Area Votes in Congress

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

House

Republican spending cuts. Voting 235-189, the House passed a Republican bill (HR 1) to reduce non-security discretionary spending by $60 billion below current levels in the remaining seven months of fiscal 2011. This amounts to a cut of 13 percent when averaged over the full year and 22 percent between March 4 and Sept. 30.

The bill awaits Senate action on a competing Democratic measure. The government is likely to be shut down March 4 if the parties fail to settle their differences by then.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).

Planned Parenthood. Voting 240-185, the House acted to end federal funding this fiscal year for Planned Parenthood of America, a private organization that provides reproductive health services at 800 clinics nationwide. Planned Parenthood provides abortions, but in keeping with a prohibition in federal law known as the Hyde Amendment, it cannot use federal funds for that purpose. This vote during debate on HR 1 (above) would deny the organization $75 million or more in federal funding.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

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

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

USA Patriot Act. Voting 279-143, the House sent President Obama a bill (HR 514) to extend for 90 days the only sections of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act that are not yet permanent law. The three sections authorize roving wiretaps on terrorist suspects, allow surveillance of suspects not linked to terrorist organizations, and permit secretive searches of business, library, bookstore, tax, medical, and other records during terrorism investigations. Congress will use the 90 days to conduct hearings on right-of-privacy concerns raised by these sections.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

Voting no: Brady, Fattah, and Fitzpatrick.

F-35 fighter budget. The House voted, 233-198, to strip the fiscal 2011 military budget of its $485 million for continued development of a backup engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The cut was included in a GOP bill (HR 1) to sharply reduce spending in the remaining months of the budget year. The Pentagon hopes to purchase more than 2,400 of the radar-evading F-35 fighters over three decades.

A yes vote was to cut military spending.

Voting yes: Brady, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Holden, Meehan, and Schwartz.

Voting no: Andrews, Carney, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Community police grants. The House voted, 228-203, to spend $228 million in fiscal 2011 for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and reduce NASA's space-exploration budget by the same amount. This would continue a Democratic program targeted for elimination by the Republicans' budget-cutting plan (HR 1, above). The COPS program provides local police departments with grants for putting officers on the beat and buying crime-fighting technology.

A yes vote was to continue the COPS program.

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

Voting no: Pitts.

Internet neutrality. Voting 244-181, the House stripped the Federal Communications Commission of funding to advance its recent rule aimed at keeping the Internet equally available to all users. The FCC said the rule is intended to preserve "Net neutrality," in part by preventing different levels of broadband service. Critics said the agency lacks authority to regulate the Internet.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

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

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

Greenhouse gases. The House voted, 239-185, to sharply reduce funding for the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program under which power plants, refineries, and other major polluters must disclose emissions data to the Environmental Protection Agency. The amendment to HR 1 (above) shifted $8.5 million of the program's $16 million budget to deficit reduction.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

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

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fitzpatrick, and Schwartz.

Not voting: Carney and Fattah.

Senate

Federal aviation budget. Voting 87-8, the Senate passed a $35 billion two-year authorization of federal aviation programs. The bill (S 223) uses a combination of general appropriations and user fees such as fuel and passenger-ticket taxes to fund the U.S. aviation system.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

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

Not voting: Chris Coons (D., Del.).

Aviation budget cut. Voting 51-47, the Senate tabled (killed) an amendment to S 223 (above) to cut the Federal Aviation Administration budget by more than $2 billion annually, to the fiscal 2008 level of $14.7 billion.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

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

Voting no: Toomey.

Air-service subsidies. The Senate voted, 61-38, to preserve the Essential Air Service program, which uses $200 million annually in taxpayer subsidies to provide commercial service to 1.1 million travelers in more than 150 small cities and rural outposts.

A yes vote backed the Essential Air Service program.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, and Coons.

Voting no: Menendez, Lautenberg, and Toomey.

USA Patriot Act. Voting 86-12, the Senate passed a bill (HR 514) to extend for 90 days the three sections of the USA Patriot Act that have not yet been added permanently to the U.S. Code. Congress will determine whether to make the sections permanent or continue to subject them to periodic congressional review. The House later sent the bill to President Obama.

A yes vote was to temporarily extend the three sections.

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

Voting no: Lautenberg.

Airport screeners' rights. Voting 47-51, the Senate refused to block an administration plan to provide Transportation Security Administration personnel with limited collective-bargaining rights. Under the plan, TSA employees such as passenger screeners would be empowered to bargain over working conditions but could not strike or bargain over pay. A yes vote opposed collective-bargaining rights for TSA employees.

Voting yes: Toomey.

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

This week. Congress is in recess until the week of Feb. 28.