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Transparency in Congress and a well-informed electorate are vital to preserving our self-governing Constitutional Republic. My constituents deserve to know how their members of Congress vote, which is why I have explained every vote I have cast in Congress since I was first elected.
To read more about my votes and see the full list with explanations of all the legislation considered this week by the House, please click here.
I voted “Yes” on H.R.82, the Social Security Fairness Act. This bill amends Title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the program’s Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), effective for Social Security benefits payable after December 2023. The WEP applies to how retirement or disability benefits are allotted to workers who earned a retirement pension from an employer who did not withhold Social Security taxes and qualifies for Social Security from work in other jobs where they did pay taxes into the program. Meanwhile, the GPO states that If you receive a retirement or disability pension from a federal, state, or local government based on your own work for which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, your Social Security benefits may be reduced. By repealing the GPO and WEP we will allow hardworking Americans to gain access to the benefits that they earned. This bill passed by a vote of 327-75.
I voted “Yes” on H.R. 5342, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act. This bill amends Title II of the Social Security Act to replace the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) with a formula equalizing benefits for certain individuals with non-covered employment. The bill would also provide additional monthly payments to those impacted by the WEP and mandates a study on coordinating reporting of noncovered pensions through state and local partnerships. These changes would apply to benefits beginning in 2025. This bill failed by a vote of 175-225.
I voted “Yes” on H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. I introduced this legislation, which would protect American hostages, wrongful detainees, and their families from incurring tax penalties for circumstances beyond their control. In addition to righting this egregious wrong, this bill revokes the tax-exempt status for organizations found to be supporting terrorist groups. The intent of this bill is simple - no American who has suffered the injustice of wrongful detention or hostage-taking by our adversaries should return home to face penalties from their own government. Not only does this defy common sense, but it defies compassion. This is an obvious flaw that only worsens the trauma of individuals and families who have already faced extraordinary challenges. Despite passing unanimously out of the Ways and Means Committee, some of my Democratic colleagues have decided to play partisan politics with this commonsense, bipartisan legislation, allowing the abuse of our tax code and putting politics above Americans. The bill failed to pass the House of Representatives by a vote of 256 – 145.
I voted “Yes” on H.R. 8446, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act. This bill requires the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to incorporate critical materials identified by the Department of Energy (DOE) into the USGS’ Critical Minerals List. The list includes minerals that the USGS determines: (1) are essential to the economic or national security of the United States; (2) the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption (including restrictions associated with foreign political risk, abrupt demand growth, military conflict, violent unrest, anti-competitive or protectionist behaviors, and other risks throughout the supply chain); and (3) serve an essential function in the manufacturing of a product (including energy technology-, defense-, currency-, agriculture-, consumer electronics-, and health care-related applications), the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economic or national security of the United States. The most recent USGS Critical Minerals List was published in 2022 and includes 50 hard rock minerals. This bill passed by a vote of 245-155.
I voted “Yes” on H.R. 7409, the HEATS Act. Under current law, a geothermal operator must obtain a federal geothermal drilling permit from the Department of the Interior to carry out exploration and production activities—even in instances in which the surface land is privately-owned, due to the federal government’s interest in the subsurface estate (e.g. mineral and geothermal resources)—and such exploration and production activities are subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This bill amends the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to stipulate that the Secretary of the Interior shall not require an operator of a geothermal well to obtain a federal drilling permit for geothermal exploration and production activities conducted on non-federal land if the federal government holds an interest of less than 50 percent of the geothermal estate and the operator receives a drilling permit from the respective State. This bill passed by a vote of 225-181.
I voted “Yes” on H.R. 8932, the FAFSA Deadline Act. Last year, after significantly changing the FAFSA form, the Biden administration did not release the form to families until late December, well after the recommended October 1st release date. This led to significant difficulties for NY-24 families in determining their financial options. This bill changes the recommended October 1st deadline for the annual release of the FAFSA form to a statutory requirement, ensuring that families will never have to deal with this challenge again. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 381-1.
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