How Lehigh Valley-area lawmakers voted last week [The Morning Call]

VOTES IN THE U.S. HOUSE

HR.8463: Millennium Challenge Corporation Eligibility Expansion Act

Voting 334 for and 87 against, the house voted Thursday on this bill.

Yes: Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1st (Bucks, parts of Montgomery and Philadelphia); Madeleine Dean, D-4th (Montgomery, parts of Berks); Susan Wild, D-7th (Lehigh, Northampton, parts of Monroe); Matt Cartwright, D-8th (most of Monroe); Dan Meuser, R-9th (Schuylkill, parts of Carbon and Berks)

HR 8446: Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022

Voting 331 for and 95 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that reauthorizes through Fiscal Year 2028 activities to implement the Global Food Security Strategy, an effort to promote global food security, resilience and nutrition. The bill also modifies aspects of the strategy, such as requiring it to seek to improve the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

S2794: Supporting Families of the Fallen Act

Voting 425 for and 0 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that increases from $400,000 to $500,000 the maximum coverage amount for members (or former members) of a uniformed service under the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance program and the Veterans’ Group Life Insurance program.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

HR 8888: Food Security for All Veterans Act

Voting 376 for and 49 against, the house voted Thursday on this bill, which would create an Office of Food Security in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The office would help make sure veterans don’t go hungry, by informing them about federal nutrition assistance programs and creating programs to help veterans who don’t have enough food, among other things.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

S3662: Preventing PFAS Runoff at Airports Act

Voting 381 for and 42 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that temporarily allows the Federal Aviation Administration to cover 100% of the costs for airports to purchase and deploy equipment to test fire suppression systems that contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances without discharging such substances. (PFAS are manmade substances and may cause adverse human health effects.)

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

HR 7321: Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act

Voting 374 for and 52 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that addresses safety standards related to foreign aircraft repair stations. Among other things, the bill requires that all foreign aircraft repair stations be subject to at least one unannounced safety inspection each year; requires air carriers to submit monthly reports to the Federal Aviation Administration with respect to maintenance, preventive maintenance or alterations of an aircraft; sets forth minimum qualifications for mechanics and others working on U.S. registered aircraft at foreign repair stations; and establishes a moratorium on FAA certification of new foreign aircraft repair stations if certain regulations are not implemented within one year.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

HR 6965: Visit America Act

Voting 325 for and 93 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that implements measures to support the U.S. travel and tourism industry and to address the declining percentage of international visitors to the United States.

Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Commerce to develop a 10-year travel and tourism strategy with annual goals for the number of international visitors to the United States and for travel exports.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright

No: Meuser

S958: Maximizing Outcomes through Better Investments in Lifesaving Equipment for Health Care Act

Voting 414 for and 7 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that allows a health center that receives funding through a Health Resources & Services Administration Health Center Program grant to use a New Access Point grant to set up a mobile unit regardless of whether the health center also establishes a permanent health care delivery site.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

S.2551: Artificial Intelligence Training for the Acquisition Workforce Act

Voting 393 for and 29 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that requires the Office of Management and Budget to establish or otherwise provide an artificial intelligence training program for the acquisition workforce of executive agencies (e.g., those responsible for program management or logistics), with exceptions.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

S3470: End Human Trafficking in Government Contracts Act of 2022

Voting 423 for and 0 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that requires the implementation of certain contracting provisions related to human trafficking.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

HR 8466: Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act of 2022

Voting 351 for and 73 against, the house voted Thursday on this bill, which requires federal agencies to develop and disclose safety plans that contain certain information for on-site employees and contractors during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19. Specifically, the bill requires each agency to post a safety plan on its website that includes descriptions of the personal protective equipment the agency will provide to on-site employees and contractors; protections for employees whose work requires them to travel off-site; and testing, contact-tracing and vaccination protocols, among other requirements.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

S4900: SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022

Voting 415 for and 9 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that reauthorizes through Fiscal Year 2025 and modifies the Small Business Innovation Research program, the Small Business Technology Transfer program and related pilot programs. The SBIR and STTR programs are administered by various federal agencies and provide competitive awards for domestic small businesses to conduct research and development projects that have the potential for commercialization.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

HR 3843: Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022

Voting 242 for and 184 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that modifies and expands the schedule for graduated merger filing fees and requires that such fees be adjusted each year based on the Consumer Price Index.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright

No: Meuser

HR 7780: Mental Health Matters Act

Voting 220 for and 205 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that requires certain federal actions to increase access to mental and behavioral health care. Among other provisions, the bill creates various grants to increase the number of school-based mental health services providers, establishes requirements for institutions of higher education concerning students with disabilities, and prohibits arbitration and discretionary clauses in employer-sponsored benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright

No: Meuser

HR 3482: National Center for the Advancement of Aviation Act of 2022

Voting 369 for and 56 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that establishes the National Center for the Advancement of Aviation to serve as a national independent forum to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between aviation and aerospace stakeholders to support and promote civil and military aviation and aerospace.

Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright, Meuser

HR 1396: Voting 217 for and 212 against, the House on Wednesday set forth the rule for consideration of the bill HR 3843 to promote antitrust enforcement and protect competition through adjusting premerger filing fees, and increasing antitrust enforcement resources; providing for consideration of the bill HR 7780 to support the behavioral needs of students and youth, invest in the school-based behavioral health workforce, and ensure access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits; providing for consideration of the bill S 3969 to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to explicitly authorize distribution of grant funds to the voting accessibility protection and advocacy system of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the system serving the American Indian consortium, and for other purposes.

Yes: Dean, Wild, Cartwright

No: Fitzpatrick, Meuser

U.S. SENATE

HR 6833: Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023

Voting 72 for and 25 against, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill that limits cost-sharing for insulin under private health insurance and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Specifically, the bill caps cost-sharing under private health insurance for a month’s supply of selected insulin products at $35 or 25% of a plan’s negotiated price (after any price concessions), whichever is less, beginning in 2023.

Yes: Bob Casey, D

No: Pat Toomey, R