Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week (Nov. 26-Dec. 2):
House votes
Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act (HR 550) — Sponsored by Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), HR 550 requires the Health and Human Services Department to take measures to improve vaccination administration monitoring systems, including authorizing $400 million of grants to states for that purpose. A supporter, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said updating immunization information systems would “help control disease outbreaks, and put our public health infrastructure on a solid foundation for years to come.” The vote passed on Nov. 30, 294-130.
Derek Kilmer (D-WA, Sixth) Yes
Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (HR 4045) — The House has passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Michael F. Doyle (D-Pa.) that would create the 6G Task Force at the Federal Communications Commission. Doyle said: “To ensure that all Americans benefit from the next generation of wireless technology, 6G, we need to be considering it now.” The vote passed on Dec. 1, 394-27.
Kilmer Yes
American Cybersecurity Literacy Act (HR 4055) — Sponsored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), this bill would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to adopt a cybersecurity literacy campaign to educate the general public of ways to reduce cybersecurity risks. The vote passed on Dec. 1, 408-17.
Kilmer Yes
The House passed bill HR 4352 sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), one that would override a 2009 Supreme Court ruling and allow the Interior Department to take land into trust on behalf of American Indian tribes regardless of when the tribes were recognized by the federal government. McCollum said the 2009 ruling imposed on the tribes “an unfair, separate, and unequal process, a fundamentally discriminatory process for restoring their homelands.” A bill opponent, Rep. Paul A. Gosar, R-Ariz., said it would “allow for new off-reservation casinos to be opened in your states, in your communities, and in your backyard, and for land to be ripped away from local jurisdictions without recourse.” The vote passed on Dec. 1, 302-127.
Kilmer Yes
Further Extending Government Funding Act (HR 6119) — Sponsored by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), this bill would extend appropriations for federal government programs through Feb. 18, 2022. DeLauro said: “A vote against this continuing resolution is a vote to shut the government down.” An opponent, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., said the bill represented a “failure to govern” by the Democratic majority by substituting stopgap legislation for a proper fiscal 2022 budget plan. The vote passed on Dec. 2, 221-212.
Kilmer Yes
Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (HR 2930) — Sponsored by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) this legislation would bar the exportation of illegally acquired American Indian tribal materials. Leger Fernandez said: “The protection of these cultural items must be a priority for our country, because once they are stolen and taken out of our country, they become lost to those who revere them.” The vote passed on Dec. 2, 364-57.
Kilmer Yes
Senate votes
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Brian Nelson to be the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial crimes. Nelson, a longtime official in California’s Justice Department whose assignments there included money laundering and transnational crime, is currently chief legal officer for the organizing committee for the 2028 summer Olympics. The vote passed on Dec. 2, 50-49.
Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Yes
Patty Murray (D-WA) Yes
Further Extending Government Funding Act (HR 6119) — The Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) that would have barred funding for enforcement of the Biden administration’s various federal government and private employer COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Marshall said: “No precedent exists in American history for punishing private employers who don’t enforce government vaccine edicts.” An amendment opponent, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the requirements among “the strongest tools we have to get people vaccinated, keep them safe, and end this pandemic once and for all.” The vote failed on Dec. 2, 48-50.
Cantwell No
Murray No
Further Extending Government Funding Act (HR 6119) — Sponsored by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), the Senate passed legislation to extend appropriations for federal government programs through Feb. 18, 2022. A supporter, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), said that along with providing needed time to adopt 2022 spending legislation, the bill “will include critical funding to support Afghan refugees as we help them get resettled here in the United States.” The vote passed on Dec. 2, 69-28.
Cantwell (D-WA) Yes
Murray (D-WA) Yes
