WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending July 23.

HOUSE Stock options

Voting 312 for and 111 against, the House on July 20 blocked a proposal by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that companies count stock options as a business expense.

The FASB sets rules for the accounting profession that the Securities and Exchange Commission then accepts or rejects. Under this bill (HR 3574), a company would be required to count as an expense only the options held by its five highest-paid executives. For other employees, the bill continues a loophole by which options are not treated as a cost of doing business even though they represent a future debit. A form of corporate pay, stock options allow employees to buy company equities at a set price and sell them when shares rise.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-1, voted yes. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-2, voted yes.

Accounting rules

Voting 114 for and 308 against, the House on July 20 refused to uphold the Securities and Exchange Commission’s traditional authority to set accounting rules for corporations. This preserved language in HR 3574 (above) that allows Congress to override the SEC and the Financial Standards Accounting Board on the issue of whether companies should be required to count stock options as a business expense.

A yes vote backed SEC rather than congressional authority to set accounting rules.

Allen and Michaud voted no.

Vietnam human rights

Voting 323 for and 45 against, the House on July 19 passed a bill (HR 1587) requiring Vietnam to improve its human rights practices as a condition of receiving U.S. non-humanitarian aid. The bill, which awaits Senate action, denies such aid unless the president certifies that Vietnam has made progress in areas such as releasing political and religious prisoners and ending government involvement in slave trafficking.

A yes vote was to link aid to Vietnam to its human rights record.

Allen and Michaud voted yes.

SENATE

Ninth Circuit

The Senate on July 20 failed, 53 for and 44 against, to reach 60 votes needed to advance the nomination of William G. Myers III to the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. GOP leaders needed 60 votes to end Democrats’ delay and force a direct vote on the nominee.

Myers, now a private attorney in Boise, Idaho, formerly was solicitor of the Department of the Interior under President Bush. Democrats objected to his record and statements on environmental issues, while Republicans predicted he would serve as a fair-minded jurist and add ideological balance to the Ninth Circuit. Through July 22, the Senate had confirmed 198 of President Bush’s judicial nominees and blocked or stalled action on ten.

Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, called Myers “a highly respected attorney who has had extensive experience in the field of natural resources, public lands and environmental law. His nomination enjoys widespread support from across the ideological and political spectrum.”

A yes vote was to advance the nomination.

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

Sixth Circuit

Voting 52 for and 46 against, the Senate on July 22 failed to reach 60 votes for advancing the nomination of Judge Henry W. Saad to the Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The nominee now sits on the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Through July 22, the Senate had confirmed 198 of President Bush’s judicial nominees and blocked or stalled action on ten.

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said: “This is an historic appointment. Upon his confirmation, Judge Saad will become the first Arab-American to sit on the Sixth Circuit, which covers the States of Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan…. Judge Saad’s credentials for this position are impeccable.”

Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said that “most troubling” about the nominee’s record as a Michigan judge “are his decisions and reversals in cases involving the application of the law in civil rights cases, particularly in sexual harassment cases.” She said his decisions “also demonstrate hostility to the rights of whistleblowers.”

A yes vote was to advance the nomination.

Snowe and Collins voted yes.

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