Along with roll call votes this week, the Senate also passed a bill (H. Con. Res. 9), providing for a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the President.

The House also passed the Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act (H.R. 876), to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out a plan for the purchase and installation of an earthquake early warning system for the Cascadia Subduction Zone; the Fairness For Breastfeeding Mothers Act (H.R. 866), to provide a lactation room in public buildings; a bill (H.R. 543), to require the Federal Railroad Administration to provide appropriate congressional notice of comprehensive safety assessments conducted with respect to intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation; and the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act (H.R. 752), to require the maintenance of databases on awards of fees and other expenses to prevailing parties in certain administrative proceedings and court cases to which the United States is a party.

HOUSE VOTES

NAMING SCENIC BYWAYS: The House has passed the Reviving Americas Scenic Byways Act (H.R. 831), sponsored by Rep. David N. Cicillini, D-R.I., to require the Transportation Department to consider nominations for roads that could be designated as national scenic byways. Cicillini said adding roads to the scenic byways program should work to promote international tourists coming to the U.S., and create tourism-related jobs. The vote, on Feb. 6, was 404 yeas to 19 nays.

YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District; Jared Golden, D-2nd District

ROUTE 66 CENTENNIAL: The House has passed the Route 66 Centennial Commission Act (H.R. 66), sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill. The bill would establish the Route 66 Centennial Commission, to be charged with planning programs for celebrating the highway’s centennial in 2026. Davis cited the historical and ongoing economic significance of Route 66 as the nation’s first paved highway, and said the commission would help “give this route what it deserves in our nation’s history.” The vote, on Feb. 6, was 399 yeas to 22 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Golden

STEALING VETERANS BENEFITS: The House has passed the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act (H.R. 450), sponsored by Rep. Theodore E. Deutch, D-Fla., to establish a fine and imprisonment of up to 5 years as penalties for those who attempt to defraud military veterans of their veterans benefits. Deutch said the penalties “will close a loophole in our criminal law and will give federal law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on financial fraud schemes that target our veterans.” The vote, on Feb. 7, was unanimous with 417 yeas.

YEAS: Pingree, Golden

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: The House has passed the Put Trafficking Victims First Act (H.R. 507), sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., to establish a working group at the Justice Department charged with recommending ways to increase the gathering of information about sex and labor trafficking in order to combat such activity. Bass said the working group would help Congress have the information it needs to better combat human trafficking and provide information resources to law enforcement and other parties seeking to stop traffickers. The vote, on Feb. 7, was 414 yeas to 1 nay.

YEAS: Pingree, Golden

SENATE VOTES

CONFLICTS IN SYRIA AND AFGHANISTAN: The Senate has passed an amendment sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act (S. 1). The amendment expressed the sense of the Senate that a rapid withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Syria or Afghanistan could put at risk hard-won gains and endanger national security. McConnell said of the need for continued deployments to the two countries: “ISIS and al-Qaida have yet to be defeated, and American national security interests require continued commitment to our missions there.” An opponent, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., questioned whether the U.S. mission in Syria and Afghanistan was turning from protecting national security to the difficult and costly goal of nation-building. The vote, on Feb. 4, was 70 yeas to 26 nays.

YEAS: Susan Collins R-Maine; Angus King I-Maine

MIDDLE EAST SECURITY: The Senate has passed the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act (S. 1), sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The bill would authorize assistance and weapons transfers to Israel, extend a military partnership agreement with Jordan, impose sanctions on Syria’s government, and take measures to protect U.S. government bodies that oppose the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel from lawsuits stemming from that opposition. Rubio said it would work to protect Israel against the threat of a multi-pronged attack against it by Hezbollah, Iran, and potentially Syria. An opponent, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the anti-BDS provisions amounted to an effort to “place limitations on the First Amendment right to boycott.” The vote, on Feb. 5, was 77 yeas to 23 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King

CARING FOR FEDERAL LANDS: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., to the Natural Resources Management Act (S. 47). The amendment would have changed the Land and Water Conservation Fund to require that maintenance needs for new lands obtained by the fund be accounted for at the time of purchase, and allocated 5 percent of the fund to be used for work on the deferred maintenance backlog at the national parks. Lankford said the provisions sought to ensure that the federal government have plans to make wilderness and recreation lands usable. An opponent, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the amendment would be a “poison pill” derailing efforts to shape a natural resources bill that can pass the House and Senate and become law. The vote to table, on Feb. 7, was 66 yeas to 33 nays.

YEAS: Collins, King