How they voted
August 6, 2011 5:10PM
Updated: September 24, 2012 6:25AM
WASHINGTON — Here’s how Reps. Joe Donnelly and Peter Visclosky, Democrats, and Sens. Richard Lugar and Daniel Coats, Republicans, voted last week.
House
RAISING THE DEBT CEILING: The House passed an amendment to the Budget Control Act (S. 627), sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The amendment would raise the debt ceiling by $900 billion, cut spending by $917 billion, establish a joint select committee on deficit reduction, and require a vote on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. The vote, on July 29, was 218 yeas to 210 nays.
Votes: Donnelly, nay; Visclosky, nay
BUDGET CONTROL ACT: The House rejected the Budget Control Act (H.R. 2693), sponsored by Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif. The bill would have raised the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion and outlined $2.4 trillion of spending cuts over the next 10 years. The vote, on July 30, was 173 yeas to 246 nays, with a two-thirds majority required for approval.
Votes: Donnelly, yea; Visclosky, nay
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY LAWS: The House passed a bill (H.R. 2715), sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission greater authority and discretion in enforcing consumer product safety laws. The vote, on Aug. 1, was 421 yeas to 2 nays.
Votes: Donnelly, yea; Visclosky, yea
SOLDIERS AND FOREIGN SPOUSES: The House passed a bill (H.R. 398), sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., that would relieve foreign spouses of military service members deployed overseas from having to travel to the U.S. for interviews for their petitions to become permanent residents. The vote, on Aug. 1, was unanimous with 426 yeas.
Votes: Donnelly, yea; Visclosky, yea
VISAS FOR NONIMMIGRANT NURSES: The House passed a bill (H.R. 1933), sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, that would reauthorize for three years the H-1C program for granting visas to nonimmigrant nurses to work in hospitals facing a shortage of health professionals. The vote, on Aug. 1, was 407 yeas to 17 nays.
Votes: Donnelly, yea; Visclosky, yea
BUDGET CONTROL ACT: The House passed the Budget Control Act (S. 365), sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The bill would raise the debt limit by between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion and cut spending by a similar amount, require Congress to vote on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution this year, and charge a 12-member congressional committee with proposing legislation by Nov. 23 to make further deficit cuts. The vote, on Aug. 1, was 269 yeas to 161 nays.
Votes: Donnelly, yea; Visclosky, nay
Senate
RAISING THE DEBT CEILING: The Senate passed the Budget Control Act (S. 365), sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The bill would raise the debt limit by between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion and cut spending by a similar amount, require Congress to vote on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution this year, and charge a 12-member congressional committee with proposing legislation by Nov. 23 to make further deficit cuts. The vote, on Aug. 2, was 74 yeas to 26 nays.
Votes: Coats, nay; Lugar, yea
