WASHINGTON -- Here's how North Carolina lawmakers voted in Congress last week.
House
Antitrust exemption: Voting 406 for and 19 against, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 4626) to end the health-insurance industry's 64-year-old federal antitrust exemption under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. Health insurers are regulated on the state level and are subject to state anti-trust laws. Under this bill, the Justice Department would provide another layer of enforcement against monopolistic activities such as collusion in the setting of premium rates, allocating market shares and rigging bids on contracts. The bill exempts medical-malpractice insurers.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; Walter Jones, R-3; David Price, D-4; Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Larry Kissell, D-8; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10; Heath Shuler , D-11; Mel Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13
2010 spy budget: Voting 235 for and 168 against, the House approved a classified 2010 U.S. intelligence budget unofficially estimated at $50 billion or higher. The bill (HR 2701) funds operations of the CIA, National Security Agency and several other spy agencies. In part, the bill would step up the use of human assets to fight terrorists; require the videotaping of prisoner interrogations; prescribe stiff sentences for interrogators who inflict torture; upgrade government cybersecurity systems; fund the recruitment of a more diverse workforce; expand training in several African languages and authorize Government Accounting Office audits of certain intelligence operations. The bill awaits Senate action.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Jones, Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry
Native Hawaiian sovereignty: Voting 245 for and 164 against, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 2314) empowering Native Hawaiians to form a sovereign government comparable to the Native American and Native Alaskan nations in the United States. If certified by the secretary of the Interior, the government would have standing to negotiate for the control of land and other assets that once belonged to indigenous Hawaiians. The bill would set up a U.S. Office for Native Hawaiian Relations in the Interior Department and create a commission to determine which persons are sufficiently indigenous to be included in the sovereign nation.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry
Not voting: Miller
Senate
Jobs creation: Voting 70 for and 28 against, the Senate sent the House a bill (HR 2847) that would temporarily exempt businesses from having to pay the 6.2 percent employer's share of Social Security withholding taxes on workers they hire this year from the jobless ranks. Employers also would receive a $1,000 tax credit for each new hire that stays on the job for one year. The two incentives would cost the Treasury about $13 billion. The bill also subsidizes state and local bond issues for public-works projects, authorizes businesses to depreciate up to $250,000 in capital investments in a single year rather than over many years and provides $19.5 billion from the Highway Trust Fund for road and transit construction this year.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D; Richard Burr, R
Travel to America: Voting 78 for and 18 against, the Senate sent President Obama a bill (HR 1299) that would establish a federal corporation to increase foreign travel to the U.S. The Corporation for Travel Promotion would be funded initially by about $100 million in assessments on the U.S. hospitality industry and another $100 million in special visa fees collected by the Department of Homeland Security. Backers said the programs could attract 1.6 million new visitors each year who would spend $4 billion in the U.S.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Hagan
Voting no: Burr
Key votes ahead
This week, the Senate will take up a short-term extension of unemployment and COBRA health benefits for those who have lost jobs. The House schedule was to be announced.
Copyright 2010, Thomas Voting Reports Inc.
