Peninsula Daily News news services
WASHINGTON — This week, the House will debate bills on offshore-oil drilling, while the Senate will resume work on a bill directing federal contracts to small businesses.
Contact our legislators
“Eye on Congress” is published in the Peninsula Daily News every Monday when Congress is in session about activities, roll call votes and legislation in the House and Senate.
The North Olympic Peninsula’s legislators in Washington, D.C., are Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Mountlake Terrace), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Bothell) and Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Belfair).
Contact information — The address for Cantwell and Murray is U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510; Dicks, U.S. House, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Phone Cantwell at 202-224-3441 (fax, 202-228-0514); Murray, 202-224-2621 (fax, 202-224-0238); Dicks, 800-947-6676 (fax, 202-226-1176).
Email via their websites: cantwell.senate.gov; murray.senate.gov; house.gov/dicks.
Dicks’ North Olympic Peninsula office is at 332 E. Fifth St., Port Angeles, WA 98362.
It is open from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays and by appointment.
It is staffed by Judith Morris, 360-452-3370 (fax: 360-452-3502).
State legislators
Jefferson and Clallam counties are represented in the part-time state Legislature by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, the House majority whip; Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim; and Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam.
Write Van De Wege and Tharinger at P.O. Box 40600 (Hargrove at P.O. Box 40424), Olympia, WA 98504; email them at vandewege.kevin@leg.wa.gov; tharinger.steve@leg.wa.gov; hargrove.jim@leg.wa.gov.
Or you can call the Legislative Hot Line, 800-562-6000, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (closed on holidays and from noon to 1 p.m.) and leave a detailed message, which will be emailed to Van De Wege, Tharinger or Hargrove, or to all three.
Links to other state officials: secstate.wa.gov/ elections/elected_officials.aspx.
Learn more
Websites following our state and national legislators:
■ Followthemoney.org — Campaign donors by industry, ZIP code and more
■ Vote-Smart.org — How special interest groups rate legislators on the issues.
How they voted
■ TAX POLICIES AGAINST ABORTION: Voting 251 for and 175 against, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 3) that would use the U.S. tax code as a tool against abortions except those performed in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.
The bill would bar women from deducting abortion-related medical expenses from their taxable income.
The bill also would bar tax credits that employers and others receive for the cost of providing employee medical insurance if the insurance covers abortion services.
Additionally, the bill makes the Hyde Amendment permanent law rather than one that needs annual renewal.
That amendment, which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the mother’s life, has been federal law since 1976.
Abortion is a legal medical procedure under the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Dicks voted no.
■ RAPE, INCEST, TAXES: Voting 192 for and 235 against, the House on Wednesday defeated a Democratic motion to bar the IRS from accessing personal medical records to establish for tax purposes whether a woman was a victim of rape or incest.
The motion was in response to language in HR 3 (above) that excludes abortion costs as deductible medical expenses on personal income-tax returns except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life is at risk.
A yes vote backed the motion.
Dicks voted no.
■ STATE HEALTH EXCHANGES: Voting 238 for and 183 against, the House on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 1213) to prohibit spending to establish the state-run exchanges that will become core elements of the new health law starting in 2014.
The bill would lower spending by $13 billion over five years and apply the savings to deficit reduction.
It would also have the effect of expanding federal involvement in U.S. health care because the law requires the federal government to establish exchanges in states that fail to do so.
To date, 49 states and the District of Columbia have received $54 million in federal grants for early planning of their exchanges.
The exchanges targeted by this bill are designed mainly to supply private insurance to the self-employed and employees of small businesses, enabling them and their families to obtain affordable policies that meet federal standards.
By assembling large pools of policyholders, the exchanges are designed to spread risk, drive down premium rates and create profitable markets for insurance firms.
The exchanges would be closed to employees of large corporations, who would receive their coverage through company plans and would also exclude those eligible for Medicaid and Medicare.
The health law would extend insurance to 36 million uninsured Americans, a large share of whom would obtain their coverage in the exchanges.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Dicks voted no.
■ SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CLINICS: Voting 235 for 191 against, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 1214) to defund a program in the new health law that finances the construction of preventive-care clinics at schools.
These wellness clinics are intended to provide primary care, dental services and mental-health care for youths who otherwise would not receive early medical attention and thus cut health care costs in the long run.
The new health law provides $200 million over several years in mandatory spending for the construction program, about $100 million of which has been obligated.
This bill would block release of the remaining $100 million and use the savings to pay down the national debt.
About 350 school-based clinics in 46 states have applied for construction funds to date.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Dicks voted no.
■ OFFSHORE ENERGY DRILLING: Voting 266 for and 149 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill (HR 1230) setting deadlines for the administration to auction certain Outer Continental Shelf leases for oil and gas exploration that were delayed for environmental and safety reasons after last year’s BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The bill requires leases in the central and western Gulf of Mexico and Virginia to be auctioned within one year of enactment or sooner.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Dicks voted no.
■ OIL-INDUSTRY TAX BREAKS: Voting 241 for and 171 against, the House on Thursday blocked a bid by Democrats to force a direct vote on their amendment to end at least $30 billion in oil-industry tax breaks and use the savings to cut taxes for all corporations as a spur for them to produce jobs.
Democrats used this procedural tactic after Republican leaders denied their request for a direct vote on attaching the amendment to HR 1230 (above).
A yes vote was to block the Democratic amendment.
Dicks voted no.
■ JUDGE MCCONNELL CONFIRMATION: On a party-line vote of 50 for and 44 against, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed John J. McConnell, 52, as a judge on the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island.
Republicans based their unanimous opposition mainly on his background as a Democratic Party activist with a long record of suing businesses as a plaintiff’s attorney.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed the nomination.
A yes vote was to confirm McConnell.
Cantwell voted yes; Murray did not vote.
