Tar Heel Tally

U.S. HOUSE

* PRIVATIZED TAX COLLECTION: The House on Tuesday repealed, 238 for and 179 against, a 2004 law used by the Internal Revenue Service to hire private firms for collecting delinquent taxes. These firms have taken in far less than they have cost the government, although backers say their performance will improve. Now before the Senate, the bill (HR 5719) also requires that withdrawals from Health Savings Accounts be accompanied by documentation that the money will be spent on health care.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

YES: G.K. Butterfield, D-1st; Bob Etheridge, D-2nd; David Price, D-4th; Mike McIntyre, D-7th; Heath Shuler, D-11th; Melvin Watt, D-12th; Brad Miller, D-13th.

NO: Walter Jones, R-3rd; Virginia Foxx, R-5th; Howard Coble, R-6th; Robin Hayes, R-8th; Sue Myrick, R-9th; Patrick McHenry, R-10th.

* GLOBAL DEBT RELIEF: The House on Wednesday voted, 285 for and 132 against, to nearly double the number of poor nations eligible to receive international debt forgiveness if they use the freed-up funds for purposes such as improving living conditions, democratizing their governments and combating terrorism. The bill (HR 2634) is a first step toward qualifying up to 25 countries for the 12-year-old Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, which is run by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. To date, at least 33 countries, mostly in Africa, have received more than $47 billion in debt relief.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

YES: Butterfield, Etheridge, Price, McIntyre, Shuler, Watt, Miller.

NO: Jones, Foxx, Coble, Hayes, Myrick, McHenry.

* STUDENT LOAN EXPANSION: Voting 383 for and 27 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 5713) increasing by $2,000 per year the ceiling on the so-called Stafford Loans that students obtain from private lenders. At present, the ceiling on such loans ranges from $3,500 to $10,500 per year for undergraduates and higher for graduate students. The bill also raises aggregate loan limits and eases repayment terms for the federally approved loans that parents take out to finance their children's education.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

YES: Etheridge, Jones, Price, Coble, McIntyre, Hayes, Myrick, Shuler, Watt, Miller.

NO: Foxx, McHenry.

U.S. SENATE

* HIGHWAY, TRANSIT SPENDING: Voting 88 for and two against, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (HR 1195) that would speed the release of billions of dollars previously authorized for highway and transit projects. Now headed to a House-Senate conference committee, the bill gives a green light to hundreds of earmarked projects and makes technical changes to expedite spending on other projects.

In part, the bill increases spending on magnetic levitation rail projects, advances certain railroad-crossing projects, makes it more difficult for states to locate idling-reduction units for diesel trucks on federal rights-of-way, loosens "Buy America" rules, softens minimum state penalties for repeat DWI offenders, requires a study into converting highway shoulders to travel lanes, voids certain state limits on the length of rigs involved in truck-towing and increases the share of federal funds that states must allocate to highway safety programs.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

YES: Elizabeth Dole, R; Richard Burr, R.

* CRIMINAL EARMARK PROBE: Voting 64 for and 28 against, the Senate on Thursday requested a Department of Justice criminal probe into the handling of a $10 million earmark sponsored in 2005 by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, for building an interchange on I-75 near Naples, Fla. Young's staff admits secretly changing vague highway-bill wording to specify the interchange project as recipient of the money, but denies wrongdoing. This amendment was added to HR 1195 (above). A yes vote backed a Department of Justice probe.

YES: Dole.

NO: Burr.

* SEPARATION OF POWERS: Voting 49 for and 43 against, the Senate on Thursday failed to get 60 votes needed to endorse a congressional rather than Department of Justice probe into an earmark incident (HR 1195, above) involving Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. Backers said it would violate the separation-of-powers doctrine for Congress to call in the executive branch to conduct a criminal probe. A yes vote backed a joint House-Senate inquiry.

YES: Dole, Burr.

VOTES IN CONGRESS NEWSPAPER SYNDICATE