H.R. 3477 (112th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal ... (On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass)

Number:
House Vote #501 [primary source: house.gov]
Date:
Jul 23, 2012 (112th Congress)
Result:
Passed
Bill:
H.R. 3477 (112th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 133 Hare Road in Crosby, Texas, as the Army First Sergeant David McNerney Post Office Building.
Introduced by Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX2] on November 18, 2011
Current Status: Signed by the President

This was a vote to pass a bill or agree to a resolution. It was taken under a procedure called “suspension of the rules” which is typically used to pass non-controversial bills. Votes under suspension require a 2/3rds majority. A failed vote under suspension can be taken again.

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Totals     Republican     Democrat
  Yea 379
 
 
88%
219 160
  Nay 0
 
 
0%
0 0
Not Voting 52
 
 
12%
21 31
Required: 2/3

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.)