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H.R. 4989: Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through Consumer Devices Act
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass in the House

This was a vote to pass H.R. 4989 (115th) in the House. 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.

H.R. 4989 requires the State Department to establish policies for personnel working at U.S. embassies or consulates regarding the use of consumer devices that may have location tracking capabilities. The bill also requires that such policies be included in security briefings for current and new employees, and requires a one-time report once the policies have been developed.

Sensitive information about the location and staffing of military bases and spy outposts around the world has been revealed by a fitness tracking company. The details were released by Strava in a data visualisation map that shows all the activity tracked by users of its app, which allows people to record their exercise and share it with others. The map, released in November 2017, shows every single activity ever uploaded to Strava – more than 3 trillion individual GPS data points, according to the company. The app can be used on various devices including smartphones and fitness trackers like Fitbit to see popular running routes in major cities, or spot individuals in more remote areas who have unusual exercise patterns.

Source: Republican Policy Committee

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Totals

All Votes R D
Yea 96%
 
 
412
227
 
185
 
Nay 0%
 
 
0
0
 
0
 
Not Voting 4%
 
 
16
8
 
8
 

Passed. 2/3 Required. Jul 17, 2018 at 6:56 p.m. ET. Source: house.gov.

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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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