How your U.S. lawmaker voted this week

WASHINGTON — Here's how state members of Congress voted on major issues in the week that ended Friday.

HOUSE

Medicare Doctor Pay

Members voted 243-183 on Thursday to avert a 21 percent cut next year in Medicare payments to doctors and permanently change the payment formula to the benefit of doctors.

Voting yes: Jay Inslee, D-1; Rick Larsen, D-2; Norm Dicks, D-6; Jim McDermott, D-7

Voting no: Brian Baird, D-3; Doc Hastings, R-4; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5; Dave Reichert, R-8; Adam Smith, D-9

GOP Medicare plan

By a vote of 177-252, the House on Thursday defeated a Republican motion to restructure HR 3961 (above) as a 2-year rather than permanent fix of Medicare's system for paying doctors. The motion also identified a revenue source to pay for the proposed 2-year remedy.

Voting yes: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert

Voting no: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Smith

Cruise-ship safety

By a vote of 416-4, the House on Tuesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 3360) to address sexual assaults and other crimes on cruise vessels carrying U.S. passengers.

The bill requires cruise-ship operators to promptly report crimes to the FBI and Coast Guard, publish crime data online, establish procedures to assist victims and have at least one crew member trained to investigate crime scenes. Operators also would be required to limit crew access to passenger cabins and publish information for contacting U.S. embassies and consulates in countries on the cruise itinerary. The bill would cover between 125-150 vessels that ply U.S. ports.

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

SENATE

Guantánamo prisoners

By a vote of 57-43, the Senate on Tuesday allowed funds in the 2010 military-construction budget (HR 3082) to be used for securing U.S. prisons to hold terrorist suspects transferred from overseas. The vote tabled (killed) an amendment designed mainly to prevent detainee transfers from the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, military prison.

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

Judge David Hamilton

By a vote of 59-39, the Senate on Thursday confirmed federal Judge David Hamilton, 52, of the Southern District of Indiana, for a seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Based in Chicago, the court hears appeals from federal rulings in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Hamilton's confirmation would put four Democratic appointees on the court, compared with seven judges appointed by Republican presidents.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray

Veterans' caregivers

By a vote of 98-1, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (S 1963) to provide monthly stipends and health care to family members who stay home to care for veterans severely injured in Afghanistan or Iraq. The stipend would equal what an outside agency would pay an employee to provide similar care. The new program is projected to cost $3.9 billion over 5 years in deficit spending.

Additionally, the bill would expand services for women veterans, veterans living in rural areas and the estimated 130,000 homeless veterans.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray

United Nations dues

By a vote of 32-66, The Senate on Thursday refused to reduce U.S. payments to the United Nations and other international organizations by $3.9 billion over five years to pay the projected cost of S 1963 (above).

Voting no: Cantwell, Murray

Roll Call Report Syndicate