Key Votes Ahead

The House this week will take up a bill to eliminate mandatory arbitration in employment, consumer and civil rights litigation, while the Senate will debate judicial and executive-branch nominations.

WASHINGTON — In the legislative week ending Sept. 13, members of the U.S. House passed a bill (HR 205) that would permanently prohibit the federal government from awarding leases for oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The bill, which passed 248 for and 180 against, would replace a temporary moratorium slated to expire June 30, 2022. The protected waters extend at least 125 miles from the Florida coastline and include a 122,000-square-mile military testing range stretching from the Florida Panhandle to the Florida Keys.

Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said: “Right now, we are not drilling off the coast of Florida, and we are energy dominant in the world … and we continue to see energy prices dropping.”

Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said: “Procedures have been long established to ensure that offshore (energy) production can occur alongside commercial fishing, recreation and, yes, military testing and training. They have proven themselves to be entirely compatible during many decades of practical experience.”

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. Here’s how Alabama’s representatives voted:

Voting yes: Terri Sewell, D-7 

Voting no: Bradley Byrne, R-1, Martha Roby, R-2, Mike Rogers, R-3, Robert Aderholt, R-4, Mo Brooks, R-5, Gary Palmer, R-6

The bill was just one of the drilling issues voted on last week by the House. Also on the roster were:

Drilling Ban in Arctic Wildlife Refuge:

Voting 225 for and 193 against, the House on Sept. 12 passed a bill (HR 1146) that would prohibit oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Alaska’s North Slope. This would repeal a mandate in the Republicans’ 2017 tax-cut law that would open the refuge’s pristine coastal plain to energy development. The plain accounts for 1.5 million of ANWR’s 19.3 million acres. The area where drilling would be centered consists of a 2,000-acre footprint plus thousands of adjacent acres to accommodate roads, gravel pits, housing and other support facilities. A Department of the Interior plan to start offering leases this year faces court challenges.

Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said opening ANWR to drilling “has nothing to do with gas prices and has nothing to do with energy independence. It has to do with greed, plain and simple. This administration simply can’t stand the idea that there are some places that the oil and gas industry shouldn’t be allowed to destroy. ”

Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said the bill “lacks common sense. I have been to the North Slope of Alaska. We can develop clean, safe, low-cost energy in the world and conserve our public lands and the environment.”

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Alabama

Voting yes: Terri Sewell, D-7 

Voting no: Bradley Byrne, R-1, Martha Roby, R-2, Mike Rogers, R-3, Robert Aderholt, R-4, Mo Brooks, R-5, Gary Palmer, R-6

 Arctic Drilling, Russian Energy:

Voting 189 for and 229 against, the House on Sept. 12 defeated a Republican motion that sought to prevent HR 1146 (above) from taking effect unless President Trump certifies it would not result in a net increase of American oil and natural gas imports from Russia.

John Curtis, R-Utah, said: “When the other side is ready to fight climate change, Republicans stand ready. This is not one of those times . … The answer to climate change is not making the U.S. more reliant on foreign fossil fuels.”

Jared Huffman, D-Calif., called presidential certification a delaying tactic “so that this administration can rush a lease plan forward. Frankly, by that time, it is too late. You can’t go backward once you open a place like this up to drilling.”

A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Alabama:

Voting yes: Byrne, Roby, Rogers, Aderholt, Brooks, Palmer

Voting no: Sewell

Drilling Ban off Atlantic, Pacific Coasts:

Voting 238 for and 189 against, the House on Sept. 11 passed a bill (HR 1941) that would prohibit the federal government from awarding leases for oil and gas development at least through 2024 in the Outer Continental Shelf off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The OCS typically begins three-to-nine nautical miles from the U.S. shoreline and reaches outward for at least 200 nautical miles. The bill would thwart Trump administration plans to open certain OCS areas along both coasts to oil and gas exploration as part of a five-year federal energy plan now in the works.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said: “The Trump administration is proposing to open the entire eastern seaboard for oil and gas development. … States up and down the Atlantic, including my own state, oppose this move. We have seen what happens when something goes wrong, as was the case with the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.”

Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said: “Instead of making potential bountiful energy deposits off-limits to development, this Congress should be interested in making sure that these deposits are responsibly developed. Technological advancements in offshore energy development have made it safer than ever before.”

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Alabama:

Voting yes: Sewell

Voting no: Byrne, Roby, Rogers, Aderholt, Brook, Palmer

Offshore Drilling, Gasoline Prices:

Voting 194 for and 233 against, the House on Sept. 11 defeated a Republican motion to prevent a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling (HR 1941, above) from taking effect without presidential certification that it would not contribute to an increase in the national average price of gasoline.

Garret Graves, R-La., said: “A runup in world oil prices effectively attacks every American family’s discretionary budget, except that the money goes to the OPEC cartel rather than the U.S. Treasury. … This amendment ensures that (the bill) does not result in a disproportionate impact on the poor by raising gasoline prices”

Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., said the motion would “cede more power to our president, but I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in separate but equal branches of government like our Founding Fathers intended.”

A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Alabama:

Voting yes: Byrne, Roby, Rogers, Aderholt, Brooks, Palmer

Voting no: Sewell

SENATE

Michelle Bowman, Federal Reserve Governor:

Voting 60 for and 31 against, the Senate on Sept. 12 confirmed Michelle Bowman to a 14-year term on the Federal Reserve System board of governors starting Feb. 1. Until then, she will continue to fill an unexpired term on the board. Bowman was the top banking regulator in Kansas and a community bank executive before joining the Fed in November 2018. She held posts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush administration.

A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.

ALABAMA:

Voting yes: Richard Shelby, R, Doug Jones, D