It is indeed curious that the vocal minority that supports surrendering their rights and protections are silent.
Those who fail to heed the voting histories of their elected officials are easily duped by false campaign rhetoric.
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
How our U.S. Senators voted this week
Bills passed to help our veterans
7 key Senate votes, none in the House
Here's a look at how our two U.S. Senators voted over the previous week.Editor's Note: Besides roll call votes, the Senate also took action on legislation by voice vote. The Senate passed the Access to Community Care for Veterans Act (S. 1463), to modify the distance requirement for increasing the availability of medical care provided to veterans outside the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It passed the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act (H.R. 2496), to extend the authorization for replacing a VA medical center in Denver.
It passed the Highway and Transportation Funding Act (H.R. 2353), to extend various federal transportation programs funded by the Highway Trust Fund.
It also passed the Girls Count Act (S. 802), to authorize foreign aid to support the rights of women and girls in developing countries.
There were no key votes in the House this week.
SENATE VOTES:
Senate Vote 1:TRADE AND CURRENCY MANIPULATION: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to the Trade Act (H.R. 1314). The amendment would have defined currency manipulation as a key issue for U.S. trade negotiators to take into account during trade talks with other countries. A supporter, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said Japan and other Asian countries have used currency manipulation as a primary tactic to promote exports and discourage imports, creating an unfair trade dynamic for the U.S. that hurts domestic manufacturers. An amendment opponent, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called it "far too risky" because it would derail prospects for signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asian countries, subject U.S. monetary policies to the threat of sanctions from overseas, and discourage currency exchange rate transparency by countries that export goods to the U.S. The vote, on May 22, was 48 yeas to 51 nays.
YEAS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
Senate Vote 2:
FUTURE MEMBERS OF PACIFIC TRADE TREATY: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to the Trade Act (H.R. 1314). The amendment would have required the president to notify Congress of plans to enter talks with countries that seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) between the U.S. and Asian countries, and congressional approval of any application by a country to join the TPP. Brown said that before China joins the TPP, "there should be vigorous public debate" in Congress of the prospect of lowering trade barriers to Chinese imports. An amendment opponent, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the bill already required congressional approval, and adding a notification requirement would deprive the U.S. of "one of our best tools that we can use to spur reform and advance our country's values abroad." The vote, on May 22, was 47 yeas to 52 nays.
YEAS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
Senate Vote 3:
PASSING FAST-TRACK TRADE TALKS: The Senate has passed the Trade Act (H.R. 1314), sponsored by Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. The bill would authorize fast-track trade promotion authority for presidents to negotiate the terms of trade treaties, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 other nations bordering the Pacific Ocean. A supporter, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the bill increased transparency in the review of proposed trade treaties and established new human rights, labor, and environmental standards. Wyden predicted that the bill will give the U.S. "the opportunity for more exports" to the surging numbers of middle-class residents of the developing world. A bill opponent, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said its new trade standards would have little or no impact on actual trade levels, and predicted that the TPP would create "tremendous pressure for our own wages and standards to diminish" to avoid being undercut by other nations with weaker standards and much lower wages. The vote, on May 22, was 62 yeas to 37 nays.
NAYS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
Senate Vote 4:
SETTLING INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTES: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to the Trade Act (H.R. 1314). The amendment would have revoked fast-track trade negotiation authority for the president for trade talks that include investor-state dispute settlement provisions for disputes between corporations and sovereign nations. Warren said putting the provisions in trade treaties "threatens domestic sovereignty and weakens the rule of law" by giving corporations the unique right to challenge a nation's laws outside of its legal system. An amendment opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the provisions gave U.S. companies protection when "a corrupt government steals a factory or a crooked judge targets them unfairly" overseas and the companies can't go through that nation's legal system for redress. The vote, on May 22, was 39 yeas to 60 nays.
YEAS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
Senate Vote 5:
TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE: The Senate has rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., to the Trade Act (H.R. 1314). The amendment would have struck from the bill an extension of the trade adjustment assistance program for retraining workers who have lost their jobs due to imports from overseas. Flake said studies of trade adjustment assistance have found it "duplicative and wasteful" given that other federal government programs achieve the same thing. An amendment opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the program kept workers displaced by foreign trade from losing ground by helping them adjust and adapt in a changing economy. The vote, on May 22, was 36 yeas to 62 nays.
NAYS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
Senate Vote 6:
FISA REFORMS: The Senate has rejected a motion to end debate on the motion to consider the USA FREEDOM Act (H.R. 2048), sponsored by Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis. The bill would establish new evidence requirements for the FBI to present to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court when seeking approval of electronic surveillance for national security purposes or of suspected terrorists or criminals, and make a variety of changes to FBI electronic surveillance programs and the oversight of those programs. A supporter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said it accommodated privacy concerns by restricting the set of records related to terrorism investigations that the government can request from telecommunications companies, while still giving the government the powers it needed to stop terrorism. A bill opponent, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the bill failed to require companies to maintain telecommunications records for long enough to make investigations effective and would cancel other tools "that secure our freedom" by detecting planned terrorist activities. The vote, on May 23, was 57 yeas to 42 nays, with a three-fifths majority required to end debate.
YEAS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
Senate Vote 7:
FOREIGN SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITIES: The Senate has rejected a motion to end debate on the motion to consider the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (S. 1357), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The bill would extend surveillance authorities covered by FISA until the end of July. McConnell called the extension necessary to give the House and Senate time to work on compromise legislation that will preserve surveillance programs he said were "needed to protect American lives" from terrorist threats. The vote, on May 23, was 45 yeas to 54 nays.
NAYS: Warren D-MA, Markey D-MA
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