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Published: June 15, 2008
Updated: 06/15/2008 01:35 am
WASHINGTON -- Here's how North Carolina members of Congress were recorded on major votes last week:
House
Bush impeachment bid: The House on Wednesday voted 251-166 to send to committee, or shelve, a resolution sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, presenting 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush. As a privileged resolution, the measure was not debatable.
Many of the articles dealt with Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, while others focused on such topics as the administration's disclosure of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative, its harsh interrogations of enemy combatants, Bush's use of presidential "signing statements" to disregard statutory language, allegations that the administration politicized the U.S. attorneys' offices, its surveillance of U.S. citizens and Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina.
A yes vote was to shelve the impeachment bid.
Voting yes: G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; Walter Jones, R-3; David Price, D-4; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Heath Shuler, D-11; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13.
Voting no: Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Robin Hayes, R-8; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10.
Not voting: None.
Extended jobless benefits: Voting 274-137, the House passed a bill on Thursday providing 13 additional weeks of jobless checks for those who have used up their initial allotments, or 26 more weeks in states with at least a 6 percent unemployment rate.
The filing period would end Feb. 1. The bill's projected $6.2 billion fiscal 2008 cost would be added to the national debt. Jobless checks average $300 per week.
The bill waives the federal requirement of at least 20 weeks' work to qualify for extended benefits, but allows each state to set its own rules.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Hayes, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller.
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick.
Not voting: None.
Amtrak spending increase: Voting 311-104, the House on Wednesday authorized a $14.9 billion rail-passenger budget for fiscal 2009-13. Now before the Senate, the bill would provide nearly $10 billion for Amtrak, about twice the agency's pre-2007 rate of spending, and $5 billion for state intercity projects.
The Amtrak breakdown over five years is $4.2 billion for capital improvements, $3 billion for operating subsidies, $1.7 billion for debt repayment and $1 billion for station and train compliance with disability laws. The bill allows the private sector to propose high-speed rail service that would compete with Amtrak in the Northeast and other regions.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Hayes, Shuler, Watt, Miller.
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry.
Not voting: Butterfield.
Senate
Windfall profits: Voting 51-43, the Senate on Tuesday failed to reach 60 votes to end GOP blockage of a bill that would levy a 25 percent tax on profits generated by the five largest oil companies that are judged unreasonable by historical standards and are not invested in expanding refinery capacity or developing renewable sources of energy. The bill also would repeal $17 billion in energy-company tax breaks that a Republican-led Congress enacted several years ago to spur oil and gas production. Additionally, the bill sets stricter trading rules for energy speculators, makes it a federal crime to manipulate oil and gas prices during national emergencies and empowers the government to sue OPEC nations for limiting supplies or fixing prices.
A yes vote was to advance the bill.
Richard Burr, R, voted no.
Elizabeth Dole, R, voted no.
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