The House voted on a number of roll call amendments related to the defense appropriations bill. I highlighted some yesterday and would like to highlight three more. There were three amendments yesterday aimed at changing course from endless embroilment in conflict in the Middle East. All three failed.
Repealing the 2001 AUMF
Barbara Lee (CA-13) offered an amendment to prohibit the use of funds for the 2001 AUMF beginning on April 30, 2017. Lee was the (courageous) lone NO vote on the 2001 AUMF and has been consistent in speaking out on the need to repeal it. The War in Afghanistan will be turning 15 later this year, with no clear concept of an endgame.
Her amendment failed 146 to 274. 129 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted for it. 223 Republicans and 51 Democrats voted against it.
Here are the 51 Democrats:
Pete Aguilar (CA-31)
Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Joyce Beatty (OH-03)
Ami Bera (CA-07)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Brendan Boyle (PA-13)
Julia Brownley (CA-26)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Susan Davis (CA-53)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Lois Frankel (FL-22)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Ruben Gallego (AZ-07)
Gwen Graham (FL-02)
Al Green (TX-09)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Denny Heck (WA-10)
Brian Higgins (NY-26)
Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
Bill Keating (MA-09)
Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Jim Langevin (RI-02)
Dan Lipinski (IL-03)
Nita Lowey (NY-17)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01)
Ben Lujan (NM-03)
Stephen Lynch (MA-08)
Seth Moulton (MA-06)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Donald Norcross (NJ-01)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Kathleen Rice (NY-04)
Raul Ruiz (CA-36)
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Loretta Sanchez (CA-46)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Adam Smith (WA-09)
Juan Vargas (CA-51)
Marc Veasey (TX-33)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
Tim Walz (MN-01)
Last month, 57 Democrats voted against the same amendment, again offered by Lee (during the NDAA process).
What accounted for the decline?
Corrine Brown (FL-05) and David Scott (GA-13), who voted against Lee’s amendment last month, were not in attendance.
Then eleven Democrats who voted against Lee’s amendment last month voted for it this month:
Ted Deutch (FL-21)
Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
Steve Israel (NY-03)
Sander Levin (MI-09)
Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)
Sean Maloney (NY-18)
Grace Meng (NY-06)
Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)
David Price (NC-04)
Jackie Speier (CA-14)
Norma Torres (CA-35)
And seven Democrats did the reverse:
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Al Green (TX-09)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Kathleen Rice (NY-04)
Juan Vargas (CA-51)
Tim Walz (MN-01)
Making Congress Do Its Constitutional Duty
Jim McGovern (MA-02), with a bipartisan coalition, offered an amendment to prohibit funds being obligated for combat operations in Iraq or Syria unless an AUMF is enacted. As Barbara Lee, a co-sponsor of the amendment, noted, “Once again, Congress is preparing to double down on the abdication of our Constitutional responsibility to oversee our nation’s wars and national security.”
It failed 135 to 285. 118 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted for it. 223 Republicans and 62 Democrats voted against it.
Here are the 62 Democrats:
Pete Aguilar (CA-31)
Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Joyce Beatty (OH-03)
Ami Bera (CA-07)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Brendan Boyle (PA-13)
Julia Brownley (CA-26)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
Gerry Connolly (VA-11)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Joe Courtney (CT-02)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Susan Davis (CA-53)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Ted Deutch (FL-21)
Eliot Engel (NY-16)
Elizabeth Esty (CT-05)
Lois Frankel (FL-22)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Ruben Gallego (AZ-07)
Gwen Graham (FL-02)
Al Green (TX-09)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
Steve Israel (NY-03)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
Eddie B. Johnson (TX-30)
Bill Keating (MA-09)
Annie Kuster (NH-02)
Jim Langevin (RI-02)
Sander Levin (MI-09)
Dan Lipinski (IL-03)
Nita Lowey (NY-17)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01)
Ben Lujan (NM-03)
Stephen Lynch (MA-08)
Sean Maloney (NY-18)
Grace Meng (NY-06)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Seth Moulton (MA-06)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Donald Norcross (NJ-01)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Kathleen Rice (NY-04)
Raul Ruiz (CA-36)
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Loretta Sanchez (CA-46)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Adam Smith (WA-09)
Norma Torres (CA-35)
Juan Vargas (CA-51)
Marc Veasey (TX-33)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
Tim Walz (MN-01)
Maxine Waters (CA-43)
As one would expect, the NO list here looks similar to the NO list to Lee’s amendment.
However, 16 Democrats who voted YES on Lee’s amendment voted NO on McGovern’s:
Gerry Connolly (VA-11)
Joe Courtney (CT-02)
Ted Deutch (FL-21)
Eliot Engel (NY-16)
Elizabeth Esty (CT-05)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Steve Israel (NY-03)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
Eddie B. Johnson (TX-30)
Annie Kuster (NH-02)
Sander Levin (MI-09)
Sean Maloney (NY-18)
Grace Meng (NY-06)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Norma Torres (CA-35)
Maxine Waters (CA-43)
And 5 Democrats did the reverse:
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Denny Heck (WA-10)
Brian Higgins (NY-26)
Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Avoiding Further Embroilment in the Syrian Conflict
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) offered an amendment to prohibit funds appropriated in the bill from being used to arm or train the Syrian rebels.
The amendment failed 135 to 283. 56 Republicans and 79 Democrats voted for it. 183 Republicans and 100 Democrats voted against it.
Most of the 62 Democrats who voted against McGovern’s amendment also voted against Gabbard’s, so we’ll start from there.
There were 9 Democrats, however, who voted against the McGovern amendment but for the Gabbard one:
Lois Frankel (FL-22)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Bill Keating (MA-09)
Grace Meng (NY-06)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Loretta Sanchez (CA-46)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
And then there were 47 Democrats who voted for the McGovern amendment but against the Gabbard one (net 38):
Alma Adams (NC-12)
Don Beyer (VA-08)
Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
Tony Cárdenas (CA-29)
John Carney (DE-AL)
Kathy Castor (FL-14)
Joaquin Castro (TX-20)
Judy Chu (CA-27)
Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Jim Clyburn (SC-06)
Diana DeGette (CO-01)
Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Suzan DelBene (WA-01)
Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Anna Eshoo (CA-18)
Marcia Fudge (OH-11)
John Garamendi (CA-03)
Denny Heck (WA-10)
Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Dan Kildee (MI-05)
Derek Kilmer (WA-06)
Ron Kind (WI-03)
Rick Larsen (WA-02)
John Larson (CT-01)
Brenda Lawrence (MI-14)
Dan Loebsack (IA-02)
Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)
Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Jerry Nadler (NY-10)
Bill Pascrell (NJ-09)
Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)
David Price (NC-04)
Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40)
Tim Ryan (OH-13)
Adam Schiff (CA-28)
Bobby Scott (VA-03)
Albio Sires (NJ-08)
Adam Smith (WA-09)
Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Pete Visclosky (IN-01)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)
Final Roundup
I have looked at 3 roll call votes here as well as (in past posts) the one on banning the sale of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia and the one on cutting the Pentagon budget by 1% across the board.
13 Democrats consistently took the militaristic stance on all of these amendments:
Pete Aguilar (CA-31)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Susan Davis (CA-53)
Ruben Gallego (AZ-07)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Adam Smith (WA-09)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
43 Democrats did the opposite, taking the anti-militaristic stance on each amendment:
Xavier Becerra (CA-34)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Katherine Clark (MA-05)
Yvette Clarke (NY-09)
Lacy Clay (MO-01)
Steve Cohen (TN-09)
John Conyers (MI-13)
Danny Davis (IL-07)
Pete DeFazio (OR-04)
Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11)
Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Alan Grayson (FL-09)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Raul Grijalva (AZ-03)
Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Janice Hahn (CA-44)
Mike Honda (CA-17)
Jared Huffman (CA-02)
Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08)
Robin Kelly (IL-02)
Barbara Lee (CA-13)
John Lewis (GA-05)
Alan Lowenthal (CA-47)
Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Jim McGovern (MA-02)
Grace Napolitano (CA-32)
Rick Nolan (MN-08)
Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Mark Pocan (WI-02)
Jared Polis (CO-02)
Charlie Rangel (NY-13)
Bobby Rush (IL-01)
Jose Serrano (NY-15)
Louise Slaughter (NY-25)
Jackie Speier (CA-14)
Mark Takano (CA-41)
Paul Tonko (NY-20)
Nydia Velazquez (NY-07)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
Pete Welch (VT-AL)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)