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Area Votes in Congress

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week. House War funding. The House passed, 302-120, a bill to release $96 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan war funding in two steps. About $43 billion would be provided immediately and $53 billion in July if President Bush certifies Iraq has met certain benchmarks.

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.

House

War funding.

The House passed, 302-120, a bill to release $96 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan war funding in two steps. About $43 billion would be provided immediately and $53 billion in July if President Bush certifies Iraq has met certain benchmarks.

A yes vote was to pass the bill (HR 2207).

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), H. James Saxton (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.) and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Not voting: Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.) and Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.).

Iraq withdrawal. The House rejected, 255-171, a bill that would have required President Bush to start withdrawing U.S. troops and contractors from Iraq within 90 days of enactment and complete the pullout of all but a residual force within the following 180 days.

A yes vote was to pass the bill (HR 2237).

Voting yes: Andrews, Murphy and Sestak.

Voting no: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Pitts, Saxton, Schwartz and Smith.

Not voting: Brady and Fattah.

Student loans. The House passed, 414-3, and sent to the Senate a bill to remedy illegal or unethical practices in the federal student loan program. The bill (HR 890) would bars lenders' gifts to college and university loan officials and better protect the privacy of students' personal data.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Saxton, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Not voting: Brady and Fattah.

Homeland security. The House passed, 296-126, and sent to the Senate a $39.8 billion budget for the Department of Homeland Security in fiscal 2008, up $6 billion over 2007. The bill also grants civil-service job safeguards to the 170,000 DHS employees.

A yes vote was to pass the bill (HR 1684).

Voting yes: Andrews, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Saxton, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Voting no: Pitts.

Not voting: Brady and Fattah.

Border-control system. Members approved, 264-160, an amendment to HR 1684 (above) permitting full use of the Automated Targeting System at border crossings. The ATS is a database of indivduals' personal travel data for assessing whether travelers, including Americans, pose a terrorist threat.

A yes vote backed the ATS.

Voting yes: Andrews, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Saxton, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Not voting: Brady and Fattah.

Senate

Drug safety.

The Senate passed, 93-1, and sent to the House a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration new authority to conduct long-term monitoring of drugs after they go on the market and to require prompt corrective action when harmful complications come to light.

All Philadelphia-area senators voted for the bill (S 1082).

Prescription-drug imports. Senators voted, 49-40, to negate a measure permitting individuals to import federally approved prescription drugs from countries such as Canada. The vote, during debate on S 1082 (above), set unattainable certification standards for buying lower-cost pharmaceuticals from abroad.

A yes vote was to negate a pending drug-import measure.

Voting yes: Carper, Lautenberg, Menendez and Specter.

Voting no: Casey.

Not voting: Biden.

Conflicts of interest. On a 47-47 tie vote, the Senate rejected a bid to reduce conflicts of interest on the Food and Drug Administration advisory panels that judge the safety of new drugs. The proposed amendment to S 1082 (above) would have limited participation by experts with financial ties to firms whose drugs are under review.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Biden, Carper, Casey, Lautenberg and Menendez.

Voting no: Specter.

Next week. The House will debate the fiscal 2008 defense budget, while the Senate will take up a bill to curb illegal immigration.