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

Bolten, Miers citations

By a vote of 223-32, the House on Thursday approved the filing of criminal contempt-of-Congress citations in federal court against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers over their refusal to comply with House subpoenas concerning the alleged systematic infusion of partisan politics into hiring, firing and prosecutorial decisions at several U.S. attorney offices.

Voting yes: Jay Inslee, D-1; Rick Larsen, D-2; Brian Baird, D-3; Norm Dicks, D-6; Jim McDermott, D-7; Adam Smith, D-9.

Not voting: Doc Hastings, R-4; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5; Dave Reichert, R-8.

Surveillance act

By a vote of 191-229, the House on Wednesday defeated a 21-day renewal (HR 5349) of a version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act enacted in August. That temporary measure then expired as House leaders refused to accept a Senate bill (S 2248, below) to extend FISA for six years. There was general agreement that the government's electronic spying on terrorists would continue as before under other laws and also under long-term FISA warrants still in effect.

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

Voting no: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert.

Senate

Intelligence budget

By a vote of 51-45, the Senate on Wednesday sent President Bush the conference report on a fiscal 2008 intelligence budget (HR 2082) that would require CIA personnel to obey the Army Field Manual's ban on torture of prisoners. The manual authorizes 19 interrogation methods and, by implication, outlaws harsh techniques such as waterboarding used by the CIA since Sept. 11, 2001. The bill, which would set an estimated $48 billion intelligence budget, also would require U.S. adherence to Geneva Conventions rules for handling prisoners of war.

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

Surveillance act

By a vote of 68-29, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill (S 2248) that would renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and grant retroactive immunity to certain telecommunications firms. The bill would permit warrantless surveillance on totally foreign communications passing through U.S. switching points; authorize the secret FISA court to issue blanket warrants for surveillance of communications between U.S. and foreign locations; and continue the existing requirement that strictly domestic spying be authorized by the FISA court on a case-by-case basis.

Voting no: Cantwell, Murray.

Telecoms' immunity

By a vote of 31-67, the Senate on Tuesday rejected an amendment to S 2248 (above) to allow lawsuits against telecommunications firms that helped the government spy on Americans after Sept. 11, 2001, without court warrants. The vote affirmed the bill's voiding of dozens of invasion-of-privacy suits pending against AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Communications.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray.

Roll Call Report Syndicate