* STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: Voting 385 for and 25 against, the House on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 6022) requiring the administration to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the remainder of the year or until the price of crude oil drops to $75 per barrel, whichever occurs first. Based in Gulf Coast salt caverns, the reserve is a national-security hedge against global supply disruptions. With the administration adding 70,000 barrels per day, the reserve is now filled to 97 percent of its capacity of 1 billion barrels. 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; Howard Coble, R-6; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Robin Hayes, R-8; Patrick McHenry, R-10; Heath Shuler, D-11; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13

VOTING NO: Virginia Foxx, R-5

NOT VOTING: Sue Myrick, R-9

* FIVE-YEAR FARM BILL: Voting 318 for and 106 against, the House on Wednesday approved the conference report on a five-year, $289 billion farm bill (HR 2419) that extends the existing system of payments and subsidies for growers of major crops such as cotton, corn, rice, wheat and soybeans; expands nutrition programs such as food stamps and school lunches; promotes land conservation and rural development; provides funding for fruit and vegetable growers, and spurs development of renewable fuels such as cellulose-based ethanol. The bill reduces from $2.5 million to $500,000 the level of individual, nonfarm income below which farmers are eligible to receive federal payments; requires country-of-origin labeling of meat, vegetables and nuts; funds programs to extend broadband access to remote areas, and settles black farmers' discrimination claims against the USDA. A yes vote was to approve the conference report.

VOTING YES: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, Coble, McIntyre, Shuler, Watt, Miller

VOTING NO: Foxx, Hayes, McHenry

* WAR FUNDING DEFEAT: Voting 141 for and 149 against, the House on Thursday defeated an amendment to HR 2642 that sought to appropriate $162.5 billion for Iraq-Afghanistan war costs through mid-2009. Republicans complained they had been frozen out of deliberations, and in protest, 132 GOP members registered "present" instead of casting a "yea" or "nay" vote. That action, combined with opposition from anti-war Democrats, was sufficient to kill the funding measure. A yes vote was to approve war funding.

VOTING YES: Etheridge, Jones, Coble, McIntyre, Hayes, McHenry, Shuler

VOTING NO: Butterfield, Price, Watt, Miller

* IRAQ TROOP WITHDRAWALS: The House on Thursday adopted, 227 for and 196 against, an amendment to HR 2642 requiring the administration to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment but setting no deadline for completing the pullout. The measure also requires the CIA to obey the Army Field Manual's ban on the torture of prisoners, sets longer leaves between Iraq-Afghanistan combat deployments, and requires Iraqis to start paying a large share of U.S. military fuel costs and their country's reconstruction costs. The bill is now before the Senate. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

VOTING YES: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, Coble, McIntyre, Shuler, Watt, Miller

VOTING NO: Foxx, Hayes, McHenry

* GI BILL, JOBLESS CHECKS: Voting 256 for and 166 against, the House on Thursday adopted an amendment to HR 2642 to establish a new GI Bill that would pay higher-education costs at public universities military veterans since Sept. 11, 2001. The amendment also would provide $11 billion to fund 13 additional weeks of jobless checks for the long-term unemployed, $5.8 billion for rebuilding levees in New Orleans and $1.2 billion in global food assistance. The $52 billion cost of the GI benefit would be offset by tax increases on individual incomes over $500,000 and joint incomes over $1 million. The bill is now before the Senate. A yes vote backed the amendment.

VOTING YES: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Hayes, Shuler, Watt, Miller

VOTING NO: Foxx, Coble, McHenry

U.S. SENATE

* FIVE-YEAR FARM BILL: The Senate on Thursday voted, 81 for and 15 against, to send a $288 billion, five-year farm bill (HR 2419, above) to President Bush, who has promised a veto on grounds its subsidies are excessive at a time of high crop prices. To qualify for federal payments under the bill, farmers must have individual nonfarm incomes below $500,000 and individual farm incomes below $750,000. Direct payments and subsidies account for less than 15 percent of spending in the bill, while food safety net and nutrition programs account for about 67 percent. The bill eases and indexes for inflation the means tests one must pass to qualify for Food Stamps and other nutrition programs. A yes vote was to approve the conference report.

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

* FLOOD INSURANCE EXPANSION: Voting 92 for and six against, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 3121) to reform the National Flood Insurance Program by such measures as requiring larger deductibles, ending subsidized premiums for vacation homes and businesses, requiring wider participation by at-risk homeowners and raising penalties on lenders that fail to require coverage in specified areas. The FEMA-run program insures 5.5 million policyholders in 20,000 communities. The bill would forgive the $17.5 billion FEMA borrowed from the Treasury to pay claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina and other storms in 2005. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

VOTING YES: Dole, Burr

* STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: The Senate on Tuesday adopted, 97 for and one against, an amendment to S 2284 (above) requiring the administration to suspend its filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the end of the year or when the price of crude drops consistently below $75 per barrel, whichever occurs first. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., cast the negative vote. The House passed an identical measure. No senator spoke against the amendment. A yes vote backed the amendment.

VOTING YES: Dole, Burr

* GOP ENERGY PLAN: Voting 42 for and 56 against, the Senate on Tuesday failed to reach 60 votes for advancing a Republican-sponsored energy addition to HR 3121 (above). In part, the measure sought to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, end the federal ban on Outer Continental Shelf drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, suspend until the end of the year the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, authorize oil-shale extraction on federal land in the West and step up federal support of efforts to convert coal to liquid fuel. A yes vote backed the GOP energy package.

VOTING YES: Burr

VOTING NO: Dole

* POLICE, FIREFIGHTER UNIONS: Voting 69 for and 29 against, the Senate on Tuesday agreed to debate a bill (HR 980) granting limited union rights to police, firefighters, corrections officers and other public-safety personnel in all states. The bill, which remained in debate, empowers state and local first responders to bargain over wages, benefits and working conditions but prohibits strikes by unions and lockouts by employers. At least 20 states now deny collective-bargaining rights to public employees. A yes vote was to advance the bill.

VOTING NO: Dole, Burr