The Past Two Weeks, Told by House Roll Call Votes, vol. 1, ed. 3

Author's Notes: This post was originally supposed to be published on the evening of 6/27, but due to facing a busy weekend due to an unexpected event across the country related to my family and traveling back from it, I was not able to even start on it until yesterday, and decided to publish it tonight. This change will not be permanent. 

There will not be a post coming out this coming Sunday, July 4th. The next regular post will come out the following week, July 11th. 

The Past Two Weeks, Told by House Roll Call Votes, vol. 1, ed. 3

Table 1: Simplified Chosen House Roll Call Statistics from June 16-June 29

Notes: Under the vote totals by party, the listed numbers are in this order: Yay/Yes-Nay/No-Present-Not Voting. Types of votes are listed in column three, and are abbreviated as follows: 

Source: "U.S. House of Representatives Roll Call." 

Summaries of Noteworthy Legislation Voted On:

• June 16:
• Juneteenth National Independence Day Act (S. 475): Juneteenth (a portmanteau of "June" and "Nineteenth") refers to June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and informed slaves that they were now free (Cineas). In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and other social justice protests last year, a Congressional proposal to designate Juneteenth a Federal holiday failed in the Senate due to opposition by Senator Ron Johnson (R), who expressed concern over the bill's potential fiscal costs (Barrett et al.). This year, the proposal passed both chambers and was signed by President Biden, thus making Juneteenth a Federal holiday for the first time (Wise). Previously, Texas had made Juneteenth a state holiday, and prominent elected officials of both parties from Texas had advocated for designating Juneteenth a Federal holiday (Barrett et al.). 
• June 17:
• To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (H.R. 256): A year before the invasion of Iraq, the Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (or AUMF), which built on a similar one passed just after the 9/11 attacks (Desiderio and o'Brien; Oswald). Since then, while principal operations in Iraq were ended in 2011, drone strikes and other smaller operations have continued in the region, some of which (especially the former) have been controversial. In particular,  President Trump's citing the declaration as the justification behind the January 2020 airstrike against Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani garnered criticism of the AUMF from progressives. The repeal effort was led by progressive Rep. Barbara Lee (D), who asserted that repealing it would eliminate the potential for Presidential abuse and give Congress more power over handling military operations (Desiderio and o'Brien). The House vote saw a near-unanimous number of Democrats vote for it (the only exception was Rep. Elaine Luria (D), whose district covers the military-heavy Hampton Roads region), while House Republicans were divided but overall opposed to the effort (Kheel; Oswald). In particular, Republican opposition focused on concern over the lack of an immediate replacement to address ongoing security issues in the region (Oswald). In the Senate, talks are beginning over a Senate version of the House bill, which might also end up repealing the 1991 pre-Gulf War AUMF that is still in force but is less controversial (Desiderio and o'Brien). 
• June 22:
• Enhancing State Energy Security Planning and Emergency Preparedness Act (H.R. 1374): Coming in the aftermath of the Colonial Pipeline hack, which disrupted oil and gasoline distribution across America, H.R. 1374 provides additional funding to states to improve energy infrastructure cybersecurity ("CONGRESSIONAL"). This bipartisan bill was sponsored by Reps. Bobby Rush (D) and Fred Upton (R), the top two members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy Subcommittee (Kovaleski). 
• June 23:
• Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act of 2021 (H.R. 2062): If enacted, H.R. 2062 would allow workers to bring litigation against employers for claims of age-based discrimination or mistreatment, especially cases brought by older workers ("CONGRESSIONAL"). Age would be elevated to have the same legal standing with race, gender, religion, national origin, and sex in regards to discrimination or mistreatment litigation ("US Federal"). 
• June 24:
• LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act (H.R. 1443): Passed during LGBTQ+ Pride Month, H.R. 1443 would change the existing Equality Capital Opportunity Act to include LGBTQ+ individuals and institutions as being protected from credit discrimination. Specifically, the bill's language would ban discrimination based on sexual identity, gender identity, and gender expression (Bellamy-Walker). Furthermore, financial institutions would be compelled to collect and publish data on business loans to LGBTQ+-owned businesses and individuals ("CONGRESSSIONAL"). The bill was spearheaded by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D), one of the first Black LGBTQ+ representatives, who had previously led efforts to support and promote LGBTQ+ businesses while on the NYC Council (Bellamy-Walker). 
• June 29: 
• Directing the Joint Committee on the Library to replace certain statues in the United States Capitol (HR 3005): H.R. 3005 would compel the Joint Library Committee to remove statues depicting any Confederate leaders and supporters, and send those statues back to their states (each state has 2 statues in the Capitol). Notably, the bill would also remove a bust of SCOTUS Justice Roger Taney, who spearheaded the Dred Scott decision, which asserted that slavery could not be prohibited anywhere and that Black people were not citizens. Per the bill, Taney's statue would be replaced by SCOTUS Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American on the court, and the plaintiffs' lawyer in the Brown v. Board case that declared de jure segregation as unconstitutional. About a year ago, a similar bill was introduced and passed by the House, but did not make it to the then-Republican-controlled Senate (Freking). Like HR 3005, that proposal was supported by every House Democrat, with 72 Republicans supporting the 2020 proposal (Walsh), compared with 67 supporting the 2021 bill. 

Previous Editions of The Past Two Weeks, Told by House Roll Call Votes: 

• 3/14/2021: Vol. 1, ed. 1: Mar. 1-Mar. 12
• 4/25/2021: Vol. 1, ed. 2: Apr. 10-Apr. 23

Works Cited: 

Barrett, Ted, Alex Rogers, and Ali Zaslav. "Senate unanimously passes a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday." CNN, 16 Jun. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/06/15/politics/juneteenth-federal-holiday-senate-vote/index.html. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Bellamy-Walker, Tat. "House Passes LGBTQ Small Business Loan Data Collection Bill." Gay City News, 28 Jun. 2021, www.gaycitynews.com/house-passes-lgbtq-small-business-loan-data-collection-bill/. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Cineas, Fabiola. "Juneteenth, explained." Vox, 17 Jun. 2021, www.vox.com/2020/6/18/21294825/history-of-juneteenth. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

"CONGRESSIONAL VOTES: Rutherford, Waltz OK energy security bill." The St. Augustine Record, 28 Jun. 2021, www.staugustine.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/28/congressional-votes-rutherford-waltz-ok-energy-security-bill/5326033001/. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Desiderio, Andrew, and Connor o'Brien. "House repeals 2002 Iraq War authorization." Politico, 17 Jun. 2021, www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/2002-iraq-war-authorization-repealed-494997. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Freking, Kevin. "House votes to remove Roger Taney bust, Confederate statues from the Capitol." PBS Newshour, 29 Jun. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-votes-to-remove-roger-taney-bust-confederate-statues-from-the-capitol. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Kheel, Rebecca. "House votes to repeal 2002 Iraq war powers." The Hill, 17 Jun. 2021, thehill.com/policy/defense/558930-house-votes-to-repeal-2002-iraq-war-powers. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Kovaleski, Dave. "House passes bill to provide federal funding to states for energy security." DailyEnergyInsider, 24 Jun. 2021, dailyenergyinsider.com/news/30856-house-passes-bill-to-provide-federal-funding-to-states-for-energy-security/. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Oswald, Rachel. "House passes repeal of 2002 military authorization for Iraq war." Roll Call, 17 Jun. 2021, www.rollcall.com/2021/06/17/house-passes-repeal-of-2002-military-authorization-for-iraq-war/. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

"US Federal Labor Viewpoints – Week of June 21, 2021." The National Law Review, 30 Jun. 2021, www.natlawreview.com/article/us-federal-labor-viewpoints-week-june-21-2021. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

"U.S. House of Representatives Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 1st Session (2021)." Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/ROLL_100.asp. Accessed 29 Jun. 2021.

Walsh, Deirdre. "House Passes Bill Removing Confederate Statues, Other Figures From Capitol." National Public Radio, 22 Jul. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/07/22/894165717/house-poised-to-pass-bill-removing-confederate-statues-from-capitol. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

Wise, Alana. "Juneteenth Is Now A Federal Holiday." National Public Radio, 17 Jun. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007602290/biden-and-harris-will-speak-at-the-bill-signing-making-juneteenth-a-federal-holi. Accessed 30 Jun. 2021. 

     Nathan Parmeter

     Author and Host, The Parmeter Politics and Policy Record