Area Votes in Congress

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress voted on major issues last week:

House

Antitrust exemption. Voting 406-19, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 4626) to end the health-insurance industry's 64-year-old federal antitrust exemption under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. Health insurers are regulated on the state level and are subject to state antitrust laws. Under this bill, the Justice Department would provide another layer of enforcement against monopolistic activities such as collusion in the setting of premium rates, allocating market shares, and rigging bids on contracts. The bill exempts medical-malpractice insurers.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., 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.).

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

2010 spy budget. Voting 235-168, the House approved a classified 2010 U.S. intelligence budget unofficially estimated at $50 billion or higher. The bill (HR 2701) funds operations of the CIA, National Security Agency, and several other spy agencies. The bill awaits Senate action.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Castle, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Not voting: Dent (official leave).

Native Hawaiian sovereignty. Voting 245-164, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 2314) empowering Native Hawaiians to form a sovereign government comparable to the Native American and Native Alaskan nations in the United States.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Sestak, and Schwartz.

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

Not voting: Andrews.

Senate

Jobs creation. Voting 70-28, the Senate sent the House a bill (HR 2847) that would temporarily exempt businesses from having to pay the 6.2 percent employer's share of Social Security withholding taxes on workers they hire this year from the jobless ranks. Employers also would receive a $1,000 tax credit for each new hire that stays on the job for one year. The two incentives would cost the Treasury about $13 billion.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

Not voting: Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.).

Travel to America. Voting 78-18, the Senate sent President Obama a bill (HR 1299) that would establish a federal corporation to increase foreign travel to the United States. The Corporation for Travel Promotion would be funded initially by about $100 million in assessments on the U.S. hospitality industry and another $100 million in special visa fees collected by the Department of Homeland Security.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Menendez, and Specter.

Not voting: Lautenberg.

This week. The Senate will take up a short-term extension of unemployment and COBRA health benefits for those who have lost jobs. The House schedule was to be announced.