Vote Notes on Legislation
7/23/15 H.R. 1599 – Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015: YES. This bill creates a uniform system across the U.S. to govern the labeling of so-called "genetically modified" foods. Mankind has genetically modified crops and livestock since the dawn of recorded history (it's called cross-breeding, and it gives us seedless grapes and sweeter corn). Our understanding of genetics has taken a quantum leap in recent years, and so has our success at developing genetic modifications.
7/15/15 HR 3038 – Highway and Transportation Funding Act: NO. This bill is a five month extension of highway and transit spending, paid for over the next TEN YEARS. This is the J. Wellington Wimpy school of economics that got us in this mess ("I would gladly pay you a dollar of savings ten years from now for a dollar of spending today.)" Highway taxes should finance highways and transit fees should fund transit – this assures these projects are paid for by users who make their choices based on accurate price signals.
H.R. 2576 – The TSCA Modernization Act: NO. This is a well-intentioned bill that accomplishes the opposite of what it is designed to do. Its purpose is to expedite and standardize the evaluation of toxic chemicals. Instead, it grants sweeping new powers to the EPA, removes the consideration of cost when conducting a risk evaluation, removes the "least burdensome regulation required" standard from current law, dedicates an unaccountable revolving fund in the Treasury for EPA evaluations, and still allows states to adopt more stringent standards.
H.R. 805 - Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act of 2015: NO. The Obama Administration is attempting to transfer control of the Internet (specifically its Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions) from the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration to an unaccountable international agency -- an absolutely horrible idea. The House has rightly passed appropriation restrictions that forbid the use of federal funds to do so.
HR 2577 - Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriation: No. Although this appropriation fits within the overall architecture of the budget, it is so stuffed with wasteful spending that I cannot vote for it. Federal interstate highways, railways, airways and harbors that link the nation together are vital and legitimate federal responsibilities that should be – and once were – paid by the users of these facilities.
HR 1806 – America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015: No. This is a $33 billion authorization for the next two years (paid out over the next four) for a grab-bag of grants administered mainly by the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. If you are an average family, that accounts for about $262 of your taxes.
5/14/15 - H.R. 1191 – Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act: NO. The Congress is correct to distrust the President in his negotiations with Iran, but this measure misses the point.
3/26/2015 - HR 2 – Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act: NO. In 1997, Congress passed legislation to control Medicare spending by establishing a "Sustainable Growth Rate" (SGR) that limits the annual increase for physician reimbursements, but Congress never had the stomach to actually implement it. The result: every year Congress passes a "doc fix" to avoid the accumulated SGR cuts, often by cutting spending in other areas. This bill does away with the SGR altogether, which would be a good thing if it were actually offset by equal spending reforms. Regrettably, it isn't.
3/3/15 HR 240 - Motion to Recede and Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 240: No. This motion bypassed the conference process and sent the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill to the President without ANY provision forbidding him from funding his unlawful and unconstitutional amnesty orders. I believe that short-term funding of DHS to avert a shutdown while the two houses resolve their differences over the amnesty orders was the best course to take.