Bryan Watch: Mar 2022 II

There were 12 votes during the third week of March, six party line and six non party line. On the non-party line, Steil voted with the sensible majority. And on the party line votes, Steil voted 100 percent with the Republicans.

The major bill of the week was HR 963, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act of 2022m which seeks to make the process of forced arbitration illegal. Large corporations and other employees used forced arbitration to bully employees. Republicans sided with big corporations against workers 189 to 14 on Thursday, March 17. Steil was not one of the 14 on the side of workers. (RC 81, Mar 17)

Steil also supported a move by Rep. Cliff Bentz of Oregon to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, effectively killing it. (RC 80, Mar 17; Bentz motion to recommit). Steil also supported a move by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (Loony-WI) that would have gutted the rights of union members across the country (Fitzgerald amendment, RC 79, Mar 17)

Republicans naturally voted against even considering bring up the Forced Arbitration bill (RC 73 and 73, March 16)

The other partisan fight was over HR 2116, Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, which Republicans have consistently been against. (RC 82, March 18). The bill seeks to prevent discrimination (generally against African Americans) based on people’s hair styles.

The Crazy Caucus was out in full force this week, especially on HR 7108, the bill that would suspend Normal Trading Relations with Russia and Belarus. Eight members distinguished themselves in siding with Vladimir Putin against the people of Ukraine. They were: Biggs (GA), Bishop (NC, Boebert (Col), Gaetz (FL), Greene (GA), Wisconsin's own Glenn Grothman, Massie (KY) and Roy (TX). (RC 78, Mar 17: Passed 424-8)

Some of the crazies (16 of them) voted against HR 6434, Japanese American World War II History Network Act, which simply seeks to review Japanese-American historic sites within the National Parks Service (RC 77, Mar 16; Passed 406-16)

And another group (25 this time) voted against HR 4380, which designates the El Paso Community Healing Garden as a National Memorial. This is simply a legal designation, as the garden will be administered by El Paso County, not the National Parks Service (RC 76, Mar 16; Passed 403-25) Despite there being no cost, 25 Republicans reflexively voted against a memorial to victims of gun violence.

The crazies also came out to vote against environmental legislation:

- HR 5001, Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Recovery Act, which passed 397 to 27 (RC 72, Mar 15)

- and HR 3113, Modernizing Access to Our Public Land Act, which passed 414 to 9. (RC 71, Mar 15). The second bill simply seeks to improve distribution of information between federal agencies.

The last non-party line bill was HR 3197, the Save the Liberty Theatre Act, which passed 422 to 4 on March 16. This time it was a handful of Democrats voting against the bill, which would seeks to preserve a historic theater in Eunice, Louisiana (RC 75)

March 2022 - Week 2

During the second week of March, there were 13 votes, six of them party line, seven of them non-party line. On every party line vote, Steil sided with the Republicans.

In positive news, every member of Congress who voted (all 418) came out against violence against historically black colleges and universities (RC 61, Mar 8)

The big bill during the second week was HR 2471, the Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act. The bill seeks to reform recovery efforts in Haiti a decade after the devastating earthquake of 2010. Republicans voted against passing HR 2471 (29 to 180; RC 68, Mar 9) and several procedural motions to kill the bill (RC 66 and RC 67, Mar 9).

Steil did side with a majority of Republicans (154 to 54) in agreeing to a non-controversial Senate amendment (RC 65, Mar 9; passed 361-69)

As usual, Republicans voted against considering HR 2471 or HR 6968 (RC 63 and 64, March 9). Steil also supported a Republican effort to adjourn the House on March 9 (RC 62, failed 173-255)

The other major bill was HR 6968, which suspends energy imports from Russia. Steil voted along with most members to sanction Russia (RC 70, Mar 9; passed 414-9) However, Steil also supported a move by Rep. Brady of Texas to send the bill back to the Ways and Means Committee, effectively killing it (RC 69, Mar 9)

The Crazy Caucus was once again around during week 2 of March. There were three non-controversial bills which passed by wide margins, with only a handful of crazies against. Steil voted with the sensible majority on all three.

The bills were HR 5681, the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act, regarding ICE agents in Arizona, which passed 387 to 33 (RC 60, Mar 8); S 658, the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act, which does what it sounds like it does, and which passed 403 to 19 (RC 59, Mar 7) and finally HR 5616, the DHS Basic Training Accreditation Improvement Act, which seeks to improve training of DHS personnel (RC 58, Mar 7; passed 390-33).