Here’s how area House and Senate members voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Oct. 20. See the nonpartisan VoteFacts.com for more information on top congressional issues and individual voting records. 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 town 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.
Jim Jordan Loses Speakership Bid
Rep. Jim Jordan, a nine-term Republican from Ohio who helped plan and implement the Jan. 6, 2021, effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, lost a bid to become speaker of the House on Oct. 17. He received 200 of the 217 votes he needed to assume the gavel. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, received the votes of all 212 members of his caucus, and 22 Republicans voted for individuals other than Jordan. One Republican was absent, and there are two vacancies in the 435-member House.
According to a report by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Jordan was “a significant player” in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to throw out the results of the presidential election in some states won by Joe Biden, helping to develop “strategies for challenging the election, chief among them claims that the election had been tainted by fraud.” Jordan refused to appear before the committee.
When legislative business resumed hours after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Jordan was among 121 Republicans voting to reject Arizona’s 11 electoral votes for Biden, saying in debate “80 million Americans, 80 million of our fellow citizens, Republicans and Democrats, have doubts about this election; and 60 million people, 60 million Americans think it was stolen. But Democrats say: No problem. No worries. Everything is fine.” He then was one of 138 Republicans voting to not count Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes in furtherance of Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to thwart Biden’s election by sending dozens of electoral votes back to states for review by GOP-controlled legislatures.
Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said: “Jim Jordan is a patriot. He’s an America-first warrior who wins the toughest of fights, going after corruption and delivering accountability at the highest levels of government…. Jim is the voice of the American people who have felt voiceless for far too long…. Jim is strategic, scrappy, tough and principled. He’s a mentor, a worker and, above all, he’s a fighter … a winner on behalf of the American people.”
Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said: “A vote today to make the architect of a nationwide abortion ban, a vocal election denier and an insurrection insider to [become] the speaker of the House would be a terrible message to the country and our allies. It would send an even more troubling message to our enemies, that the very people who would seek to undermine democracy are rewarded with positions of immense power. We are talking about somebody who has spent his entire career trying to hold our country back.”
The House on Oct. 18 and Oct. 20 rejected two additional bids by Jordan to become speaker with him losing support on each new vote.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted for Jeffries.
SENATE
Nullifying Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rule
The Senate on Oct. 18 voted, 53 for and 42 against, to nullify a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would prevent banks and other lenders from denying credit requests for on the basis of the applicant’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status or in most cases age. The rule requires creditors to report much of the demographic information they collect from applicants on an en masse, anonymous basis to the agency. In other provisions, the rule requires lenders to retain records of credit applications, notify applicants of all actions taken on their requests, report credit histories in the names of both spouses and provide applicants with copies of appraisal reports. This vote adopted SJ Res 32, which is now before the House.
John Kennedy (R-La.) said: “Why would the CFPB need this information? Well, the truth is, they don’t, but I will tell you why. The CFPB is setting these small-business people — but also these small banks — up for lawsuits. That is exactly what they are doing. What happens if a small-business person goes into the bank and the banker says: ‘Listen, I hate to have to ask you this, but the CFPB says I have to ask you. Are you gay?’ As if that is anybody’s business.”
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said: “We are talking about basic data on the borrowers’ demographics, loan pricing, application approvals and other critical information — just like we do with [applications for] mortgages…. With this data, we will be able to see gaps in the small business lending market, allowing programs to expand access to credit for small businesses…. Of course, big banks and their lobbyists are putting up a fight. They always do. Any time there is a rule that might change their behavior, they come up with the same song and dance….”
A yes vote was to adopt the resolution.
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Declaring Support for Israel, Condemning Hamas
On a unanimous vote of 97 for and none against, the Senate on Oct. 19 adopted a non-binding resolution (S Res 417) affirming U.S. support for Israel and condemning Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said: “October 7, 2023, will go down as a day of infamy. As Israel faces the darkest hour of its 75-year history, the bipartisan resolution we are about to vote on proclaims that so long as there is a United States of America, the people of Israel will never stand alone. So long as there is a United States Senate, the people of Israel will never stand alone.”
No senator spoke against the resolution. A yes vote was to adopt the resolution.
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
