Bryan Watch: Dec 2021 NPL

The House cast 37 votes that were non-partisan in December. Rep. Steil voted with the sensible majority on all of them, so there isn’t much news there. But in the interests of full coverage, here are the mostly mundane votes the House cast during the first two weeks of December.

One Really Bad Party Line Vote

I missed this in the previous story. HR 550, the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act, which seeks to improve data sharing between public health organizations. Republicans were split on this issue 80 to 130. Steil sided with the 130 who were against improving public health care. (RC 388, Nov 30) Possibly Steil’s worst vote for November.

Major NPL Vote

The biggest technically non-party line vote was RC 405 on December 7, which was listed as the National Pulse Memorial Act (to honor the victims of gun violence in Orlando), but was actually the National Defense Authorization Act – the $740 billion Pentagon budget. The Pentagon got its money on a vote of 363 to 70, with Steil and most Republicans (194-19) voting in favor. Opponents tended to be the Progressive Caucus and some of the Crazy Caucus.

Technical Changes to US Code

This takes the cake for boring. Very technical changes to various parts of the United States Code, which defines what is and is not legal in the USA. Here are the six code change bills:

HR 5961, which makes revisions to Title 51 of the US Code, regarding the space program (Passed 411-7, RC 435, Dec 8)

HR 5705, which makes technical amendment to Title 5 of the US Code, regarding financial disclosures by federal officials (Passed 413-3, RC 434, Dec 8)

HR 5705, which makes technical amendments to Title 34 of the US Code, crime control and law enforcement (Passed 415-5, RC 433, Dec 8)

HR 5695, which makes amendments to Chapters 14 and 19 of Title 25, which deals with Native Americans. (Passed 415-5, RC 432, Dec 8)

HR 5679, which makes technical amendments to Titles 7, 20 and 43 of the US Code (Passed 418-2, RC 431, Dec 8). Only reps. Griffith (VA) and Norman (SC) were against this.

HR 5677, which makes technical amendments to Titles 2, 50 and 52 of the US Code (Passed 414-1, RC 430, Dec 8). Only Rep. Griffith (VA) was against.

Historic Sites

Every now and then, Congress will add a new historical site to the National Parks Service. This month there were two of them, one in Texas and one in Washington DC.

HR 4706, Create a National Historic Site at the Blackwell School in Marfa, Texas, the site of a segregated school. Only eight Republicans voted against this, mostly the core group in the Crazy Caucus: Clyde (GA), Fulcher (ID), Higgins (LA), Massie (KY), Miller (IL), Norman (SC), Rosendale (MT), Riy (TX). (Passed 417-8, RC 429, Dec 8)

HR 3531, which would create a memorial for Women who worked on the Homefront during the Second World War (Passed 425-1, RC 428, Dec 8). Tom Massie (KY) was the only member to vote against honoring the women who helped win WW2.

Native American Issues

Native American Issues were big last month and this month, with a major change to how the Department of the Interior handles land issues. Here are the four bills dealing with Native Americans in December:

HR 2074, the Indian Buffalo Management Act, does what it sounds like, helps the Department of Interior provide assistance to Native American tribes with management of their buffalo herds. 52 Republicans actually voted against this (Passed 373-52, RC 427, Dec 8)

HR 897, Agua Caliente Land Exchange Fee Act, which would provide land for the Cahuila natives in southern California (Passed 395-30, RC 426, Dec 8)

HR 5119, which extends the time tribal governments can receive Coronavirus Relief funding through the end of 2022. Amazingly, 41 Republicans opposed this. (Passed 386-41, RC 421, Dec 8)

HR 2930, the Safeguard Tribal Objects Act, which bans the export of certain Native American artifacts (Passed 364-57, RC 401, Dec 2)

Health Care

Health care was a huge issue in December, with a wide range of bills, from data analysis of the impact of poverty of health outcomes to funding various programs at the CDC and NIH.

HR 3894, CARING for Social Determinants, directs the Centers for Medicare to collect data regarding social determinants of health (Passed 378-48, RC 425, Dec 8)

HR 4026, Social Determinants of Health Data Analysis Act, which requires the GAO to study the Department of Health and Human Services in terms of data on social determinants of health conditions (Passed 399-28, RC 387, Nov 30) The 23 Republicans voting against were generally members of the Crazy Caucus,.

HR 3743, dramatically increases funding for the Foundation for the NIH and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA (Passed 374-52, RC 424, Dec 8)

HR 2364 and HR 2535 both dealt with opiod abuse. Both passed by wide margins with primarily the Crazy Caucus voting against ending the scourge of opiod abuse. (HR 264, Passed 411-14, RC 423, Dec 8; RC 2535, Passed 410-15, RC 422, Dec 8)

HR 4555, Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act of 2021, which does pretty much what you would expect. (Passed 369-58, RC 420, Dec 8). Why 58 Republicans are opposed to promoting better oral health is beyond me.

RC 1667, Dr Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which seeks to provide resources to prevent burnout among medical personnel, a major problem over the last two years of the pandemic. (Passed 392-36, RC 419, Dec 8)

HR 5551, the Improving the Health of Children Act, which provides funding for the Centers for Disease Control on birth defects and developmental disabilities (Passed 405-20, RC 418, Dec 8)

HR 5561, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act, which provides funding for research by the CDC and NIH into childhood deafness (Passed 410-17, RC 417, Dec 8). Once again, it was the Crazy Caucus voting against this.

HR 5487, SHINE for Autumn, provides funding for HHS research into stillbirths (Passed 408-18, RC 416, Dec 8)

HR 3537, Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, which provides funding for research into ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) (Passed 423-3, RC 415, Dec 8). Only Tom Massie (KY), Norman (SC) and Chip Roy (TX) voted against this.

China and Human Rights Issues

Three bills on China this month, two dealing with the Uyghur Muslim minority, and one with an Olympic athlete:

H Res 317, a resolution condemning Chinese genocide against the Muslim Uyghur population (Passed 427-1, RC 414, Dec 8). Tom Massie (KY) was the only one to vote against this.

HR 1155, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which seeks to put pressure on the Chinese government regarding the use of Uyghur prisoners in forced labor camps (Passed 428-1, RC 412, Dec 8). Again, Massie was the only one against.

H Res 837, a resolution condemning the International Olympic Committee for its actions in regard to Chines athlete Peng Shuai. (Passed 428-0, RC 413, Dec 8)

Animals

Several bills on agriculture, and another on chronic wasting, plus National Forests (which contain animals)

HR 5608, Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act, promotes research on the disease which affects deer and elk populations. It is a major issue for Wisconsin hunters and the whole Wisconsin delegation voted for it. (Passed 393-33, RC 411, Dec 8)

HR 4489, National Forest Restoration and Remediation Act, charges the financial policies of the National Parks Service (Passed 385-42, RC 410, Dec 8)

HR 5609, Cattle Contract Library Act, creates a public database of contracts offered by meatpackers to farmers and is run by the USDA (Passed 411-13, RC 409, Dec 8). The Crazy Caucus voted against this.

HR 5920, Mandatory Livestock Reporting, extends reporting requirements for the Department of Agriculture (Passed 418-9, RC 408, Dec 8)

Financial Matters

Two fairly boring financial bills, one a highly technical bill on banking interest rates and the other on shipping regulations.

HR 4616, the Adjustable Interest Rate Act, which deals with the phasing out of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in 2023. (Passed 415-9, RC 407, Dec 8)

HR 4996, Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, which like it sounds, revises shipping policies for ocean going traffic (Passed 364-60, RC 406, Dec 8)

Good Government/Computers

Last but hardly least, Congress is trying to take the USA into the 21st Century with cyber-security legislation.

HR 5720, Courthouse Ethics and Transparency, which deals with what you would expect, financial disclosures by federal judges (Passed 422-4, RC 392, Dec 1). The four objecting? Higgins (LA), Mast (FL), Palazzo (MS) and Sessions (TX).

HR 4055, American Cybersecurity Literacy, which promotes a workplace cybersecurity literacy campaign to prevent cyber attacks (Passed 408-17, RC 391, Dec 1). The Crazy Caucus voted against this sensible measure.

HR 4045, FUTURE Networks Act, requires the FCC to do research on Sixth Generation technology networks (coming soon to a phone near you). (Passed 394-27, RC 390, Dec 1)

HR 2685, Cybersecurity Mobile Networks Act, calls on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to look at security issues regarding mobile computer networks (Passed 404-19, RC 389, Dec 1)