The U.S. House of Representatives reconvened last week to pass a raft of bills ranging from nuclear spending to office management. Here’s how Hawai‘i’s lawmakers voted.
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act allocates $57.3 billion to various federal energy and defense initiatives, including $20 billion to the Department of Energy for nuclear weapons development.
Other nuclear projects include $2.1 billion to expand the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered fleet, and $1.9 billion for “defense nuclear proliferation,” a phrase that the House Appropriations Committee stated means “[reducing] the danger of hostile nations or terrorist groups acquiring nuclear weapons.”
The bill also eliminates the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, which was established in 2021 — during the Biden administration, but authorized by a 2020 measure during the first Trump administration — to aid development of green energy technologies. Instead, $687 million is allocated for development of new fossil energy extraction technologies.
Included in the bill is a long range of general conditions, many of which codify the Trump Administration’s social agenda: no funds in the bill can be used for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or in association with anything that “advances Critical Race Theory or any concept associated with Critical Race Theory.”
Nor can the funds be used to penalize anyone who advocates for heterosexual marriage, or to implement any Covid-19 mask or vaccine mandate.
The House voted on the bill 13 times last week, most of which were for various amendments that all failed: House Democrats roundly opposed each amendment, while Republicans were split. Ultimately, however, the House voted 214-213 to pass the bill, with Democrats, including Hawai‘i reps Jill Tokuda and Ed Case, voting against.
The Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act would designate any representative or citizen of China who produces or distributes any materials used as fentanyl precursors but fails to take sufficient steps to vet customers as a “foreign opioid trafficker.” This includes any Chinese political official who takes fails to take action to halt known opioid trafficking.
This bill received bipartisan support in the House, passing 407-4, with Case and Tokuda among the majority.
The Personnel Oversight and Shift Tracking Act, or POST Act, requires the Federal Protective Service to conduct reviews of contracted security personnel at federal buildings around the nation and establish plans and standards to improve their work.
Representatives unanimously supported this bill, which passed 402-0.
The Shared Property Agency Collaboration and Engagement Act, or SPACE Act, requires the U.S. General Services Administration to develop plans to better share federally leased office space among multiple agencies. Another popular bill, this one passed 397-1, with Virginia Democrat Don Beyer as the lone naysayer.
The Made-in-America Defense Act requires the Secretaries of State and Defense to review arms sales to U.S. allies and determine how and where these sales become delayed. This bill passed 395-20, with 20 Democrats voting against the bill — Case and Tokuda were not among them, having voted in favor of the measure.
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