WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending May 9.

HOUSE Tax cuts

Voting 222 for and 203 against, the House on May 9 passed a Republican bill (HR 2) projected to cut business and personal taxes by $550 billion over 11 years. The bill, which awaits Senate action, would begin a second round of Bush administration tax cuts, following a $1.35 trillion package enacted two years ago.

Critics said the new cuts could actually reach $1 billion or more because future Congresses probably will renew certain reductions that the bill defines as temporary to stay within budget rules.

The legislation reduces the capital gains rate to 15 percent from the 20 percent rate now in effect for most individuals. It lower the top rate on dividends to 15 percent, down from rates as high as 38.6 percent for top-bracket payers.

Also, the bill lowers personal rates in the top brackets (accounting for $74 billion or 14 percent of the $550 billion); increases the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption ($53 billion or 9.6%); raises the child tax credit from $600 to $1,000 per child ($45 billion or 8.2%); eliminate the “marriage tax” penalty ($43 billion or 7.8%); provide business cuts in areas such as depreciation schedules ($29 billion or 7.9%); widen the 10 percent personal bracket ($19 billion or 3.5%); While much of its stimulative impact is years away, the plan calls for families to immediately receive rebates of the added $400 in child tax credits.

Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said growth generated by the bill “will help us support and fund the war on terror….Prosperity without security is fleeting and security without prosperity is impossible.”

John Tanner, D-Tenn., called it “shameful” that the pricetag would generate deficit obligations for those who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. “No president and no Congress since the War of 1812 has sent people into war and then tried no way to pay for it,” he said.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Rep. Tom Allen, D, voted no. Rep. Michael Michaud, D, voted no.

Deficit issue

The House on May 9 rejected, 202 for and 218 against, a bid by Democrats to send HR 2 (above) back to the Ways and Means Committee to be put on a pay-as-you-go rather than deficit-spending basis.

Charles Stenholm, D-Tex., told Republicans “you will have to borrow not only the $550 billion but also the $240 billion in interest to pay for this….”

Bill Thomas, R-Calif., said the motion “kills tax relief, job creation and economic growth.”

A yes vote backed pay-as-you-go for HR 2.

Allen and Michaud voted yes.

Jobs, religion

Voting 220 for and 204 against, the House on May 8 renewed for five years an array of employment programs such as vocational education, literacy instruction and job training. The GOP bill (HR 1261) drew fire because it allows federally funded religious groups to discriminate against persons of other faiths in their staffing and delivery of services. It extends a 1998 law that combined nearly 70 categorical-grant programs into block grants administered by state and local officials. While it authorizes spending of $31.2 billion through fiscal 2008, the amount provided will depend on priorities set during the appropriations process.

The bill awaits Senate action.

Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., said: “Faith-based organizations cannot be expected to sustain their religious mission without the ability to employ individuals who share in their tenets and practices. It is that very faith that motivates these people to help Americans that are in trouble.”

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called it “profoundly unwise to allow the federal government to fund religious discrimination. It is bad for our churches, bad for our workforce, and bad for our society.”

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Allen and Michaud voted no.

Unemployment checks

Voting 202 for and 223 against, the House on May 8 refused to expand HR 1261 (above) to provide extended unemployment benefits for those whose jobless checks expire May 31. The Democratic motion sought to add 13 weeks for individuals already receiving extended benefits and 26 weeks for those exhausting their basic state-federal installment.

George Miller, D-Calif., said the extension is “a decent thing to do, and it is a smart economical thing to do, because this money to these families will enable them to participate in the economy and put demand into the economy.”

Bill Thomas, R-Calif., called the motion “a phony issue” because it is up to the Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs, not the Education and Workforce Committee, to extend jobless benefits. He said his panel “will act” in due course.

A yes vote backed the Democratic motion.

Allen and Michaud voted yes.

SENATE

Watch on foreigners

Voting 90 for and four against, the Senate on May 8 passed a bill making it easier for the government to obtain warrants for surveillance on foreigners suspected of terrorist activity. At present, to obtain a warrant from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the government, among other conditions, must demonstrate a link between the suspect and a country that sponsors terrorism or a known terrorist organization. This bill removes the link requirement. It awaits House action.

Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said the bill is aimed at “lone wolf terrorists” unaffiliated with a hostile country or organization but who “still mean to do us harm on the international stage and should be covered by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”

Opponents called the bill an overly broad infringement on civil liberties.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Sen. Susan Collins, R, voted yes. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R, voted yes.

NATO expansion

The Senate on May 8 ratified, 96 for and none against, a treaty (TD 108-4) allowing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to add Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to its membership of 19 countries.

George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the added members will “directly benefit U.S. interests. Why? They’re strong Atlanticists. They’re allies in the war on terror. …In fact, they have acted as better allies than some of the members that are currently in NATO.”

John Reed, D-R.I., called the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty “perhaps the most successful military alliance in history, ensuring the peace and security of Europe for over fifty years.” He said the new entrants are fledgling democracies that “bring with them a zeal for the democratic process that we all share.”

No senator spoke against the treaty.

Collins and Snowe voted yes.

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