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Rep. Petri's Voting Record
Major Votes - 111th Congress
April 29, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes
Prevention Act of 2009.
- The bill passed the House by a vote of 249-175. I voted against this
legislation because I do not feel that beliefs, thoughts and speech should be
criminalized. Nonetheless, the legislation passed the House and currently awaits
Senate consideration.
March 31, 2009:
- The House once again considered H.R. 1388 the Generations Invigorating
Volunteerism and Education Act after it was amended and approved by the Senate.
- The bill passed the House by a vote of 275-149 and was subsequently signed into law.
I voted against this version of the bill, because I felt that the Senate amendments
weakened provisions in the House passed bill that prohibited the use of funds for certain
controversial activities.
March 18, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 1388, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism
and Education Act, which would reauthorize the national service laws, which include
Americorps, Volunteers in Service to America (Vista) and Senior Volunteer Corps.
- The bill passed the House by a vote of 321 - 105. I voted yes.
March 11, 2009:
- The House considered S. 22, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. This
legislation is a collection of over 150 individual bills affecting among things,
national wilderness preservation, boundary adjustments, national rivers, the national
landscape conservation system, national conservation areas, land conveyances and
exchanges, and watershed management. The bill also included a provision that ensures
nothing in the legislation would restrict access to hunting, fishing, or trapping.
- The bill failed to pass the House by a vote of 282-144 because it was considered
under a special rule that requires 2/3rds vote in support for passage. I voted yes.
March 5, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 1106, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009.
The bill, the primary feature of which is a grant of authority to bankruptucy judges to
reduce the principal balance of mortgage loans for debtors in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases,
was passed by the House by a vote of 234 - 191.
- I voted NO on H.R. 1106 even though I believe that helping troubled homehowners is a
worthy goal. I am concerned, however, that allowing bankruptcy judges to change to existing
mortgage loans will do little to solve our housing problems and will unnecessarily raise
interest rates on responsible homeowners while making bankruptcy filings more attractive
than other mortgage modification options.
February 25, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 1105, the the Omnibus Appropriations
Act. This legislation provides funding for much of the government's domestic
spending that did not get enacted when the Congress failed to finish 9 of
the 12 required appropriations bills during 2008.
- The House approved H.R. 1105 by a vote of 245 - 178. I voted NO because
this legislation would increase spending on domestic agencies and programs
by 8.3 percent over the previous Fiscal Year.
February 13, 2009:
- The House considered the conference report accompanying H.R. 1,
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This legislation would
provide $787 billion to promote econonic growth and create jobs.
- The conference report was approved by the House by a vote of 246 - 183.
I voted NO. While this version was a slight improvement on the orignal bill
passed by the House on January 28, I believe it contained too much non-stimulative
spending and would be inadequate in addressing our economic problems.
February 4, 2009:
- The House considered S. 352, the Digital TV Delay Act, a bill
to to postpone the deadline for the cessation of analog television broadcasts
from February 17, 2009 to June 12, 2009.
- The bill passed the House by a vote of 264 - 158. I support this delay,
but inadvertantly recorded my vote as NO. I have voted YES on a previously
considered version of this bill, and inserted a statement in the Congressional
Record stating that I meant to vote YES.
February 4, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 2, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Reauthorization Act of 2009. This legislation will provide health care coverage to
more than four million children who are currently eligible for CHIP, but not enrolled.
In Wisconsin the CHIP program is referred to as BadgerCare Plus, which provides health
insurance to children, pregnant women, and working families.
- The bill was approved by the House by a vote of 290-135. I voted yes.
The legislation was subsequently signed into law by the President.
January 28, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
This legislation would provide $819 billion to promote econonic growth and create jobs.
- The bill was approved by the House by a vote of 244 - 188. I voted NO.
While I believe that our struggling economy merits enactment of a strong stimulus bill,
I considered H.R. 1 to be inadequate because too little of its $819 billion in
spending would result in new jobs in American communitites.
January 22, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. Res. 3, a resolution of disapproval concerning the release
of the second $350 billion authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
- The House voted to disapprove by a vote of 270 - 155 on January 22, 2009. I voted
with the majority in favor of blocking the release of these funds. Previously, the Senate had
voted not to disapprove, assuring the release of the TARP funds, and making this House vote
entirely symbolic.
January 21, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 384, the TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009.
This bill would establish oversight and accountability concerning the use of the funds provided
under Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to provide stability to the U.S. financial
system.
- The House approved this bill on a vote of 260 - 166. I voted against passage of H.R. 384
for variety of reasons, including its retroactive imposition of conditions for accepting aid, the
enactment of the auto rescue legislation which failed to pass Congress in December 2008, and the
easing of conditions on borrowers participating in the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage
restructuring program.
January 9, 2009:
- The House considered H.R. 12, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The legislation would
revise remedies for the enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages.
- I voted against H.R. 1338 because current law already prohibits an employer from paying an
employee different wages, or otherwise discrimination in any term or condition of employment
on the basis of sex. The legislation would do little to protect the wages and paychecks of
American workers, and far more to benefit trial lawyers. The legislation passed the House
by a vote of 256-163.
- The House considered H.R. 11, the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
- This bill would make sweeping changes to a host of federal civil rights
laws without properly assessing the consequences. The House approved the bill,
but I voted no.
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