Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative week ending Jan. 24, 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 and re-elected in 2024. 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 and re-elected in 2024. 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.
Mapping Federal Waterways
The House on Jan. 21, by unanimous vote, passed the Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act (H.R. 187), sponsored by Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), to require the Agriculture Department and Interior Department to standardize, digitize and make public maps of federal waterways and rules governing access to them. Moore said by improving information availability, the bill would “ensure Americans can quickly see the public resources around them and spend more time recreating on the land and water they love.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Memorializing Wounded Knee
The House on Jan. 22, by unanimous vote, passed the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act (H.R. 165), sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), to require the Interior Department to take 40 acres of land in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux tribe. Johnson said that by facilitating use of the land to memorialize the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, the bill “will make sure that we do right as much as we can in the wake of that tragedy.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Illegal Aliens and Crime
The House on Jan. 22, by a 263-156 vote, passed the Laken Riley Act (S. 5), sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), to require the Homeland Security Department to detain illegal aliens in the U.S. who have been arrested on theft charges, and authorize state governments to sue for legal remedies from the federal government for damages resulting from its failure to enforce immigration laws. A supporter, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), said the lawsuit provision would help “ensure that we can stop any future administration that is not just refusing to enforce federal law but is actually abusing federal law to endanger our people, our citizens who we represent.” An opponent, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), said, “There are already existing laws for the detention and deportation of immigrants who commit violent crimes.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Hawaii Tree Disease
The House on Jan. 23, by a 359-62 vote, passed the Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act (H.R. 375), sponsored by Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), to require the Agriculture Department and Interior Department to work with Hawaii on responding to a non-native fungal pathogen that has been killing the state’s ohia trees for the past decade. Tokuda said: “This bill can also help to turn the tide in the fight against Rapid Ohia Death and, in doing so, protect and preserve ohia lehua and Hawaii’s unique ecosystems for our future generations.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Forestry Management
The House on Jan. 23, by a 279-141 vote, passed the Fix Our Forests Act (H.R. 471), sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), to make changes to management of federal forests and wildlands, including streamlining planning and measures designed to reduce wildfire hazards. Westerman said the bill sought “to make forests more resilient, healthier, and safer, from sea to shining sea.” An opponent, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), said it “undercuts the Endangered Species Act, and even makes it more difficult for communities to engage and scrutinize or even know about projects that could directly impact them.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Abortion and Health Care
The House on Jan. 23, by a 217-204 vote, passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 21), sponsored by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), to require health care providers to provide adequate care to an infant who has survived an attempted abortion. Wagner said: “This bill will save real lives, and it will give survivors a precious chance to build a future.” An opponent, Rep. Timothy Kennedy (D-N.Y.), said it “would levy criminal charges against healthcare practitioners and providers, jeopardizing their ability to deliver proper medical care to women.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Along with this week’s roll call votes, the House passed a bill (H.R. 207), to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force regarding shark depredation.
SENATE
Deportable Criminal Offenses
The Senate on Jan. 20, by a 75-24 vote, approved an amendment sponsored by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), to the Laken Riley Act (S. 5), to include crimes causing serious injury or death among those prompting detention and deportation of an illegal alien. Ernst said the amendment “will close the loopholes that for too long have allowed murderers who come here illegally to roam free in our communities and commit more crimes.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Illegal Aliens and Crime
The Senate on Jan. 20, by a 64-35 vote, passed the Laken Riley Act (S. 5), sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.). The bill would require the Homeland Security Department to detain illegal aliens in the U.S. who have been arrested on theft charges and authorize state governments to sue for legal remedies from the federal government for damages resulting from its failure to enforce immigration laws. Britt said the requirement would improve public safety by removing illegal aliens “before they get the opportunity to commit further, graver crimes” than theft. An opponent, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), said the bill was “neither focused on driving resources to the border or establishing a more robust and rigorous system of immigration.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Secretary of State
The Senate on Jan. 20, by a unanimous vote, confirmed the nomination of Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State. Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida since being elected in 2010 and member of Florida’s legislature for the previous decade, was also a candidate for the presidential nomination in 2016. A supporter, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), said of Rubio: “I was very impressed at his [confirmation] hearing by his grasp of policy. While we may not always agree, I believe he has the skills, knowledge, and qualifications to be Secretary of State.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Abortion and Health Care
The Senate on Jan. 22, by a 52-47 vote, rejected a cloture motion to proceed to consideration of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 6), sponsored by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), which would have required health care providers to provide adequate care to an infant who has survived an attempted abortion. Lankford said the bill was needed to remove a legal “loophole that if an abortion was botched, everyone can just back away and watch the child die; they do not have to give that child medical care.” An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said: “This bill cruelly substitutes the judgment of qualified medical professionals and the wishes of millions of families and allows the ultraright ideology to dictate what they do.” A three-fifths majority vote was required.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
CIA Director
The Senate on Jan. 23, by a 74-25 vote, confirmed the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be Central Intelligence Agency director. Ratcliffe was a House member, representing a Texas district, from 2015 to 2020, when he became director of national intelligence for the remainder of the first Trump administration. Since early 2021, he has been a co-chair at the America First Policy Institute and a consultant to several businesses. A supporter, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), said: “He is going to lead the CIA without bias and with the safety of the American people being his top priority.” An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said “I am deeply worried that Mr. Ratcliffe will be unable to stand up to people like Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, who are known to falsify intelligence.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
