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H.R. 3979 (113th): Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

Mar 11, 2014 at 7:02 p.m. ET. On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended in the House.

This was a vote to pass H.R. 3979 (113th) in the House. The federal budget process occurs in two stages: appropriations and authorizations. This is an authorization bill, which directs how federal funds should or should not be used. (It does not set overall spending limits, however, which are the subject of appropriations bills.) Authorizations are typically made for single fiscal years (October 1 through September 30 of the next year) but are often renewed in subsequent law. This vote was taken under a House 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.

It was not the final House vote on the bill. See the history of H.R. 3979 (113th) for further details.

This bill became, most recently, the vehicle for the passage of the defense authorization (spending) bill for fiscal year 2015.

The bill was originally introduced by Rep. Lou Barletta as the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act. It was passed by the House in this form on March 11, 2014.

The Senate subsequently used the bill as the (ultimately failed) vehicle for passage of another bill. On April 7, 2014, the Senate replaced the text the bill completely with new text, making it the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2014. Although the Senate passed it in that form, the bill in that form was not enacted.

On December 4, 2014, the House used the bill again as the vehicle for passage of a third bill, by replacing its text completely and turning it into the bill it is now, the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. The Senate agreed to the change on December 12, 2014 and the bill was signed into law shortly thereafter.

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Totals

All Votes R D
Yea 95%
 
 
410
224
 
186
 
Nay 0%
 
 
0
0
 
0
 
Not Voting 5%
 
 
20
7
 
13
 

Passed. 2/3 Required. Source: house.gov.

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Key: R Yea D Yea
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Vote Details

Notes: The Speaker’s Vote?
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. (See House Rules, Rule I(7).)
“Aye” or “Yea”?

“Aye” and “Yea” mean the same thing, and so do “No” and “Nay”. Congress uses different words in different sorts of votes.

The U.S. Constitution says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). Congress takes this literally and uses “yea” and “nay” when voting on the final passage of bills.

All Senate votes use these words. But the House of Representatives uses “Aye” and “No” in other sorts of votes.

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Statistically Notable Votes

Statistically notable votes are the votes that are most surprising, or least predictable, given how other members of each voter’s party voted and other factors.

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