A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Maryland
Roscoe Bartlett, R-6, yes
Pennsylvania
Bill Shuster, R-9, yes
West Virginia
Shelley Moore Capito, R-2, yes
Credit card rules
Voting 331 for and 92 against, the House on Nov. 4 passed a bill (HR 3639) giving credit card firms a tighter deadline for starting pro-consumer policies enacted in May by Congress. Under the bill, reforms originally required to be in place by Feb. 22, 2010, would be advanced to Dec. 1. The rationale is that the sooner the rules take effect, the easier it will be for cardholders to cope with the recession.
In part, the law enacted in May requires credit card firms to apply payments to the highest interest portion of cardholder debt; freezes interest rates on new accounts for one year and locks in promotional rates for six months; requires 45 days' notice of rate increases; prohibits changes in contract terms until renewal; bans due-date gimmickry; allows cardholders to set personal credit limits above which transactions cannot be processed; and sets 21 as the minimum age for obtaining a card in most circumstances.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Maryland
Bartlett, yes
Pennsylvania
Shuster, yes
West Virginia
Capito, yes
Federal reserve
Voting 171 for and 253 against, the House on Nov. 4 defeated a GOP bid to allow the Federal Reserve to veto the Dec. 1 deadline in HR 3639 and keep Feb. 22, 2010, as the date for starting credit card reforms. The Fed is charged with overseeing credit cards under terms enacted by Congress.
A yes vote backed the GOP motion.
Maryland
Bartlett, yes
Pennsylvania
Shuster, yes
West Virginia
Capito, yes
Chemical plant security
Voting 230 for and 193 against, the House on Nov. 6 passed a bill (HR 2868) to permanently extend chemical plant security requirements that otherwise would expire in October 2010. In part, the rules require some 6,000 facilities that manufacture or store chemicals to establish plans to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks, conduct background checks on employees and allow Department of Homeland Security inspections. The bill also requires public and private sewage treatment facilities to put in place similar anti-terrorism measures.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Maryland
Bartlett, no
Pennsylvania
Shuster, no
West Virginia
Capito, no
Israel, United Nations
Voting 344 for and 36 against, the House on Nov. 3 denounced a United Nations report that charges Israel committed war crimes by inflicting heavy civilian casualties during war in Gaza last December and January. Prepared by South African jurist Richard Goldstone for the U.N. Human Rights Council, the report also charges Hamas with war crimes in its launching of rockets against Israeli civilians. The vote adopted H Res 867, a nonbinding measure.
A yes vote backed the resolution.
Maryland
Bartlett, yes
Pennsylvania
Shuster, yes
West Virginia
Capito, yes
SENATE
Jobless benefits, tax breaks
Voting 98 for and none against, the Senate on Nov. 4 sent the House a bill (HR 3548) that would provide at least 14 more weeks of jobless checks to the long-term unemployed in all states and 20 more weeks to persons in states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Maryland
Barbara Mikulski, D, yes
Benjamin Cardin, D, yes
Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter, D, yes
Robert Casey Jr., D, yes
West Virginia
Robert Byrd, D, not voting
John Rockefeller, D, yes
Justice Department budget
Voting 71 for and 28 against, the Senate on Nov. 5 sent to conference with the House a bill (HR 2847) appropriating $64.4 billion for the fiscal 2010 budgets of the Justice and Commerce departments, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency and several other agencies. The bill represents a 12 percent spending increase over 2009.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Maryland
Mikulski, yes
Cardin, yes
Pennsylvania
Specter, yes
Casey, yes
West Virginia
Byrd, not voting
Rockefeller, yes
Sept. 11 prisoner trials
Voting 54 for and 45 against, the Senate on Nov. 5 tabled an amendment to HR 2847 to prohibit the government from prosecuting Sept. 11 terrorist suspects in federal civilian courts. The amendment sought to require suspects such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 architect, to be tried before military commissions. The administration wants the option of either civilian or military trials for Sept. 11 suspects.
A yes vote was to kill the amendment.
Maryland
Mikulski, yes
Cardin, yes
Pennsylvania
Specter, yes
Casey, yes
West Virginia
Byrd, not voting
Rockefeller, yes
Key votes ahead
In the week of Nov. 9, the House likely will be in recess and the Senate will debate the 2010 military construction budget.
