Area Votes in Congress

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

House

Offshore drilling, renewable energy.

Voting 236-189, the House passed a bill (HR 6899) that would open additional areas of the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling and devote a large share of royalties to developing renewable fuels. The bill would permit drilling beyond 100 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific shorelines, or as close as 50 miles with permission of the adjacent state.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) and H. James Saxton (R., N.J.).

Not voting: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.).

GOP drilling plan.

Voting 191-226, the House defeated a Republican alternative to HR 6899 (above) that, in part, sought to allow drilling as close as 25 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts with permission of the adjacent state; would have expanded drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico; would have provided coastal states with a share of drilling royalties; would have spurred nuclear and clean-coal energy technologies; and would have provided tax incentives to speed the development of renewable fuels.

A yes vote backed the GOP drilling bill.

Voting yes: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden and Saxton.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, LoBiondo, Murphy, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Not voting: Pitts.

District of Columbia guns.

Voting 266-152, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 6842) removing most restrictions on gun possession in the District of Columbia. The bill awaits Senate action.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy and Saxton.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Castle, Fattah, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Not voting: Pitts.

Senate

2009 military budget.

Voting 88-8, the Senate approved $612.5 billion in 2009 military spending, including $70 billion to fund wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for part of the fiscal year. The bill (S 3001) sets a 3.9 percent military pay raise, bars permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, bans premium or co-pay increases in the military health plan known as TRICARE, and provides $5 billion in earmarks.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R., Pa.).

Not voting: Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D., Del.).

This week.

The House will debate the 2009 defense budget and the rights of credit-card holders, while the Senate will consider bills on offshore drilling and renewable-energy tax breaks. Both chambers will debate stopgap spending bills for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.