Bryanwatch - June 2021 - I

There were a total of 16 votes this week, 12 of them party line. Steil voted with the Republican party most of the time (11 for 12).

Probably the biggest vote this week was the repeal of the Authorization of Military Force that Congress gave George W Bush in 2002. It actually passed on a bi-pipartisan vote of 268 to 161 (RC 172, June 17). What is interesting is that most of the Republicans were members of the Crazy Caucus, including Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Greene and Tom Massie.

Most Republicans did support a move by Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas to send the bill back to the Committee on Foreign Relations (Republicans 204-2; RC 161, June 17) Steil was among the YES votes.

On June 16, the House passed S 475, the House passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing June 19 as a national holiday. It marks when US troops informed slaves in Texas that they were freed, two months after the Civil War ended. (RC 170)

Only 14 Republicans voted against Juneteenth Day, and since it is such an egregious vote, here are their names: Biggs (AZ), Brooks (AL), Clyde (GA), DesJarlais (TN), Gosar (AZ), Jackson (TX), Lamalfa (CA), Massie (KY), McClintock (CA), Norman (SC), Rogers (AL), Rosendale (MT), Roy (TX) and Wisconsin’s own Tom Tiffany.

The other big bill the House debated Wednesday was HR 1187, the ESG Disclosure Simplification Act, which passed by 215 to 214. (RC 169) ESG refers to environmental, social and governance metrics. While the bill itself is highly technical financial jargon, the purpose is to provide investors with more information about a company’s environmental and social background, as well as its political spending and corporate culture. Every single Republican voted against providing investors with more information.

Andy Barr of Kentucky even attempted to kill the bill by sending it back to the Committee Financial Services, a move that Republicans (including Steil) supported (RC 168, June 16)

There were several amendments to HR 1187:

- Amendment 8 by Rep. Kim Schrier (WA) passed on a broad bipartisan margin of 380 to 47. It called for a study on the impact of ESG requirements on small businesses (RC 167)

- Amendment 4 by Rep. Hill of Arkansas would have effectively gutted the bill and replaced it with meaningless language (RC 166). Interestingly, the core of the Crazy Caucus voted against Hill’s amendment.

- An En Bloc amendment by Rep. Maxine Waters of California containing several Democratic amendments to the bill, which passed on a straight party line vote (RC 165)

STEIL CASTS A GOOD VOTE

- A wildly bogus amendment by Rep. Burgess of Texas that would allow corporations to blame federal tax policies for their own bad fiscal management. (Amendment 1, RC 164) Interestingly, he Crazy Caucus was joined by Bryan Steil against the Burgess amendment. Technically have to define this as a GOOD VOTE, as Steil voted against stupid Republican legislation. Even more interesting, the Crazy Caucus was balanced out by 14 Democrats in marginal districts. One of the stranger “strange bedfellows” votes this session.

And on Tuesday, House Democrats had some rare losses as legislation failed to pass because it could not reach a two-third majority. The first was HR 239, Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act (RC 160), which would have given military veterans free contraceptives if civilian insurance policies covered them. It failed on a Republican vote of 22 to 188, with Steil voting NO.

The second bill was HR 1443, the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, which would have required data reporting requirements concerning LGBTQ owned businesses. It failed on a Republican vote of 31 to 177, with Steil voting NO. (RC 162, HR 1443)

Last but hardly least, the House decided to recognize the bravery of the police officers attacked during the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol by creating gold medals. It passed on a fairly broad bipartisan basis (406 to 21) with Steil voting YES. (RC 161, June 15)

In a rare display of some bi-partisanship, the House approved a motion by Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts supporting a variety of bills on a vote of 287 to 140 (RC 159, June 15). Steil was one of the 140 against. The bills that were sent to the Senate were:

HR 293 VA Hospitals Establishing Leadership Performance Act

HR 587 Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II

HR 610 San Francisco Bay Restoration Act

HR 1144 Promoting United Government Efforts to Save Our Sound Act

(PUGET Sound environmental protection)

HR 1703 National Children’s Museum Act

HR 1921 Amending the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to Reauthorize Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program

HR 2008 Local Water Protection Act

HR 2332 Debt Bondage Repair Act

HR 2545 Clarifying Role of Doctors of Podiatric Medicine in Department of Veterans Affairs

HR 3642 Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act (recognizing a World War I unit of African American soldiers who fought in France)

As usual, Republicans refused to even consider Democratic legislation. They voted against considering HR 256 and HR 1187 (RC 157 and 158, June 14) And they voted against bringing up the Juneteenth bill (H Res 479, RC 163, June 16)

Scorecard

Total votes: 16

Party Line: 12 (Steil 11-12; 92%)

NPL: 161, 167, 170

Extreme/Good: 164