How your U.S. lawmaker voted

WASHINGTON — Here's how the state's members of Congress voted on major roll calls in the week ending Friday.

HOUSE

2008 defense budget: By a vote of 397-27, the House on Thursday approved a $645.6 billion military budget (HR 1585) for fiscal 2008. The bill authorizes $141.8 billion for 12 months of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, sets a 3.5 percent military pay raise, and orders the most thorough re-evaluation since 1947 of the military's core mission.

Additionally, the bill bans fee increases for the military's TRICARE health-care program; creates the office of inspector general to audit U.S. reconstruction spending in Afghanistan; provides $4.1 billion for developing blast-resistant combat vehicles; restores collective-bargaining rights to certain Defense Department employees; adds 9,000 Marines and 36,000 active-duty Army personnel; and provides at least $8.1 billion for national missile defense.

Voting yes: Jay Inslee, D-1; Rick Larsen, D-2; Doc Hastings, R-4; Norm Dicks, D-6; Dave Reichert, R-8; Adam Smith, D-9.

Voting no: Jim McDermott, D-7.

Not voting: Brian Baird, D-3; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5.

U.S.-Israeli missile defenses: By a vote of 394-30, the House on Thursday increased by $200 million the allocation in HR 1585 (above) for a project to fully integrate U.S. and Israeli missile-defense systems. At least $73 million already was in the bill for Israel's Arrow missile-defense system.

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Hastings, Dicks, Reichert, Smith.

Voting no: McDermott.

Not voting: Baird, McMorris Rodgers.

Iran attack ban: By a vote of 136-288, the House on Wednesday defeated an amendment clarifying that Congress has never authorized military action against Iran. The amendment also stipulated that no funds in HR 1585 (above) could be used for a strike against Iran unless Iran has first attacked the United States or its forces.

Voting yes: Inslee, McDermott.

Voting no: Larsen, Hastings, Dicks, Reichert, Smith.

Not voting: Baird, McMorris Rodgers.

Interrogation videotapes: By a vote of 199-229, the House on Thursday rejected an amendment to require the military's prisoner interrogations to be videotaped and guarantee that prisoners in U.S. custody have access to international humanitarian authorities. The amendment was offered to HR 1585 (above).

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Dicks, McDermott, Smith.

Voting no: Hastings, Reichert.

Not voting: Baird, McMorris Rodgers.

Guantánamo Bay: By a vote of 220-208, the House on Thursday passed an amendment requiring the Bush administration to provide within 60 days a plan for relocating all detainees from the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The amendment was added to the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill (above).

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Dicks, McDermott, Smith.

Voting no: Hastings, Reichert.

Not voting: Baird, McMorris Rodgers.

2008-2012 federal budget: By a vote of 214-209, the House on Thursday approved the conference report on a five-year Democratic budget (S Con Res 21) that for 2008 projects $2.9 trillion in spending, a $252 billion deficit, a national debt of $9.5 trillion and debt-service payments of at least $250 billion.

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Dicks, McDermott, Smith.

Voting no: Hastings, Reichert.

Not voting: Baird, McMorris Rodgers.

Community police grants: By a vote of 381-34, the House on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 1700) that would expand Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a Democratic program from the 1990s that Republicans have scaled back in recent years. The bill authorizes nearly $6 billion over six years for grants to help local departments put officers on the beat and upgrade crime-fighting technology. The bill is now before the Senate.

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Hastings, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith.

Not voting: McMorris Rodgers.

SENATE

Iraq funds cutoff: By a vote of 29-67, the Senate on Wednesday defeated an amendment to start a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq within 120 days of enactment and cut off war funding by March 31. The amendment was proposed to a water-projects bill (HR 1495) later sent to the House.

Voting yes: Maria Cantwell, D; Patty Murray, D.

Iraq benchmarks: By a vote of 52-44, the Senate on Wednesday failed to advance a proposed cutoff of nonmilitary reconstruction funds for Iraq unless Iraq meets certain political and security benchmarks. The amendment, offered to HR 1495 (above), needed 60 yes votes to pass.

Voting no: Cantwell, Murray.

2008-12 federal budget: By a vote of 52-40, the Senate on Thursday joined the House in approving a congressional budget plan for fiscal 2008-12. In addition to the House provisions, the measure would restore the pay-as-you-go rule that requires new tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending to be offset elsewhere in the budget. The budget would extend marriage tax cuts, expanded child-tax credits and reductions in middle-class and low-income marginal rates. But it would allow the expiration after 2010 of cuts in capital-gains and dividend rates and in marginal rates for upper-income taxpayers.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray.

Global climate change: By a vote of 51-42, the Senate on Tuesday failed to approve a requirement that the Army Corps of Engineers factor global climate change into its project analyses. The amendment, offered to a water-resources bill (HR 1495) later sent to conference with the House, needed 60 yes votes to pass.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray.

Roll Call Report Syndicate