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Bryan Watch: Dec Week 1

Steil votes against Voting Rights

By John HeckenlivelyPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Civil Rights legend John Lewis (D-GA) at the VRA Press Conference

Other than the Judiciary Committee starting hearings that are almost certain to end with articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, it was a relatively slow week in Congress. There were only 12 votes this week, but eight of them were party line.

The big vote of the week was on HR 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama, would effectively restore the process of “preclearance” of changes in voting procedures that were eliminated by the 2013 Supreme Court decision Shelby County vs Holder (570 US 529).

Under the Voting Rights Act, states with histories of restricting voting rights (primarily southern states) were required to clear any changes in voting laws with the Department of Justice. Those protections were eliminated in 2013, and restrictive voting laws are one of the things that led to the lower turnout which resulted in Donald Trump being selected President.

HR 4 passed on a party line vote, with only one Republican (Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennyslvania) supporting it (RC 654, Dec 6). Republicans did vote for a bogus motion to recommit by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) that would have prohibited something that was already illegal: using money from legal settlements over voting rights violations to fund political campaigns. (RC 653, Dec 6)

The other big issue on Friday was H Res 326, a resolution supporting a two state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Almost every Democrat in the House was a cosponsor, and it passed on partisan lines, with only the Squad (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib) voting against it on the Democratic side, and only five Republicans supporting it. (RC 652, Passed 226-188)

On Thursday, Congress passed HR 2534, the Insider Trading Prohibition Act by 410 to 12. Steil, like almost every sensible member of Congress, voted to rein in insider trading on Wall Street (RC 649, Dec 5). The 12 against included several members of the Crazy Caucus, including Steve King (IA), Tom Massie (KY), Chip Roy (TX) and Ted Yoho (FL).

However, Steil and every single Republican did vote for an amendment to the Insider Trading bill that would make it harder for the SEC to prosecute inside traders by significantly a raised the bar needed to prove insider trading. Every single Democrat voted against this ridiculous gift to Wall Street crooks (Huizenga amendment, RC 648, Dec 5)

The other party line votes were on consideration. Predictably, Republicans voted against considering HR 4 and H Res 326 (RC 650 and 651, Dec 5). They also voted against consideration of HR 2534 and H Con Res 77 on Syria (RC 645 and 646, Dec 4).

The rest of the week was relatively unexciting. On Wednesday, Congress passed the Pallone-Thune robocall abuse bill 417 to 3. Andy Biggs (AZ), Tom Massie (KY) and Justin Amash (MI) were the only ones against. (RC 647, Dec 3). The bill makes it easier for consumers to block unwanted robocalls (basically all of them) and more tools for law enforcement to go after phone scammers.

Congress also passed a bill supporting human rights protections for the Uighur people of Myanmar, who have been terrorized by the military government (S 178, RC 644, Dec 3)

On a slightly more exciting note, Congress opened the week by chastising the Russian Federation and disapproving its inclusion in Group of Seven summits. It passed on a bipartisan line of 339 to 71, with Steil voting for H Res 546. Republicans actually supported it 116 to 71. Wonder what Moscow Mitch will do with it? (RC 643, Dec 3)

So as the year wraps up, Steil remains a fairly reliable rubber stamp for Trump and the Republicans. Congress will have their last full week December 9 to 13.

Scorecard: Votes 12, Party Line 8 (Steil 8-0,100%), Non-party Line 4

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