Area Votes in Congress

WASHINGTON - The House was not in session, having already adjourned for the year. Here's how area senators voted on major issues last week:

Senate

Confirmation of surgeon general. Voting 51-43, the Senate on Monday confirmed Vivek H. Murthy, 37, as the 19th surgeon general of the United States, after months of National Rifle Association opposition based, in part, on his assertion that gun violence is a public-health issue. As the government's top medical official, Murthy is in charge of explaining health issues such as Ebola to the American public and overseeing national strategies for disease prevention and control. Murthy is a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

A yes vote was to confirm Murthy as surgeon general.

Voting yes: Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

Voting no: Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).

Confirmation of immigration chief. By a vote of 55-39, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Sarah R. Saldana, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security. Saldana, 63, drew Republican opposition over President Obama's recent executive order that would shield from deportation more than four million undocumented immigrants who have children born before Nov. 20, 2014, who are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

Menendez said the presidential order will help many to come "out of the shadows, register with the government, pass a criminal-background check, get a work permit, pay taxes and no longer live in fear of having their families ripped apart."

A yes vote was to confirm Saldana as director of ICE.

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

Voting no: Toomey.

Confirmation of deputy secretary of state. Voting 55-38, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Antony "Tony" Blinken as deputy secretary of state. Blinken, 52, had been deputy national security adviser to President Obama and foreign-affairs adviser to Vice President Biden. While supporters called Blinken well-qualified for the Department of State's second-ranking position, Republican critics said his confirmation would only worsen failed administration policies abroad.

A yes vote was to confirm Blinken as deputy secretary of state.

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

Voting no: Toomey.

Accounts for the disabled, extension of tax breaks. Voting 76-16, the Senate on Tuesday sent the White House a bill (HR 5771) to enact the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) law, which establishes special savings accounts for disabled people. Asset growth in these accounts could be used to pay a range of basic living and education expenses, with distributions free of federal taxation. Medicare cuts would be used to help pay ABLE's 2.1 billion cost over 10 years.

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

Voting no: Toomey.

Next. The 114th Congress is scheduled to convene Jan. 6.