WASHINGTON — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the week ending Sept. 23.
Along with the week’s roll call votes, the House also passed these measures by voice vote: the Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act (H.R. 7566), to increase the punishment for human trafficking in a school zone; the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (H.R. 7181), to direct the secretary of transportation to seek to provide for the posting of contact information of the national human trafficking hotline in the restrooms of each aircraft, airport, over-the-road bus, bus station, passenger train, and passenger railroad station operating within the United States; the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (H.R. 4330), to maintain the free flow of information to the public by establishing appropriate limits on the federally compelled disclosure of information obtained as part of engaging in journalism; and the Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act (H.R. 6734), to reauthorize the volunteer services, community partnership, and refuge education programs of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The Senate also passed: a bill (S. Res. 775), expressing the sense of the Senate that violence and threats of violence against the employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are unacceptable and should be condemned; and the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act (H.R. 4693), to advance targeted and evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of global malnutrition and to improve the coordination of such programs.
House
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: The House has passed the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act (S. 3895), sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to authorize funding for the commission through fiscal 2024. A supporter, Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., said sustaining the commission “is critically needed to ensure that our country maintains the tools we need to stand up for human rights and, in particular, religious freedom around the world.” The vote, on Sept. 19, was 402 yeas to 4 nays.