-Reeves has been a Delaware state judge since 2016, including, since 2019, a state Supreme Court judge. Previously, she was a private practice lawyer in Wilmington. A supporter, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said: "Justice Montgomery-Reeves is of the highest caliber judges in our state and our nation and has my strongest possible endorsement." The vote, on Dec. 12, was 53 yeas to 35 nays.

SECOND APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Dana M. Douglas to be a judge on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Douglas has been a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana since 2019; before that, she was a private practice commercial lawyer in New Orleans. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said: "Judge Douglas' experience, qualifications, and temperament will be assets on the Fifth Circuit." The vote, on Dec. 13, was 65 yeas to 31 nays.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jay Curtis Shambaugh to be the Treasury Department’s Undersecretary for International Affairs. Shambaugh was an official on the White House Council of Economic Advisors in the Obama administration, and before and after that, an economics professor at Georgetown and Dartmouth universities. The vote, on Dec. 13, was 70 yeas to 27 nays.

CHARTER SCHOOLS RULE: The Senate has rejected a resolution (S.J. Res. 60), sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to disapprove of and void an Education Department rule issued this July that governs grants to charter schools. Scott said the rule would degrade the ability of low-income families to receive quality education by giving their children alternatives to standard public schools. A resolution opponent, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said repealing the rule "will cause unnecessary chaos, undermine simple accountability measures to ensure that our federal funds are well spent and delay funding from supporting new, high-quality charter schools and the students that they would serve." The vote, on Dec. 14, was 49 yeas to 49 nays.

DIPLOMAT TO LATIN AMERICA: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Francisco O. Mora to be the United States' Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, an international cooperation group of 35 countries, most of them in Latin America. Mora has been a professor at various universities focused on U.S. relations with Latin America and, in the first half of the Obama administration, was a Defense Department official for the Western Hemisphere. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 51 yeas to 45 nays.

MILITARY APPEALS COURT: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Musetta Tia Johnson to be a judge, for a 15-year term, on the U.S. appeals court for the various branches of the military. Johnson, a retired colonel in the Army's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, is currently a national security lawyer at Georgetown University. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 76 yeas to 20 nays.

MILITARY SPENDING: The Senate has agreed to the House amendment to the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7776), sponsored by Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., to authorize Army Corps of Engineers water resources projects and about $858 billion of fiscal 2023 spending on the military. The military part of the bill would authorize funding for new aircraft and ships, increase pay for servicemembers by 4.6 percent and increase their benefits, and repeal the military's Covid vaccination requirement. A supporter, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said support for the military was necessary to "protect our country and be able to defend ourselves and be able to maintain the superpower status" the U.S. enjoys. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 83 yeas to 11 nays.

SHORT-TERM GOVERNMENT FUNDING: The Senate has agreed to the House amendment to the Further Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 1437), sponsored by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., to extend funding for the federal government through Dec. 23. A supporter, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., said the extension would allow needed time to finalize a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on fiscal 2023 legislation before the current Congress ends. An opponent, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said: "The Senate should be in a position to be able to review the omnibus with a clear head without the pressure of an imminent threat at Christmastime of a shutdown." The vote, on Dec. 15, was 71 yeas to 19 nays.