Area Votes in Congress

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

House

2012 military budget. Voting 283-136, the House on Wednesday approved the conference report (HR 1540) on a $662 billion military budget for fiscal 2012, including $117.2 billion for war in Afghanistan and Iraq, $52.5 billion for the military's health-care system, and $14.9 billion for naval shipbuilding.

The bill would require that captured members of organizations such as al-Qaeda be held in U.S. military custody and subjected to military justice. But terrorism suspects apprehended on U.S. soil who are U.S. citizens or resident immigrants must be assigned to America's civilian criminal-justice system and thus be accorded constitutional rights of due process.

A yes vote backed the conference report.

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.).

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

Fiscal 2012 appropriations. Voting 296-121, the House on Friday sent to the Senate a bill (HR 2055) to appropriate $915 billion in fiscal 2012 for the 10 cabinet departments and related agencies that have not yet received regular appropriations three months into the budget year. Among the bill's many policy changes are ones to delay new energy-efficiency standard for light bulbs and bar the District of Columbia from using its own funds to finance abortions.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.

Voting no: Holden.

Sanctions on Iran. Voting 410-11, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 1905) to toughen U.S. economic sanctions on Iran. The bill would deny access to U.S. financial markets to any global enterprise whose investments and commercial activity help sustain Iran's nuclear weapons program.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.

2012 intelligence budget. Voting 396-23, the House on Friday sent to President Obama the conference report on a fiscal 2012 budget (HR 1892) of about $55 billion for U.S. intelligence agencies, up 4 percent from 2011.

A yes vote backed the conference report.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.

Voting no: Fattah.

Republican payroll-tax plan. Voting 234-193, the House on Tuesday passed a Republican bill (HR 3630) to renew through 2012 the temporary law under which employees this year are contributing 4.2 percent of their pay rather than the standard 6.2 percent to the Social Security Trust Fund.

The bill also would speed construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to southern Texas; repeal Environmental Protection Agency air-pollution curbs on industrial boilers; extend soon-to-expire unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless; reduce the maximum number of weeks for jobless checks from 99 to 59 while allowing states to impose requirements such as testing recipients for drugs; extend for two years existing Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors; and allow businesses to write off 100 percent of capital investments in a single year.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Dent, Gerlach, Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, Pitts, Meehan, Runyan, and Smith.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.

Senate

2012 military budget. Voting 86-13, the Senate on Thursday sent President Obama the conference report on a $662 billion military budget for fiscal 2012. In addition to provisions noted above, the bill (HR 1540) would raise military pay by 1.6 percent; authorize but suspend $700 million in military aid to Pakistan; expand U.S. support of antidrug efforts in South and Central America, Central Asia, and West Africa; authorize $12.8 billion for training and equipping Afghan security forces, and cap personnel levels at 562,000 for the Army, 332,800 for the Air Force, 325,700 for the Navy, and 202,100 for the Marine Corps.

A yes vote backed the conference report.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).

Social Security tax holiday. Voting 89-10, the Senate on Saturday sent the House a bill (HR 3630) to extend through February the temporary tax holiday and economic stimulus under which 160 million U.S. workers are contributing 4.2 percent of their pay to Social Security, down from the standard 6.2 percent.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez, and Toomey.

Fiscal 2012 appropriations. Voting 67-32, senators on Saturday sent President Obama a bill (HR 2055) to appropriate $915 billion in fiscal 2012 for the 10 cabinet departments and numerous agencies that still await regular budgets for the fiscal year that began three months ago. This completes regular funding of the government through Sept. 30.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

Voting no: Toomey.

GOP balanced-budget amendment. Voting 47-53, the Senate on Wednesday defeated a GOP-sponsored constitutional amendment (SJ Res 10) requiring the federal budget to be balanced yearly unless the nation is at war or two-thirds majorities in both chambers vote for deficit spending in peacetime.

A yes vote backed the GOP amendment.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

Democrats' budget amendment. Voting 21-79, the Senate on Wednesday defeated a Democratic alternative (SJ Res 24) to the GOP balanced-budget amendment (above). The alternative would have protected Social Security against cuts, prohibiting tax cuts for millionaires, and not limiting annual spending to a share of GDP or requiring supermajority votes for raising taxes.

A yes vote backed the Democratic amendment.

Voting yes: Carper and Casey.

Voting no: Coons, Menendez, Lautenberg, and Toomey.

Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte. Voting 49-37, the Senate on Monday failed to reach 60 votes for ending a Republican filibuster aimed at removing Mari Carmen Aponte as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. She has held the post for 15 months as a recess appointee not subject to Senate confirmation. That appointment is set to expire Dec. 31.

A yes vote was in support of Aponte.

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

Voting no: Toomey.

This week. The House will take up a Senate-passed bill extending the Social Security payroll-tax cut for two months. Congress then will adjourn for the year. The House will open its 2012 session on Jan. 17 and the Senate on Jan. 23.