CongressionalWatch

House Passes Bill Protecting Postal Service in Mostly Partisan Vote

Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON – Alabama’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives, as with much of the House membership, voted mostly along party lines Saturday to shore up the postal service as the country nears an election when more ballots are expected to be mailed than ever before. The vote on HR 8015 was 257 for and 150 against. It would prohibit the U.S. Postal Service from reducing service below levels in effect at the start of the year and require it to treat official election envelopes as first-class mail in this fall's balloting. In addition, the bill would provide $25 billion requested by the postal service for coping with the coronavirus outbreak in the budget year starting Oct. 1. Read more.

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House Takes Up Child Care Funding Bills

Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — The House last week took up three bills that would provide help for child care providers or parents returning to work. The first, HR 7027, was passed on a vote of 249 for and 163 against. It would appropriate $50 billion to help child care providers stay in business during the pandemic so that parents can return to work. The funding would be used to subsidize in-home services as well as licensed child care operations of all sizes, and it could be used to prop up functioning centers or reopen those forced to close because of the pandemic. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., opposed the bill. "Child care is essential as parents begin returning to the workplace; however, this bill spends too much taxpayer money and places an undue and unworkable regulatory burden on facilities, federal agencies and, yes, on families," he said. Read more.

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House Votes on Removing Confederate Statues From the Capitol, Military Funding

Voterama in Congress KEY VOTES AHEAD: The House will take up fiscal 2021 spending bills in the week of July 27, while the Senate will vote on judicial nominations. Both chambers are expected to start work on a coronavirus-relief package. WASHINGTON — Alabama’s representatives in the U.S. House split along party lines on a vote last week to remove from the Capitol building a bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the Dred Scott vs. Sandford ruling in 1857 that Blacks could not be citizens of the United States or sue in federal courts. Under the bill, the Taney bust on the Senate side of the Capitol would be replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice. The House on July 22 voted 305 for and 113 against to pass HR 7573 and send it to the Senate. Read more.

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Senate Agrees to Debate Funding Bill to Maintain National Parks

WASHINGTON — Alabama’s senators split along party lines June 10 on a vote to start debate on HR 1957, which would greatly increase financial support of federal land agencies including the National Park Service and boost U.S. government funding of federal, state and local efforts to purchase and protect unspoiled acreage. Read more.

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House Passes Bill to Plug Holes in Paycheck Protection Legislation

Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — All of Alabama’s representatives, along with all but one member of the House, voted for a bill designed to plug holes in previous paycheck protection legislation. Read more.

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Senate Confirms New Intelligence Chief, Elections Commissioner

The Senate voted largely along party lines to confirm two Trump appointees last week. Read more.

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Alabama’s House Delegation Votes Along Party Lines on 3rd Relief Package

The House on Friday narrowly approved a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package (HR 6800). Alabama’s representatives voted along party lines, with Democrat Rep. Terri Sewell voting to approve and the Republicans voting against the matter. The measure is unlikely to become law. Republican senators oppose it, and President Trump has said he would veto it. Read more.

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Alabama Reps Back New $484 Billion Coronavirus Relief Bill

WASHINGTON — All of Alabama members in the U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to approve a $484 billion package to help hospitals, small businesses, farms and other recipients cope with economic misfortune over the next few months of the coronavirus pandemic. Read More

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Alabama House Members Voted for $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill, Even Though They Didn’t Like All of It

Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill during the legislative week ending March 27. Congress debated no other substantive measures during the week. Alabama’s House of Representatives members supported the bill, although not always happily.

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Emergency Coronavirus Funding Approved, More Relief to Be Debated Next Week

Voterama KEY VOTES AHEAD Congress will take up its third coronavirus relief package in the week of March 23, a measure that could promptly send at least $500 billion in direct payments to individuals and households and provide bailouts to industries including the airlines. WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday, March 18, passed a $100 billion safety-net and economic stimulus package to help families, individuals and small and medium-size businesses cope with the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak, and the president signed it the same day. The Senate vote was near to a sweep with 90 for and eight against. Both Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican, and Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, voted for the measure. Read more.

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