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H.R. 1327: To extend authorization for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 through fiscal year 2092, and for other purposes.

Jul 12, 2019 at 1:36 p.m. ET. On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended in the House.

This was a vote to pass H.R. 1327 (116th) 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.

This bill might not have passed if not for comedian Jon Stewart.

For years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress had not enacted a dedicated funding program for health benefits for 9/11 first responders. The closest it had come was in late 2010, when the House passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act by 268–160 that September. Introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY12), a seeming majority of senators supported it as well.

But the initial Senate cloture vote that December was 57–42, unable to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome a filibuster. Many Senate Republicans opposed the bill by saying that the legislation would raise revenue through increasing excise taxes on certain foreign goods in a way that would violate international treaties of which the U.S. was part.

Then Jon Stewart devoted his entire December 16 episode of The Daily Show to the issue, which many including the White House press secretary credited with turning the tide of public debate. Democratic senators introduced a modified version of the legislation which solved the excise tax issue and passed the Senate by a voice vote, a procedure used for relatively noncontroversial legislation in which no record of individual votes is recorded.

The House passed it on December 22, 2010 by 206–60, with more than one-third of the House not voting. Republicans still largely opposed it by 31–59, with 89 not voting. Democrats almost entirely supported it by 175–1, with 79 not voting. Former Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS4) was the lone voting House Democrat who opposed.

A so-called “permanent” extension funding the healthcare program until 2090 passed the House in 2019 by 402–12, passed the Senate by 97–2, and President Trump signed it into law. Jon Stewart was pleased.

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Totals

All Votes D R I
Yea 97%
 
 
 
402
226
 
176
 
0
 
Nay 3%
 
 
 
12
0
 
11
 
1
 
Not Voting
 
 
 
19
9
 
10
 
0
 

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

Ideology Vote Chart

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Cartogram Map

Each hexagon represents one congressional district. Dark shaded hexes are Yea votes.

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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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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.

What was the procedure for this vote?

  1. What was this vote on?

    2. 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 House was voting on, try seeing if it’s on this list.

  2. What is the next step after this vote?

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  1. What trends do you see in this vote?

    2. 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?

    One tool that will be helpful in answering this question is the cartogram at the top of the page. A cartogram is a stylized map of the United States that shows each district as an identical hexagon. This view allows you to see the how the representatives from each district voted arranged by their geography and colored by their political party. What trends can you see in the cartogram for this vote?

  2. How did your representative vote?

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