Winston Salem Journal: Roll Call Votes in Congress for December 18, 2011

By Journal Now Staff

Here's how members of North Carolina's congressional delegation voted on major issues in the week ending Friday.

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 requires that captured members of organizations such as al-Qaida be held in U.S. military custody and subjected to military justice. But terrorist suspects apprehended on U.S. soil who are U.S. citizens or resident aliens must be assigned to America's civilian criminal-justice system and thus accorded constitutional rights of due process. The bill toughens economic sanctions against Iran by denying access to the U.S. financial system to any foreign bank that conducts business with the Central Bank of Iran.

A yes vote backed the conference report.  Voting yes: Reps. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st; Renee Ellmers, R-2nd; Virginia Foxx, R-5th; Mike McIntyre, D-7th; Larry Kissell, D-8th; Patrick T. McHenry, R-10th; Heath Shuler, D-11th.

Voting no: Reps. Walter B. Jones, R-3rd; David E. Price, D-4th; Melvin L. Watt, D-12th; Brad Miller, D-13th.  Not voting: Howard Coble, R-6th; Sue Wilkins Myrick, R-9th.

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.  The bill awaited Senate action.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Ellmers, Jones, Foxx, Myrick, McHenry

Voting no: Butterfield, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller.  Not voting: Coble.

Sanctions on Iran: Voting 410-11, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 1905) to toughen existing U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Jones, Price, Foxx, McIntyre, Kissell, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller  Not voting: Coble, Myrick

2012 intelligence budget: Voting 396-23, the House on Friday sent to President Barack 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. When certain military outlays are counted, the total U.S. spy budget for 2012 is expected to top $85 billion. A yes vote backed the conference report.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, McIntyre, Kissell, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Jones   Not voting: Coble, Myrick

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. The bill grants major spending increases to the Pentagon and Securities and Exchange Commission while imposing flat, reduced or only slightly increased budgets on most other departments and agencies. When combined with regular appropriations enacted last month, the bill raises total 2012 discretionary spending to the $1.043 trillion mark set by last summer's bipartisan deal on raising the debt ceiling.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, McIntyre, Kissell, Myrick, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Jones, McHenry.  Not voting: Coble


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