October 9, 2015

House Leadership

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has withdrawn his name from consideration for Speaker of the House. At this writing it is unclear how the leadership situation will be resolved or what it will mean for legislative activity in the House. What is clear, however, is that no Republican has reached the 218 vote threshold necessary to be elected Speaker. There are many issues that must be dealt with soon, including transportation funding which expires on October 29th and the debt ceiling which the Treasury Department estimates will be reached in early November. Speaker Boehner has indicated he will stay on the job until his replacement has been chosen. After yesterday’s news, it is likely that Speaker Boehner will continue serving into November. I hope this means Congress can resolve some of the pressing issues we face rather than just extending deadlines yet again.

More Women’s Health

On Wednesday the House considered H.Res. 461, Establishing a Select Investigative Committee on Energy and Commerce. The purpose of this committee is quite simply, to malign and defund Planned Parenthood based on the misleading and discredited videos that anti-choice advocates secretly recorded.

To date, there are three ongoing Congressional investigations into Planned Parenthood. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Energy and Commerce Committee are all conducting investigations. H.Res. 461 creates a fourth unlimited taxpayer-funded investigation. This new committee has no deadline for releasing findings and its Chair can issue subpoenas. The committee doesn’t even have to be made up of members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, as is customary. Instead, only the Chair must come from that committee.

Over 90% of Planned Parenthood’s services involve cancer screenings and other preventive care. Yet the purpose of this new investigation is to defund its clinics, greatly diminishing patient access to health care. I voted NO. H.Res. 461 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

Home Mortgages

Also on Wednesday the House considered H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act. Instead of assisting homebuyers as the title suggests, H.R. 3192 is really about undermining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) established through Dodd-Frank. One of its responsibilities was to draft a rule combining a series of disclosures mortgage lenders are required to make under existing law. The idea was to make these disclosures clearer and easier for consumers to understand. The CFPB rule was finalized and went into effect earlier this month. H.R. 3192 delays the new rule until February of 2016 even though it was already implemented. I voted NO. H.R. 3192 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

NEPA

Yesterday the House considered H.R. 538, the Native American Energy Act. Proponents claim this legislation will enhance energy production on Native American tribal lands. Instead, it weakens the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by limiting the amount of time proposed energy projects can be reviewed. H.R. 538 gives the Department of the Interior 60 days to review appraisals and if no action is taken, approval is automatic. H.R. 538 also allows only tribal members and those living in areas specifically impacted by proposed projects to weigh in under NEPA, narrowing the scope of environmental review. I voted NO. H.R. 538 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

Oil

On Friday the House considered H.R. 702, to Adapt to Changing Crude Oil Market Conditions. This legislation removes the oil export ban included in the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which will allow for the export of domestic crude oil. It prohibits the U.S. from imposing new restrictions or enforcing existing restrictions on any domestic crude oil exports. H.R. 702 goes too far because it essentially eliminates the authority to impose any restrictions at all on the export of crude oil. I voted NO. H.R. 702 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

What’s Up Next

A District Work period has been scheduled. The next House votes will take place on Tuesday October 20th.