Votes

Members of the House on Thursday afternoon rejected five Democratic amendments to a bill that would delay pending Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules governing boiler emissions.

The votes on these amendments were the last of the week for the House, which means members will have to complete work on the bill, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 2250), next week.

The House on Thursday turned away an attempt by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill). to seek privileged status for a resolution that calls on Texas Gov. and presidential candidate Rick Perry to apologize for his family's association with a hunting ranch that featured a rock at the entrance painted with the racially-offensive name "N-----head."

Jackson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, earlier in the day introduced his resolution and sought privileged status, which would have given it priority and required the House to consider it within two legislative days.

The House on Thursday morning ignored objections from Democrats and approved legislation that would delay pending Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for cement plants. But House passage sends the bill to a Senate that is unlikely to consider the bill at all.

Members approved the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, H.R. 2681, in a mostly party-line 262-161 vote. In the final vote, 25 Democrats supported the bill, along with all but two Republicans.

The House on Wednesday evening rejected 13 Democrat amendments to a bill that would delay pending Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations affecting cement plants, and was expected to reject 10 others that will be debated later tonight.

Members of the House spent most of the afternoon debating the amendments, which were put forward by Democrats opposed to the bill. In several cases, amendments were debated for longer than the prescribed 10 minutes, as Democrats took to the floor to oppose the bill as one that would lower environmental protection.

The House easily approved a stopgap bill funding the federal government through Nov. 18 in a 352-66 vote.

Members of the House Monday evening approved three additional federal land use bills. Each of these bills were considered under a suspension of House rules, which means they required a two-thirds majority vote.

The bill applies to power plant emissions and air-toxics rules, setting into motion an Obama administation veto threat.

House GOP leaders early Friday morning managed to win back almost half of the 48 Republicans who handed their leadership an embarrassing defeat by voting against a continuing resolution Wednesday night.

Twenty-three Republicans who supported the continuing resolution in the early Friday vote initially opposed it on Wednesday. They are:

The House late Thursday approved a rule for an amended continuing resolution that funds the government through Nov. 18, adds $3.65 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and takes away $100 million from a Department of Energy program that gave loan guarantees to Solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar-panel company.

The Solyndra language is the only addition to the spending resolution, but it's expected to be enough to win back many of the 48 Republicans who objected to the bill Wednesday, when the language was not included.

The Senate approved a bill that would reinstate a program giving 129 countries duty-free access to the U.S. market, and reauthorize a separate program aimed at giving workers benefits if they lose their jobs to international trade.

The Senate approved the bill, H.R. 2832, by a 70-27 vote.