Here is how our House members voted on select issues during the legislative weeks ending July 12, 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.
Alabama Underwater Forest
The House on July 8, by a 349-19 vote, passed the Alabama Underwater Forest National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act (H.R. 897), sponsored by Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.). The bill would establish a federal marine sanctuary off the Alabama coast to preserve a cypress forest that was preserved intact when it was inundated by saltwater roughly 60,000 years ago. Carl said: “This legislation ensures the underwater cypress forest remains a source of pride, wonder, and economic opportunity for generations to come.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Long Island Water Quality
The House on July 8, by a 333-51 vote, passed the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5441), sponsored by Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), to reauthorize, through fiscal 2028, the Environmental Protection Agency’s water management efforts for Long Island Sound. LaLota said the bill “provides the tools and resources necessary to continue the important work of restoring and preserving this vital ecosystem.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Energy Use by Refrigerators
The House on July 9, by a 212-192 vote, passed the Refrigerator Freedom Act (H.R. 7637), sponsored by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), to restrict the Energy Department’s authority to issue energy conservation rules for refrigerators and freezers. Miller-Meeks said a rule governing the appliances issued in January had dubious cost-benefit impacts, and said the bill was needed to stop Energy from “manipulating the market to push an environmental agenda and eliminate consumer choice.” An opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), said the bill “robs Americans of savings on the monthly home energy bills and ignores that even the appliance manufacturing industry supports these efficiency standards.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Dishwasher Energy Efficiency
The House on July 9, by a 214-192 vote, passed the Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act (H.R. 7700), sponsored by Rep. Nicholas Langworthy (R-N.Y.), to restrict the Energy Department’s authority to issue energy conservation rules for home dishwashers. Langworthy said it “will put the brakes on the Biden administration’s relentless assault on efficient, affordable, and reliable appliances for everyday Americans through overbearing regulations.” A bill opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), said it “will increase home energy costs for American families and undermine our ongoing efforts to combat the worsening climate crisis.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Voting in Federal Elections
The House on July 10, by a 221-198 vote, passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (H.R. 8281), sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), to stipulate that individuals must provide documented proof of their U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections for Congress and the presidency. Roy called the bill a critical way “to ensure that only American citizens will vote in American elections.” An opponent, Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.), said the bill’s documentation provisions “will disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans,” including soldiers stationed overseas.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Sex, Gender and Federal Education Aid
The House on July 11, by a 210-205 vote, passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 165), sponsored by Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), that would void and nullify an Education Department rule issued in April that modified sex and gender-based discrimination requirements for education programs that receive federal funding. Miller said: “Biden wants to force biological men into our girls’ showers and bathrooms, and the Biden Title IX rule will be the end of girls’ sports.” An opponent, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), said: “Every student deserves an education free from harassment, discrimination and violence, and as Americans, we should not stand for this kind of intolerance.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
SEC Accounting Rule
The House on July 11, by a 228-184 vote, failed to override President Biden’s veto of a resolution (H.J. Res. 109), sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), to disapprove of and void a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that issued accounting guidance requiring banks to place digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, that they hold in custody on their own balance sheets. Flood said the rule extended beyond SEC authority by regulating banks. A resolution opponent, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), said: “If you vote today for no disclosure in the financial statements, then that is a repudiation of all modern accounting theory.” A two-thirds majority was required to override the veto.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
Garland Resolution
The House on July 11, by a 210-204 vote, rejected a resolution (H.R. 1344), sponsored by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), that would have held Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of the House and fined Garland for not obeying a subpoena requiring him to deliver audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, regarding Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
2025 Legislative Branch Spending
The House on July 11, by a 213-205 vote, rejected the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 8772), sponsored by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.). The bill would have provided $7.125 billion of fiscal 2025 funding for Congress and the federal government’s legislative branch, including $830 million for the Capitol Police, $1.933 billion for House programs and $896.7 million for the Government Accountability Office.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted no
The House also passed, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 6062), to restore the ability of the people of American Samoa to approve amendments to their territorial constitution.
SENATE
Appeals Court Judge
The Senate on July 8, by a 47-43 vote, confirmed the nomination of Nancy Maldonado to be a judge on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Maldonado was a private practice lawyer in Chicago, specializing in employment law, for about two decades; for the past two years, she has been a U.S. district court judge in Illinois.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Nuclear Facilities
The Senate on July 9, by a 54-41 vote, confirmed the nomination of Patricia Lee to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board for a term ending in fall 2027. Lee has, for more than three decades, been a radiation and nuclear safety specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Energy Department’s Savannah River National Laboratory.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Washington, D.C., Judge
The Senate on July 10, by a 50-43 vote, confirmed the nomination of Charles Willoughby Jr. to be a judge on the Superior Court. Willoughby has been an attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. for a decade.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Labor Relations
The Senate on July 10, by a 55-37 vote, confirmed the nomination of Anne Wagner to be a commissioner on the Federal Labor Relations Authority for a five-year term ending in mid-2029. Wagner has been a lawyer in the federal government’s Office of Special Counsel for nine years; previously, she was a lawyer in several other federal roles, and for close to two decades was a lawyer at the American Federation of Government Employees.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Federal Claims Judge
The Senate on July 11, by a 52-39 vote, confirmed the nomination of Robin Meriweather to be a judge on the U.S. Federal Claims Court for a 15-year term. Meriweather became an attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C., in 2007, then was named a U.S. magistrate judge for D.C. in 2017.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate also confirmed the nomination of Danny Lam Hoan Nguyen to be a judge on the Superior Court of Washington, D.C., and passed:
■ The Federal Prison Oversight Act (H.R. 3019), to establish an inspections regime for the Bureau of Prisons;
■The Mining Schools Act (S. 912), to require the Energy Department to provide technology grants to strengthen domestic mining education;
■ The SHIELD Act (S. 412), to provide that it is unlawful to knowingly distribute private intimate visual depictions of an individual with reckless disregard for the individual’s lack of consent; and
■ The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act (S. 150).
