Pete Sessions Votes No to Helping 9/11 Responders

Today, the House passed H.R. 847: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. From Associated Press:

WASHINGTON – A bill to give up to $7.4 billion to workers sickened during the cleanup of World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 attacks passed in the House on Wednesday after a passionate floor debate in which supporters said they were standing up for heroes.
"To the living victims of 9/11, we have good news: Help is on the way," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., a lead advocate for the bill.
New York lawmakers have been pushing for years for such a measure, which passed 268-160.

Pete Sessions voted no. See Roll number 550.

Pete Sessions co-sponsors bill to change 14th Amendment

Sure, they swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, but they just want to "tweak" it a bit, and get rid of birthright citizenship--a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. For those of you who wondered whether or not Pete Sessions is a co-sponsor, yes, he is. For a look at their editing of the Constitution, check their revisions to the Amendment at the Library of Congress. A list of co-sponsors is available at this Gov Track link: H.R. 1868: Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009

The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

Mitch McConnell is on record as wanting a "hearing" on the 14th Amendment, but not all conservatives agree, namely Lou Dobbs.

In the upcoming debates (unless Pete chickens out), listen for the latest right-wing fringe scare tactic: the "anchor baby" plot to take over America. :)

(And, if you submit a question, ask Pete if he'll considering "tweaking" the Second Amendment to exclude things like armor piercing bullets, since he's into changing the Constitution all of a sudden).

Pete Sessions votes "no" to oil drilling safety

On Friday, the House approved a bill to lift the ban on deep water drilling, while putting in place new regulations to prevent another disaster like the current oil spill in the Gulf. The bill passed 209-193, with Pete Sessions among those voting no. From Voice of America:

Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas argued against the legislation, saying it will stifle job growth and hurt the economy. "The Obama moratorium on deep water oil drilling has already cost tens of thousands of jobs," said Sessions. "And this bill will eliminate even more American energy jobs, making it harder and more expensive to produce both energy on and offshore. Additionally, this legislation will only further enhance our economic troubles in the Gulf region and throughout the nation."

Jim McGovern, the Democratic Party congressman from Massachusetts disagreed. "My friend talks about jobs. How many jobs have been lost because of this oil spill? How many fishermen are out of business, how many hotels and restaurants have lost business because of this terrible crisis? So this is a good bill, and it is a smart bill. And if you want to apologize to big oil go right ahead, but the American people are not on your side on this one," said McGovern.

Roll call information is available at the Library of Congress: Roll Number 513 and you can read the bill and follow its progress as it goes to the Senate at Gov Track.

Pete Sessions votes "no" to extension of unemployment benefits

Our newly fiscally conservative congressman voted against the extension of unemployment benefits (we haven't forgotten your vote to fund the original bailout when Bush wanted it, Pete, or your votes to fund such things as the Iraq War without plans to pay for them).

From Congress.org:

On Thursday, the House passed this bill to extend unemployment benefits through November 30, making the extension retroactive to June 2 when the last extension expired. It was then sent to the president, who signed it the same day.

The bill passed 271-152; roll call information at this link:
Roll Call Vote No. 463 Tally

Pete Sessions takes his rambling non-answers to Meet the Press

This morning, Pete Sessions was on Meet the Press, alongside his counterpart in the DCCC, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, and fundraising chairs for the Senate, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and our own John Cornyn.

David Gregory learned what we've come to expect from Pete Sessions, that he has a "pretty gauzy agenda" when asked for specifics about what he'd do differently from what Democrats are doing. Sessions spoke in his usual roundabout manner, giving campaign platitudes instead of specifics; he said Republicans would "read the bill" when they get back to power (even though they passed such bills as the Patriot Act without reading it) and that "we'd live within our means," even though they ran up plenty of debt when they were in charge.

Republicans all over the country must be scratching their heads this morning, wondering how he ever got put in charge of building the party.

Pete Sessions votes "no" to small business lending

From Congress.org:

On Passage
06/17/2010
House Roll Call No. 375
111th Congress, 2nd Session

Passed: 241-182 (see complete tally)
The House passed this bill that would establish a $30 billion lending fund administered by the Treasury Department to invest in financial institutions, like community banks, with the intention of expanding the availability of credit to small businesses. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Pete Sessions was among those voting no.

Pete Sessions votes "no" to repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

No big surprise here, but Pete Sessions voted no on the House amendment to repeal the 1993 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding gays and lesbians in the military.

The vote to repeal passed the House 234-194, with Sessions joining all but 9 Republicans in casting dissenting votes.

From Congress.Org:

On Agreeing to the Amendment
05/27/2010
House Roll Call No. 317
111th Congress, 2nd Session

Agreed to: 234-194 (see complete tally)
This amendment repeals the 1993 law that codified a ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the armed forces.

Pete Sessions votes "no" to Home Star Energy Retrofit Act

Last week, the House passed H.R. 5019, the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, which allocates $6 billion to be used for consumer rebates to make houses more energy efficient. This is a popular bill with bipartisan support; the Senate version of the bill is co-sponsored by Scott Brown (R-MA) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC). The measure is, favored by manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and voters in TX-32!

The House bill passed 246-161 (23 not voting), with Pete Sessions among those voting no. From here, the bill goes to the Senate; read about the benefits of the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act in this article at Grist: Home Star energy retrofit bill passes House". Read the text of the bill and follow its progress through the Senate at Gov Track

Pete Sessions votes "no" to Puerto Rico Democracy Act

Last Thursday, the House paved the way for Puerto Rico self-determination by passing the Puerto Rico Democracy Act. This is part of a multi-step process which will eventually allow Puerto Rico to decide for themselves if they want complete independence from the United States, to remain a commonwealth, become a 51st state, or to be independent with some sort of special political relationship with the U.S.

The bill, H.R. 2499, passed 223-169, with Pete Sessions among the "no" voters. From there, it will go to the Senate.

For the roll call vote, and to follow the progress of this bill see Gov Track.

Pete Sessions votes for Iran sanctions

Pete Sessions joined the majority in Congress, voting yes to the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act. From Congress.org:

On Motion to Instruct Conferees
04/22/2010
House Roll Call No. 219
111th Congress, 2nd Session

Passed: 403-11 (see complete tally)
The House voted to move forward with a bill to sanction Iran by approving this motion to appoint House members to a conference committee with the Senate. The House version of this bill focuses on imposing sanctions on multinational companies that deal with Iran's petroleum sector, while the Senate's broader version would prohibit the U.S. government from purchasing goods from companies that are subject to sanctions under existing law and expand sanctions on foreign companies investing more than $20 million in Iran's oil and gas sector.

Pete Sessions Votes "no" to clean estuaries

From Congress.Org:

Clean Estuaries Act of 2010

On Passage
04/15/2010
House Roll Call No. 209
111th Congress, 2nd Session

Passed: 278-128 (see complete tally)

The House approved this bill that would authorize $50 million annually through fiscal 2016 for the EPA's National Estuary Program and would require the EPA to evaluate estuary management plans every four years. The bill now goes to the Senate.