Congressional votes for July 10

Besides roll call votes, the Senate and House also took action on legislation by voice vote. The Senate also passed the E-Warranty Act (S. 1359), to allow manufacturers of consumer products to meet warranty and labeling requirements by displaying warranty terms online. The House also passed the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act (H.R. 907), to improve cooperation with Jordan on military issues.

HOUSE VOTES

ID CARDS FOR VETERANS: The House concurred in the Senate amendment to the Veterans Identification Card Act (H.R. 91), sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. The bill would require the Veterans Affairs Department to issue identification cards, in exchange for a fee, when requested by military veterans. The vote, on July 7, was unanimous with 411 yeas.

YEAS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th), Graves (MO) R-MO (6th), Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

OIL, GAS ROYALTY RATES: The House passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Stevan Pearce, R-N.M., to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2822). The amendment would bar any increase in royalty rates paid to the federal government for oil and natural gas produced on government lands. The vote, on July 8, was 231 yeas to 198 nays.

YEAS: Graves (MO) R-MO (6th), Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

NAYS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th)

COMMON CORE STANDARDS: The House passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Lee M. Zeldin, R-N.Y., to the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The amendment would allow a state to withdraw from the federal government's Common Core State Standards for primary education or any other education standards set out by the federal government. The vote, on July 8, was 373 yeas to 57 nays.

YEAS: Graves (MO) R-MO (6th), Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

NAYS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th)

TECHNOLOGY AND RURAL SCHOOLS: The House passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. David Loebsack, D-Iowa, to the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The amendment would authorize the issuance of Education Department grants to rural schools for the deployment of digital learning technologies. The vote, on July 8, was 218 yeas to 213 nays.

YEAS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th), Graves (MO) R-MO (6th)

NAYS: Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

OPTING OUT OF STUDENT TESTING: The House passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., to the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The amendment would require states to allow parents to exempt their children from federally mandated student tests for any reason, with those children not counted in federal testing participation requirements. The vote, on July 8, was 251 yeas to 178 nays.

YEAS: Graves (MO) R-MO (6th), Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

NAYS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th)

FEDERAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS: The House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), sponsored by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn. The bill would maintain federal testing and academic standards for primary education, repeal an array of federal education programs and mandates, and establish new grant programs for states and school districts. The vote, on July 8, was 218 yeas to 213 nays.

YEAS: Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

NAYS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th), Graves (MO) R-MO (6th)

LEGAL CHALLENGES TO FORESTRY MANAGEMENT: The House rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., to the Resilient Forests Act (H.R. 2647). The amendment would have struck from the bill a provision requiring groups presenting legal challenges to forestry management decisions to post bonds for covering the government's cost of responding to the challenges, should those challenges be rejected in court. The vote, on July 9, was 181 yeas to 247 nays.

YEAS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th)

NAYS: Graves (MO) R-MO (6th), Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

CHANGING FOREST MANAGEMENT: The House passed the Resilient Forests Act (H.R. 2647), sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark. The bill would allow expedited environmental review of plans to remove dead trees from burned forests and reforest those lands, and allow FEMA to transfer funds to the Forest Service to cover the cost of fighting forest fires. The vote, on July 9, was 262 yeas to 167 nays.

YEAS: Graves (MO) R-MO (6th), Hartzler R-MO (4th), Long R-MO (7th), Luetkemeyer R-MO (3rd), Smith (MO) R-MO (8th), Wagner R-MO (2nd)

NAYS: Clay D-MO (1st), Cleaver D-MO (5th)

SENATE VOTES

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate confirmed the nomination of Kara Farnandez Stoll to serve as a judge on the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The vote, on July 7, was unanimous with 95 yeas.

YEAS: Blunt R-MO, McCaskill D-MO

GRANTS FOR AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION: The Senate passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177). The amendment would authorize four federal title VII grant programs for American Indian schools. The vote, on July 8, was 56 yeas to 41 nays.

YEAS: McCaskill D-MO

NAYS: Blunt R-MO

SEXUAL PREDATORS IN SCHOOLS: The Senate passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., to the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177). The amendment would require states, in order to receive federal education funding, to pass laws against a school knowingly recommending that another school hire a convicted sexual offender. The vote, on July 9, was unanimous with 98 yeas.

YEAS: Blunt R-MO, McCaskill D-MO

CONFERENCE ON MILITARY SPENDING BILL: The Senate agreed to a cloture motion to end debate on a motion sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to insist on the Senate amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1735), and go to conference with the House to resolve the two chambers' differing versions of the bill. The vote to end debate, on July 9, was 81 yeas to 15 nays. Following the vote, the Senate agreed by voice vote to go to conference with the House.

YEAS: Blunt R-MO, McCaskill D-MO

MILITARY FUNDING AND BUDGET SEQUESTER: The Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1735). The amendment would have instructed Senate conferees with the House to insist the final version of the bill negotiated by the two chambers include the $50.9 billion of overseas contingency operations funding and $534.3 billion of base funding requested by President Barack Obama, overriding sequestration spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act. The vote, on July 9, was 44 yeas to 52 nays.

YEAS: McCaskill D-MO

NAYS: Blunt R-MO