How Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted
Here is how Arkansas’ U.S. senators and U.S. representatives voted on major roll call votes during the week that ended Friday.
HOUSE
Expanding consumer rights in credit reports. Passed 221-189, a bill (HR3621) that would require firms such as Equifax, Experian and Trans Union to adopt certain consumer-friendly procedures in judging the creditworthiness of the hundreds of millions of Americans in their portfolios. Overseen by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bill would prohibit firms from reporting on debt incurred for life-saving medical treatments; delay for one year credit reporting on all other forms of medical debt; reduce from seven to four years the period for retaining adverse information in credit reports; reduce from 10 to seven years the deadline for expunging bankruptcy information; and prohibit most employers from basing workplace decisions on credit reports unless they are required by law to do so. Addressing student debt, bill would enable borrowers who are delinquent or have defaulted on a private-sector education loan to repair their credit by making at least nine of 10 consecutive monthly payments on the loan on time. Once the loan is back on track, credit agencies would have to remove the episode from the borrower’s history. Military personnel deployed to combat or people victimized by natural disasters during the 10 months could suspend and then resume payments without facing consequences.
Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said: “The current credit-reporting system is rigged in favor of the credit reporting agencies, plain and simple. They have all the power. They are accountable to no one. Ordinary American consumers are not their customers but their products.” Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said the bill “prevents employers from knowing the creditworthiness of employees,” creating a situation “in which employees who are in significant debt could be targets of bribes or extortion or perhaps take money that is owed to other people.”
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
✖ Rick Crawford (R)
✖ French Hill (R)
✖ Steve Womack (R)
✖ Bruce Westerman (R)
Defining models for credit scores. Defeated 201-208, a Republican motion that sought to prohibit credit reports compiled under the terms of HR3621 (above) from using models that factor in the individual’s “political opinions, religious expression or other expression protected by the First Amendment.” The amendment would forbid the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from requiring such models even though the agency has no plans to do so.
Hill said the consumer bureau “has too much power, and we should make sure that Americans do not lose access to credit based on the decisions of an unaccountable organization” with a “history of overstepping its bounds.”
Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said Republicans failed to address abuses by credit-reporting firms when they controlled the House. “There is a new Democratic majority in this Congress, and we are acting to fix this broken system,” she said. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
✔ Crawford (R)
✔ Hill (R)
✔ Womack (R)
✔ Westerman (R)
Asserting congressional control over war with Iran. Adopted 228-175, an amendment to HR550 that would deny funding of any U.S. military action against Iran or its proxy forces that lacks congressional authorization, except when there is an imminent threat to the United States, its armed forces or its territories. The measure asserts the sole constitutional power of Congress to declare war as spelled out in the 1973 War Powers Resolution. The president would have to notify Congress within 48 hours if he marshals the U.S. military against Iran, then withdraw the force within a specified period unless Congress votes to authorize the action. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said President Donald Trump “wants sole control over whether our nation is plunged into a war with Iran. Today we say, ‘No Mr. President, you are not yet the tyrant that you wish to become. You defied military judgment by rejecting the Iran nuclear agreement. You abruptly abandoned our Kurdish allies, and you’ve taken us to the brink of war with an assassination of a foreign leader without any imminent threat demonstrated. We reject his reckless and impulsive escalation, the endless bloodshed and the lack of vision beyond promoting his own selfish interests.”
Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said the measure “would call into question whether the president could defend our closest ally in the Middle East — Israel — without first getting approval from 535 members of the House and Senate. It would call into question whether he could protect our diplomats in Iraq” and “defend against Iran’s attacks on international shipping. As the U.S. faces [its] adversaries, it is absolutely critical that the president retains the flexibility to act swiftly and decisively when our interests or forces are threatened.”
A yes vote was to amend the bill and send it to the Senate.
✖ Crawford (R)
✖ Hill (R)
✖ Womack (R)
✖ Westerman (R)
Repealing Iraq war resolution. Adopted 236-166, an amendment to HR550 (above) that would repeal the 2002 Iraq war resolution, which has been cited as the legal basis of U.S. military actions in Iraq and numerous other global theaters over the past 18 years, including the recent U.S. assassination at the Baghdad airport of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Congress would have six months to update U.S. war authority, and until it does so, the president could immediately deploy forces to protect national security without seeking congressional approval. Opponents said the lapse would endanger U.S. troops and increase American exposure to terrorist attacks.
Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said: “Taxpayer dollars have been shoveled overseas. Policies have changed from one administration to the next. But too often, Congress remained silent because we feared the political risk of a vote.” Scott Perry, R-Pa., said: “Many of us agree, the [war authority] needs to be updated. We want to do this correctly, but this isn’t the correct way to do it, and we should not abandon our service members in combat.”
A yes vote was to amend the bill and send it to the Senate.
✖ Crawford (R)
✖ Hill (R)
✖ Womack (R)
✖ Westerman (R)
SENATE
Denying impeachment trial witnesses. Defeated 49-51, a motion to allow votes on subpoenas for witnesses and documents in the impeachment trial of Trump. The only senators breaking party ranks were Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted with Democrats in favor of issuing subpoenas. The motion did not name potential witnesses. But Democrats said in debate that they wished to subpoena, among others, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, for testimony about topics including his reported conversations with the president about Trump’s solicitation of personal political favors from Ukrainian officials in return for his release of nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Trump defenders said the Senate should make its decision on removing him from office based on evidence submitted by the House. Representing the House, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said: “The facts will come out. In all of their horror, they will come out. … The documents the president has been hiding will come out. The witnesses the president has been concealing will tell their stories. And we will be asked why we did not want to hear that information when we had the chance, when we could consider its relevance and importance in making this most momentous decision.”
White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin said: “The Senate is not here to do the investigatory work the House did not do. The reaction of this body should be to reject the articles of impeachment, not to condone and put its imprimatur on the way the proceedings were handled in the House and not to prolong matters further to redo work the House failed to do by not seeking evidence and not doing a fair and legitimate process.”
A yes vote was to allow motions to issue subpoenas.
✖ John Boozman (R)
✖ Tom Cotton (R)