By Thomas Voting Reports

WASHINGTON – Here’s how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Oct. 7.

HOUSE
Homeland security budget

Voting 347 for and 70 against, members on Oct. 6 approved the conference report on a bill (HR 2360) appropriating $30.8 billion for the Department of Homeland Security in fiscal 2006, including $6.3 billion for the Transportation Security Administration, $3.4 billion for immigration and customs enforcement, and $1.8 billion for border protection. The bill provides $2.6 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency while shifting FEMA’s preparedness functions to a new, multi-agency unit.

Additionally, the measure cuts three of the four major grants programs for first responders and reduces funding to hire airport screeners. It provides $3.3 billion for grants to first responders, which for the first time will be weighted in favor of high-threat metropolitan areas.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-1, voted no. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-2, voted no.

Energy changes

Voting 212 for and 210 against, members on Oct. 7 passed a bill (HR 3893) to spur construction of oil refineries and pipelines while softening related environmental measures, including ones that reduce refinery and power plant emissions and require cleaner burning gasoline. The bill, which awaits Senate action, seeks to end a nearly 30-year hiatus in the construction of new refineries in the United States.

The bill empowers the president to order refinery construction on federal lands, including abandoned military bases; gives governors more power to designate refinery sites; allows taxpayer reimbursement of refineries for any excessive litigation or regulatory delays, and empowers the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expedite pipeline siting and construction.

Allen and Michaud voted no.

Gasoline price gouging

Members on Oct. 7 rejected, 199 for and 222 against, a Democratic amendment to HR 3893 (above) empowering the Federal Trade Commission to legally define price gouging at the gasoline pump and impose civil penalties on companies of up to three times the amount of ill-gotten profits.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Allen and Michaud voted yes.

SENATE
2006 Defense budget

Voting 97 for and none against, senators on Oct. 7 approved a $445 billion military spending bill for fiscal 2006. The bill (HR 2863) provides $50 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, raising total outlays for both theaters to more than $327 billion since actions began. The bill funds a 3.1 percent military pay raise, increases the military death benefit to $100,000 and provides $3.9 billion to prepare the nation for an expected avian flu pandemic.

A yes vote was to pass the appropriations bill.

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

Humane treatment

Senators on Oct. 5 voted, 90 for and nine against, to require the U.S. military to adhere to the United Nations Convention Against Torture prohibition against “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” and to follow Army Field Manual rules for humane treatment of prisoners. The United States is a signatory to the U.N. treaty. But the administration argues the pact does not apply to U.S. interrogations occurring outside of the United States, such as at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or in Afghanistan and Iraq. The amendment was added to HR 2863 (above).

A yes vote backed the ban on torture by the U.S. military.

Snowe and Collins voted yes.