The House approved three spending packages last week, including a Senate-drafted $4.6 billion emergency measure to address the humanitarian crisis at the Mexican border, a vote that split Nevada Democrats. 

House action on the appropriations measures came as the Senate approved the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Both Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen voted for the measure, which passed 86 to 8.

Cortez Masto managed to include language in the bill, among other things, designed to improve accountability related to living conditions in privatized military housing, including the creation of a tenant bill of rights to attach to all housing agreements.

Rosen praised the inclusion of a 3.1 percent pay raise in the NDAA as well as $65.2 million for military construction projects at Nellis Air Force Base, which includes $57 million for the 365th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group Facility and $8.2 million for an F-35A Munitions Assembly Conveyor Facility.

The bill also includes $49 million for the Secretary of Defense to establish a secure fifth generation wireless network at the Nevada Test and Training Range to provide an advanced cellular range for the military. 

She also noted the bill did not include funding to build a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, which defied a request for $166 million in President Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget blueprint.

“Nevada’s defense and nuclear security installations play a critical role in keeping our nation safe, and I’m glad to see that the NDAA recognizes the strategic importance of the Silver State to our nation’s national security,” Rosen said in a release.

Both Cortez Masto and Rosen voted for an amendment to the NDAA to block Trump from authorizing military operation against Iran without congressional input. The amendment failed to win the 60 votes needed to advance and came after Trump called off a retaliatory strike against Iran for shooting down a U.S. drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

Border funding

The House approved the so-called emergency border supplemental spending bill, 305 to 102. Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford were among the 95 Democrats who opposed the measure, which included $2.9 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide safe and appropriate shelter and care for children in its custody.

The vote on the Senate proposal Thursday came after House Democrats passed their own $4.5 billion version of the measure on Tuesday that included oversight provisions designed to improve the care of migrants, including updated requirements for the care of unaccompanied children, such as standards for medical care and medical emergencies, as well as nutrition, hygiene, facilities and personnel training. The House bill took a lot of internal negotiation among Democrats to win the support of progressives and moderates in the caucus. The measure passed 230 to 195, with mostly Democratic votes, including Horsford and Titus. 

Passage of the House bill also came after reports of migrant children being denied toothpaste and soap while in custody and a viral video of a Justice Department lawyer arguing that, for what is intended to be a relatively short stay, migrant children may not have to be provided toothpaste and soap for their detention to be considered ‘safe and sanitary.’ The House debate also came as a tragic photo was circulated around the world of the bodies of Oscar Alberto Martínez and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie Valeria, who drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande into Texas last Sunday.

House passage of the bill put pressure on the Senate to act, which it did after Republican and Democratic members of the Appropriations Committee drafted on their own bill. The Senate passed its bill 84 to 8, with support from both Cortez Masto and Rosen. Once the bipartisan package was approved on Wednesday, that put pressure on House Democratic leaders to accept the Senate package, which they ultimately did — but then lost support for the package among House Democrats.

Both Titus and Horsford cited the lack of oversight as the reason for their opposition. 

“I do not trust Donald Trump or the anti-immigration extremists in his Administration to spend this money in a way that will help the children in need,” said Titus in a release. “The President’s cruel family separation policy has led to a humanitarian crisis and it is a mistake to give this Administration billions of taxpayer dollars with virtually no strings attached.”

Horsford said that the Senate measure did not go far enough.

“We need to provide real assistance to the children and families in detention at the border,” Horsford said. “The Senate supplemental bill does not do enough to help those held in inconceivably inhumane conditions. I will not stand for legislation that funds the further disruption of the family unification process and the unnecessary jailing of children in non-compliant ‘influx facilities.’” 

Influx facilities are temporary detention shelters that the federal government has been using to house migrants.

Democratic Rep. Susie Lee joined with Republican Rep. Mark Amodei in voting in favor of the bill.

“This is a bill that had the bipartisan support necessary to get this funding to the border immediately,” Lee spokesman Jackson Wessells said in an email. “Rep. Lee came to Congress to solve problems like these and sometimes there has to be a compromise, which is exactly what this bill was.”

Amodei, who voted against the House Democrats’ package, pointed to the overwhelming Senate vote as part of the reason why he backed the bill.

He also echoed Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee and helped draft the measure, and said that the bill is a bipartisan compromise that would quickly get funds where needed.

“We’ve got humanitarian issues there and we’re going to say because we only got 90 percent of what we want, they get nothing?” Amodei said, adding that it would not make sense for Democrats or Republicans to reject the proposal.

He added that the Democratic plan had a lot of political riders that amounted to poison pills, including a blanket provision that would have prohibited the use of funds for any purpose not specifically described.

The bill, which now goes to Trump for his signature, also includes $1.1 billion for Customs and Border Protection to establish migrant care and processing facilities, provide medical care and consumables, and pay travel and overtime costs for personnel. 

Appropriations

The House last week also approved a $383.3 billion spending package made up of five of the 12 annual appropriations bills as well as a separate $24.5 billion bill that provides funding for the Treasury Department, the Executive Office of the President and the Judiciary. 

The $383.3 billion minibus was approved Tuesday, 227 to 194, with all Democrats supporting the package and Amodei voting against it, citing a concern over the lack of a bipartisan agreement on caps for defense and nondefense spending. A deal is needed in order to turn off automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, set to go into effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year, Oct. 1. 

“There’s no budget caps agreement,” Amodei said, adding that Democrats have boosted non-defense spending, which could trigger a fight with the GOP and lead to the sequester cuts going into effect or a government shutdown.

“You start looking at this and you think 'hey, this is a prime invitation to have the sequester triggered',” Amodei said. 

He also noted that the deficit is “on the march again.”

He cited similar reasons for voting against the $24.5 billion Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, which was approved Wednesday, 224 to 196, with all Democrats voting for the measure.

Titus, Horsford and Lee all managed to get amendments into the minibus. The section of the package covering military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs included the language of a bill sponsored by Titus that would put an end to the VA’s practice of performing experiments on dogs. Titus also has language included that, among other things, would protect healthy wild horses and burros under the care of the U.S. Forest Service from being slaughtered. 

Horsford’s amendment, part of the bill funding the Department of Interior, would fund the construction of a visitor’s center at Tule Springs National Monument in Nevada.

An amendment proposed by Lee to increase child nutrition programs at the Agriculture Department by $500,000 was also attached to the package. The proposal would offset the increase by cutting agency’s administration account by the same amount. 

Lee also successfully included an amendment in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill was that was approved Wednesday, 224 to 196, with all Democrats voting for the measure and Amodei opposing it.

She partnered with Amodei to offer an amendment that was included in the bill on a 400 to 27 vote. It provides an additional $1 million to the Drug-Free Communities Program account to support local governments’ critical opioid response efforts in communities hit hardest by the opioid crisis. The cost of the amendment was offset by a reduction in the General Services Administration sub-account for the rental of space.

“Unfortunately, local governments often have the fewest drug prevention resources even though it’s local communities on the front lines combating the opioid crisis--especially our first responders and paramedics who are treating overdoses and abuse,” Lee said in a release. “That’s exactly why I’m so glad that the House adopted my amendment”

Lee also broke with Democrats and voted for the Republican motion to recommit (MTR), which gives the minority a final attempt to amend legislation. The GOP MTR called for boosting funding for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence by $10 million in order to support the enforcement of sanctions on Iran. The MTR passed 226 to 195. Lee was among 37 Democrats who voted with Republicans in favor of the motion. 

“Rep. Lee supported increasing funds available for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and would have voted for this if it were a standalone amendment as well,” said her spokesman.

Miscellany 

Nevada Democrats welcomed the 5 to 4 Supreme Court ruling handed down Thursday blocking the Commerce Department from adding a citizenship question on the questionnaire for the 2020 census. 

“I’m relieved to see SCOTUS rule against this Administration’s attempt to undermine the integrity of the 2020 Census,” Rosen wrote on Twitter. "Adding a citizenship question to the Census would leave communities of color & others undercounted & underrepresented for the next decade."

The ruling said that the reasons the Commerce Department gave to include the question—which were to help enforce the Voting Rights Act (VRA)—were “contrived.” But it also left open the possibility that the agency can try to provide a more acceptable justification and possibly still add the question to the census.

Both Rosen and Cortez Masto signed onto a letter, with 25 other Senate Democrats, to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross calling on him to meet the Trump Administration’s self-imposed deadline of July 1 to begin printing materials for the 2020 census, without adding a politically motivated question about citizenship.

“We urge you to stop all efforts to add a citizenship question and allow the Census Bureau to proceed with preparation for a 2020 census without a citizenship question on the questionnaire,” the letter said.

At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Thursday on nuclear waste storage, Cortez Masto received a promise from the chairman that she would consider her recommendations to change a nuclear waste bill so that Nevada would get a veto over Yucca Mountain.

The bill, which was introduced by Alaska Republican and panel chairman Lisa Murkowski, includes language that would implement a consent-based process for choosing consolidated storage facilities. But that consent is not extended to Nevada, where Yucca Mountain was designated as the site for a national nuclear waste repository under the 1987 amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Cortez Masto’s proposed changes would require consent in order for the project to move forward.

 “That’s all we’re asking,” she told the committee.

For a full rundown of the measures the delegates supported or opposed this week, check out The Nevada Independent’s congressional vote tracker and other information below.

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO
Legislation sponsored:
S. 2041 – A bill to establish the Green Spaces, Green Vehicles Initiative to facilitate the installation of zero-emissions vehicle infrastructure on National Forest System land, National Park System land, and certain related land, and for other purposes.
S. 2040– A bill to establish a working group on electric vehicles, and for other purposes.
S. 2039 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the issuance of exempt facility bonds for zero-emission vehicle infrastructure.
S. 2038 –A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property, and for other purposes.
Legislation co-sponsored:
S. 2007 – A bill to prohibit the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from implementing a proposed rule regarding requirements under Community Planning and Development housing programs.
S. 1980 – A bill to improve Federal population surveys by requiring the collection of voluntary, self-disclosed information on sexual orientation and gender identity in certain surveys, and for other purposes.
S. 1970 – A bill to secure the rights of public employees to organize, act concertedly, and bargain collectively, which safeguard the public interest and promote the free and unobstructed flow of commerce, and for other purposes.
S. 1964 – A bill to support educational entities in fully implementing title IX and reducing and preventing sex discrimination in all areas of education, and for other purposes.
SEN. JACKY ROSEN
Legislation co-sponsored:
S. 2023 – A bill to modify the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
S. 2008 – A bill to prohibit, as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, commercial sexual orientation conversion therapy, and for other purposes.
S. 1986 – A bill to amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source of income, veteran status, or military status.
S. 1980 – A bill to improve Federal population surveys by requiring the collection of voluntary, self-disclosed information on sexual orientation and gender identity in certain surveys, and for other purposes.
S. 1970 – A bill to secure the rights of public employees to organize, act concertedly, and bargain collectively, which safeguard the public interest and promote the free and unobstructed flow of commerce, and for other purposes.
S. 1964 – A bill to support educational entities in fully implementing title IX and reducing and preventing sex discrimination in all areas of education, and for other purposes.
S. 1942 – A bill to amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to create a presumption that a disability or death of a Federal employee in fire protection activities caused by any of certain diseases is the result of the performance of the duty of the employee, and for other purposes.
REP. DINA TITUS
Legislation sponsored:
H.R. 3570 – To prohibit commercial sexual orientation conversion therapy, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3517 – To direct the Secretary of Defense to review the discharge characterization of former members of the Armed Forces who were discharged by reason of the sexual orientation of the member, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3509 – To improve Federal population surveys by requiring the collection of voluntary, self-disclosed information on sexual orientation and gender identity in certain surveys, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3501 –To expose and deter unlawful and subversive foreign interference in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3483 – To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the integration of baseball.
H.R. 3464 – To establish a National and Community Service Administration to carry out the national and volunteer service programs, to expand participation in such programs, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3452 – To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that immigration status alone does not disqualify a parent, legal guardian, or relative from being a placement for a foster child, to authorize discretion to a State, county, or other political subdivision of a State to delay filing for termination of parental rights in foster care cases in which an otherwise fit and willing parent or legal guardian has been deported or is involved in (including detention pursuant to) an immigration proceeding, unless certain conditions have been met, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3451 – To protect children affected by immigration enforcement actions.
H.R. 3437 – To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow certain funds to be used for incremental costs of incorporating art into facilities, and for other purposes.
REP. SUSIE LEE
Legislation sponsored:
H.R. 3512 – To protect students of institutions of higher education and the taxpayer investment in institutions of higher education by improving oversight and accountability of institutions of higher education, particularly for-profit colleges, improving protections for students and borrowers, and ensuring the integrity of postsecondary education programs, and for other purposes.
Legislation co-sponsored:
H.R. 3535 – To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the work-study allowance program administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
H.R. 3509 – To improve Federal population surveys by requiring the collection of voluntary, self-disclosed information on sexual orientation and gender identity in certain surveys, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3464 – To establish a National and Community Service Administration to carry out the national and volunteer service programs, to expand participation in such programs, and for other purposes.
REP. STEVEN HORSFORD
Legislation co-sponsored:
H.R. 3524 – To support the people of Central America and strengthen United States national security by addressing the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3512 – To protect students of institutions of higher education and the taxpayer investment in institutions of higher education by improving oversight and accountability of institutions of higher education, particularly for-profit colleges, improving protections for students and borrowers, and ensuring the integrity of postsecondary education programs, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3497 – To extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility of certain short-term programs.
H.R. 3464 – To establish a National and Community Service Administration to carry out the national and volunteer service programs, to expand participation in such programs, and for other purposes.