H.R. 1892: Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018, the SUSTAIN Care Act of 2018; Family First Prevention Services Act.; Honoring Hometown Heroes Act
This was a vote to pass H.R. 1892 (115th) in the Senate.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have occurred on February 9, 2018 had this bill not been enacted.
The bill was introduced as the Honoring Hometown Heroes Act. On February 6, 2018, the House passed the bill and added to it Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018, the SUSTAIN Care Act of 2018, and the Family First Prevention Services Act.
Honoring Hometown Heroes Act
The following is a summary of the original provisions of the bill, which were included in the enacted form of the bill, from the Republican Policy Committee:
H.R. 1892 authorizes the governors of a state or, territory, or possession of the United States and the Mayor of the District of Columbia to proclaim that the U.S. flag shall be flown at half-staff in the event of the death of a first responder (public safety officer) working in such jurisdiction who dies while serving in the line of duty.
The rules for handling and displaying the U.S. Flag are defined by a law known as the U.S. Flag Code. The Flag code allows the President to order the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. H.R. 1892 would authorize governors to proclaim the flag should be flown at half-staff to honor local police, firefighters, and emergency responders.
| All Votes | Republicans | Democrats | Independents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yea | 72% |
71
|
34
|
36
|
1
|
| Nay | 28% |
28
|
16
|
11
|
1
|
| Not Voting |
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Motion Agreed to. Simple Majority Required. Source: senate.gov.
The Yea votes represented 65% of the country’s population by apportioning each state’s population to its voting senators.
Seat position based on our ideology score.
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Vote Details
“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.
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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Study Guide
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You can find answers to most of the questions below here on the vote page. For a guide to understanding the bill this vote was about, see here.
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Not all votes are meant to pass legislation. In the Senate some votes are not about legislation at all, since the Senate must vote to confirm presidential nominations to certain federal positions.
This vote is related to a bill. However, that doesn’t necessarily tell you what it is about. Congress makes many decisions in the process of passing legislation, such as on the procedures for debating the bill, whether to change the bill before voting on passage, and even whether to vote on passage at all.
You can learn more about the various motions used in Congress at EveryCRSReport.com. If you aren’t sure what the Senate was voting on, try seeing if it’s on this list.
Take a look at where this bill is in the legislative process. What might come next? Keep in mind what this specific vote was on, and the context of the bill. Will there be amendments? Will the other chamber of Congress vote on it, or let it die?
For this question it may help to briefly examine the bill itself.
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- How much of the United States population is represented by the yeas?
Members of Congress side together for many reasons beside being in the same political party, especially so for less prominent legislation or legislation specific to a certain region. What might have determined how the roll call came out in this case? Does it look like Members of Congress voted based on party, geography, or some other reason?
There are two votes here that should be more important to you than all the others. These are the votes cast by your senators, which are meant to represent you and your community. Do you agree with how your senators voted? Why do you think they voted the way they did?
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GovTrack displays the percentage of the United States population represented by the yeas on some Senate votes just under the vote totals. We do this to highlight how the people of the United States are represented in the Senate. Since each state has two senators, but state populations vary significantly, the individuals living in each state have different Senate representation. For example, California’s population of near 40 million is given the same number of senators as Wyoming’s population of about 600,000.
Do the senators who voted yea represent a majority of the people of the United States? Does it matter?
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