H.R. 1495 (110th): Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (On Passage of the Bill)

Number:
House Vote #234 [primary source: house.gov]
Date:
Apr 19, 2007 (110th Congress)
Result:
Passed
Bill:
H.R. 1495 (110th): Water Resources Development Act of 2007
Introduced by Rep. James Oberstar [D-MN8, 1975-2010] on March 13, 2007
Current Status: Veto Overridden

This was a vote to pass a bill or agree to a resolution.

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Totals     Democrat     Republican
  Yea 394
 
 
91%
227 167
  Nay 25
 
 
6%
0 25
Not Voting 14
 
 
3%
5 9
Required: Simple Majority

Vote Details

Notes

Where is the Speaker’s vote?

According to current House rules, the Speaker of the House is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive.” In practice, this means the Speaker of the House rarely votes and only does so when it is politically useful. When the Speaker declines to vote, he or she is simply omitted from the roll call by the House Clerk.

What’s the difference between aye and yea?

There is no meaningful difference between aye and yea (and nay and no), but the terms are used in different sorts of votes based on Congress’s long tradition of parliamentary procedure. The House and Senate follow the U.S. Constitution strictly when it says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). The House sometimes operates under a special set of rules called the “Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union” (or “Committee of the Whole” for short), which is a sort of pseudo-committee that is made up of every congressman. During this mode of operation, the House uses the terms “aye” and “no” instead. (See the Rules of the House, Rule XX, and House Practice in the section Voting.)