The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Voting Record
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Voting Record 116th Congress October 2020 Table of Contents 2 | Introduction 7 | About The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Voting Record 9 | House Vote Summaries 21 | Senate Vote Summaries 39 | House Vote Charts 170 | Senate Vote Charts 1 Introduction We are in a moment of national crisis. The On the other side, the Senate majority ignored COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of that agenda in favor of stacking the courts hundreds of thousands of our neighbors, with mostly white, male, conservative judges. millions are out of work, and powerful calls for President Trump continued and deepened his racial justice echo in the streets. Black and pattern of racist, sexist, dangerous, and brown communities and people who are dysfunctional rhetoric and governance. And low-income in particular are suffering we faced the incalculable losses of champions disproportionately in a crisis that impacts in Rep. Elijah Cummings, D. Md., and Rep. every one of us. John Conyers, D. Mich., a legend in Rep. John Lewis, D. Ga., and an icon in Justice Ruth Many of our elected leaders have met this Bader Ginsburg. In this Congress, we found moment — crafting policy and legislation that hope and devastation; new energy and bitter would save lives, support families and loss. businesses, and address the demands of protestors — but all too many have not. First Session President Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill lied to the American people about the gravity The 116th Congress — with more women and of the threat posed by the virus, pushed people of color amongst its membership than millions of families into poverty, and stoked any previous Congress — ended one-party the fires of white supremacist hatred. These control of the government and ushered in a failures, whether based in malevolence or new sense of energy and possibility. incompetence, will forever stain the legacies Lawmakers’ first task was ending a of those involved. government shutdown fueled by the president’s demand that taxpayers fund This dichotomy — with one side of the Capitol construction of a senseless and destructive working to advance civil and human rights, wall on the border with Mexico. The president and the other doing everything it can to attack dropped his demand only after the shutdown them — was a theme throughout the 116th had dragged on for weeks, and impacted Congress, even before the pandemic began. millions of federal workers, their families, and In 2019, a new generation of members swept people who depend on federal programs for into the House of Representatives, making it their well-being. the most diverse in history. The House conducted much-needed oversight of the After working to end the shutdown, the House Trump administration and passed the boldest — under the leadership of Speaker Nancy civil rights agenda in a generation. Pelosi, D. Calif. — engaged in a wave of legislative activity and enacted an extensive civil and human rights agenda. 2 At the same time, House committee chairs Trump, McConnell, and Senate Judiciary took up their gavels and began to conduct Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R. S.C., long-overdue oversight on Trump administration selected and rushed to confirm nominees who policies and actions after two years of neglect, had argued in favor of ripping health coverage evasion, or cover-up by administration allies in away from millions of people by claiming the the 115th Congress. Committees also conducted Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, paved significant fact-finding hearings related to the way for large-scale voter purges, and called pending legislation and other civil and human being transgender a “delusion.” The clear rights issues. anti-civil rights records of these nominees, and dozens more like them, did nothing to dissuade The civil and human rights legislative agenda on the Senate majority from fast-tracking them the House floor and the robust oversight work through to confirmation. To the contrary, Trump undertaken in committee was a glimpse and his Senate allies seemed to view these of what is possible. The picture in the Senate, biases as a feature and not a fault. however, could not have been more different. To transform our courts, McConnell and Graham Rather than collaborate with their colleagues to changed the rules to rig the process in their favor. take up any of the important legislation passed Graham dismissed the historic role of home-state by the House, the Senate majority fixated their senators in the selection and confirmation of time on the rapid confirmation of anti-civil rights circuit court nominees. McConnell changed judges. While Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate rules to drastically reduce the amount D. N.Y., and his caucus stood ready to advance of time dedicated for floor debate of district the civil and human rights agenda, Majority court nominees, to the point where a half a Leader Mitch McConnell, R. Ky., largely decided dozen lifetime appointments could be confirmed to leave those bills in his legislative graveyard. in a single day. This drumbeat of confirmations Instead, McConnell worked to stack the courts characterized the work of the Senate over the with young, conservative ideologues who have course of the year. demonstrated their hostility to civil and human rights. These appointees to lifetime judgeships will have the ability to carry out the Trump 3 3 agenda for decades to come. They even continued to process Trump judicial nominees while the president was on trial in their own chamber. When it came time to vote, the Senate majority ignored the evidence and prevented Congress from holding Trump accountable for his actions. Second Session In one of the greatest national emergencies in living memory, choices made in Congress impacted the lives and livelihoods of every single person in our nation. To the extent that communities have been able to support families and businesses, conduct elections, and keep people safe, it has often been because of congressional action in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the Impeachment choice by President Trump and his congressional allies to hinder additional aid The year 2019 ended with the impeachment of has pushed millions into poverty and put lives President Trump. The House uncovered in danger. undeniable evidence that the president sought The passage of early COVID-19 relief to use his office to extort and bribe a foreign measures, including the CARES Act, were government to target a political opponent for rare moments of bipartisan cooperation. his own personal gain. House Judiciary Provisions like extended unemployment Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D. N.Y., and insurance were crucial lifelines for Americans House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam who were out of work due to the pandemic. Schiff, D. Calif., led high-profile hearings that Along with the heroic efforts of ordinary brought witness after witness in front of the people, frontline workers, and mutual aid American people. And a significant majority of groups, these pieces of legislation supported House members took a principled vote to act entire communities. on that evidence, defend the rule of law, and hold the president accountable. But as the pandemic wore on and the death toll rose to previously unimaginable heights, Rather than take the evidence marshaled by Trump tired of the responsibility and the House process seriously, and put country attempted to gaslight and deflect his way out over party, the Senate majority began the of the crisis. Rather than encourage second session of the 116th Congress by common-sense public health measures, moving to protect the president, cover up his Trump politicized mask-wearing. Rather than litany of wrongdoing, and attempt to place him create a cohesive national strategy, Trump above the law. left states to compete with each other for essential supplies and demonized governors 4 who he deemed to be insufficiently supportive of him personally. Rather than provide additional support to McConnell refused to take it up in the Senate, families, businesses, and state and local and instead attempted to bring a governments needed to reopen safely, Trump watered-down alternative up for a vote. pushed for states to recklessly reopen and put lives at risk. Rather than address public health, the economy, or racial justice, Trump’s Once again, Trump’s congressional allies congressional allies supported his abdicated their responsibility to lead and administration’s attempts to use the cover of instead followed the president. On May 15, the pandemic to roll back civil and human 2020, the House passed the HEROES Act as a rights. Trump and his allies refused to follow up to the CARES Act — it would support adequately fund the U.S. Postal Service and health care, economic security, immigrants, interfered with its operations — slowing down students, housing, voting access, census delivery of the mail despite millions relying on participation, communications access, and the it for the delivery of prescriptions, mail-in justice system while combating structural ballots, and essential goods. With the support racism, xenophobia, and other barriers. of its friends on the Hill, the administration cut McConnell refused to take it up, as many of the off the 2020 Census, despite many CARES Act measures that had been supporting pandemic-induced delays and changes, after the economy expired one by one. spending years working to prevent a fair and accurate count. Yet, the House continued its work to pass an affirmative civil rights agenda, Just days after the passage of the HEROES Act, including a bill to end Trump’s bigoted Muslim George Floyd was killed by a police officer in ban and an historic vote for voting rights and Minneapolis, Minn., who knelt on Floyd’s neck equal citizenship through statehood for the for over 8 minutes as Floyd called out that he more than 700,000 residents of Washington, could not breathe.