Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Sept. 20, as reported by Targeted News Service. Click here for previous votes.
Michael Lawler (R), District 17 (including Philipstown)
Lawler, 37, was elected to Congress in 2022. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the state Assembly from the 97th district in Rockland County. A graduate of Suffern High School, he holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Manhattan College. He is a former director of the state Republican Party and former deputy supervisor of Orangetown.
Pat Ryan (D), District 18 (including Beacon)
Ryan, 41, was elected to Congress in 2022. Formerly the county executive of Ulster, he grew up in Kingston and holds a bachelor’s degree in international politics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown. Ryan served in the U.S. Army as a combat intelligence officer from 2004 to 2009, including two tours in Iraq. He is also a former technology executive.
Political Contributions and Foreigners
The House on Sept. 17, by a 218-181 vote, rejected the No Foreign Election Interference Act (H.R. 8314), sponsored by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), to increase penalties for tax-exempt groups making contributions to political action committees after the group has received funding from a foreigner. Malliotakis said the penalties were needed because “reporting suggests that foreign nationals who are barred from directly contributing to candidate campaigns by the FEC are exploiting tax-exempt organizations as a pass-through.” A bill opponent, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), cited concerns “about the severe penalties the bill would impose on organizations that have international members and make political contributions.” A two-thirds majority was required for passage.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Medal for Billie Jean King
The House on Sept. 17, by a 308-87 vote, passed the Billie Jean King Congressional Gold Medal Act (S. 2861), sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), to award a Congressional Gold Medal to King, a women’s tennis player of primarily the 1970s and an advocate for higher status for women athletes. A supporter, Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.), said: “Billie Jean used her notoriety and platform to fight for equal rights and equal opportunities for all, not just in sports, but in American society, as well.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Finding Foster Children
The House, on Sept. 18, voted 408-7, passed the Find and Protect Foster Youth Act (S.1146), sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). The bill would direct the Health and Human Services Department to seek ways to improve the recovery of children reported to be missing from foster care. A supporter, Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), said: “This legislation will strengthen communication between states and the federal government to help them find and protect missing foster youth who are in crisis.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Child Autism Programs
The House on Sept. 18, by a 402-13 vote, passed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act (H.R. 7213), sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.). The bill would reauthorize, through fiscal 2029, several autism research and education programs. Smith said the reauthorization would help remedy the late detection of autism in many children, with resulting improvements in care for those children.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
6G Wireless Networks
The House on Sept. 18, by a 393-22 vote, passed the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (H.R. 1513), sponsored by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), to have the Federal Communications Commission form the 6G Task Force for developing standards for sixth-generation wireless networks. Matsui said the task force “will ensure our brightest minds in industry, government, and academia are advising the U.S. on the strategically vital development of 6G.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Retirement Investing
The House on Sept. 18, by a 217-206 vote, passed the Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act (H.R. 5339), sponsored by Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), to require fiduciaries of employer-sponsored worker retirement plans to use only pecuniary factors to evaluate investments. Allen said: “Retirement plan sponsors should invest their clients’ hard-earned money in a manner that maximizes financial returns and minimizes risk, period.” A bill opponent, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), said: “Workers should be able to invest in a way that reflects their values, whether combating climate change or promoting health and labor standards.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Israel, Palestine and Product Labels
The House on Sept. 18, by a 231-189 vote, passed the Anti-BDS Labeling Act (H.R. 5179), sponsored by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), to authorize the continuation of U.S. customs regulations for the labeling of products from the West Bank or Gaza Strip. Tenney said: “This bill ensures that there is no distinction in labeling between goods made in Israel and Israeli-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.” An opponent, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), said it “requires products from large portions of Palestine, including on illegal settlements defined under international law in the West Bank to be labeled, ‘Made in Israel.’ ”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Sex Crimes and Immigration
The House on Sept. 18, by a 266-158 vote, passed the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act (H.R. 7909), sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), to make sex and domestic violence crimes grounds for deportation of unlawful U.S. residents. Mace said: “Each and every sex crime or act of domestic violence committed by an illegal alien was preventable. They have no single right to be here today.” An opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), said: “The overly broad definition and lack of any waiver authority in this bill would result in extremely harsh and unintended consequences, including the removal of survivors of domestic violence.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Continuing Appropriations
The House on Sept. 18, by a 220-202 vote, rejected the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act (H.R. 9494), sponsored by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.). The bill would have provided funding for federal programs through March 2025 at fiscal 2024 levels, and barred states from registering individuals to vote in federal elections unless the individual shows documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. Higgins said: “We have to protect the integrity of that [November] election, and we have to remove this contentious environment of this threatened government shutdown from this election cycle.” A bill opponent, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), called it an “extreme MAGA Republican shutdown bill” that did not meet the needs of Americans.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Accrediting Colleges
The House on Sept. 19, by a 213-201 vote, passed the Accreditation for College Excellence Act (H.R. 3724), sponsored by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah). The bill would require agencies that accredit U.S. colleges and universities to confirm to the Education Department that they do not impose political or ideological standards, and do not support disparate treatment of groups that have civil rights protections. Owens said it “reinforces the autonomy of every school to develop their own curriculums and policies without undue pressure to conform to the Marxist agenda pushed by politicized accrediting bodies.” A bill opponent, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), said it was “attacking intellectual freedom and diversity on college campuses while fanning the flames of culture war rhetoric to score political points.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) did not vote
Rules for Company Disclosures to Investors
The House on Sept. 19, by a 215-203 vote, passed the Guiding Uniform and Responsible Disclosure Requirements and Information Limits Act (H.R. 4790), sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.). The bill would bar the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from requiring disclosure of non-material information by publicly traded companies and require an SEC report to Congress on the U.S. effects of European Union rules on corporate sustainability. Huizenga said the bill was needed because “under the Biden-Harris administration, agencies that have traditionally been viewed as independent have been hijacked to push through a partisan environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, agenda.” An opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), said it sought to bar regulators “from directing public companies to report critical information that impacts their bottom line, including climate risk, company diversity, and employee welfare.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) did not vote
Along with this week’s roll call votes, the House also passed these measures:
■ The Taxpayer Data Protection Act (H.R. 8292), to increase penalties for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information;
■ The BRIDGE for Workers Act (H.R. 5861), to extend reemployment services and eligibility assessments to all claimants for unemployment benefits;
■ The Restoring Benefits to Defrauded Veterans Act (H.R. 4190), to direct the Veterans Affairs Department to repay the estates of deceased beneficiaries for certain benefits paid by the VA and misused by fiduciaries of such beneficiaries;
■ The Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 9468), making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024; and
■ The Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act (H.R. 8089), to require certain additional provider screening under the Medicaid program.
SENATE
Judges
The Senate on Sept. 16, by a 48-46 vote, confirmed the nomination of Kevin Ritz to be a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. attorney for the western Tennessee district for the past two years, Ritz was previously a long-time lawyer, at various levels, for the district.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Sept. 17, by a 52-41 vote, approved the nomination of Mary Kathleen Costello to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Costello has been an assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2008; previously, she was a private practice lawyer in Philadelphia and, before receiving her law degree, was a member of the Air Force.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on Sept. 18, by a 49-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Michelle Williams Court to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. A Los Angeles County judge since 2012, Court was previously a private practice lawyer at several different firms, and a federal government lawyer.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
In-Vitro Fertilization
The Senate on Sept. 17, by a 51-44 vote, rejected a cloture motion to proceed to debate on the Right to IVF Act (S. 4445), sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). The bill would have barred state governments from certain forms of regulation of in-vitro fertilization and other fertility measures and mandated that federal and private health insurance plans cover fertility treatments. A three-fifths majority was required.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
State Department Lawyer
The Senate on Sept. 18, by a 50-44 vote, confirmed the nomination of Margaret Taylor to be the State Department’s legal adviser. Taylor had been general counsel for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), was previously an attorney for State’s legal adviser, and was also a staff lawyer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a senior editor at the Lawfare website.
A supporter, Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), said that during her time on the committee, Taylor “was well respected in the legal advice that she gave us, both to Republicans and Democrats, and well respected by all members of our committee.” An opponent, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), cited “her negligence in applying longstanding, clear-cut laws restricting abortion advocacy at USAID and the lack of enforcement” of those laws.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Offsetting Cost of VA Benefits
The Senate on Sept. 19, by a 47-47 vote, rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), to the Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 9468). The amendment would have rescinded $2.9 billion of unspent funds in the Energy Department’s loan programs office to offset the cost of the bill. Paul said the offset was fiscally responsible because “it actually pays for them by moving money from wasteful programs over to Veterans Affairs to pay for their benefits.” An opponent, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), said it would mean “making partisan cuts to unrelated programs. Our veterans should not be used as partisan leverage.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
