Key Votes on Amendments to H.R. 2740

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote in the manner prescribed for each amendment below to the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Legislative Branch, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, H.R. 2740. As is always the case, FreedomWorks reserves the right to key vote any amendment brought to the floor for a vote.

NO – Amendment #20 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), this amendment would strike Section 510 of the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill which currently prohibits HHS from spending any federal dollars to promulgate or adopt a national patient identifier.

NO – Amendment #36 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), this amendment would prohibit the funds made available by this Act from being used to implement, administer or enforce the Trump administration’s short-term, limited duration insurance rule. While short-term, limited duration health plans are no fix to Obamacare, they are a step in the right direction in expanding consumer choice and access to plans that are not governed by Obamacare’s harmful Title I regulations.

YES – Amendment #42 (Division A): Sponsored by Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), this amendment reduces spending for each amount in Division A by 14 percent. This reduction would be consistent with spending levels under the Budget Control Act of 2011.

YES – Amendment #81 (Division D): Sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), this amendment would ensure that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to any Federal department or agency by this Act may be used to make assessed or voluntary contributions on behalf of the United States to or for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or the Green Climate Fund.

YES – Amendment #83 (Division D): Sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), this amendment prohibits funds from being used for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

YES – Amendment #89 (Division D): Sponsored by Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), this amendment eliminates $23.9 billion in funding for the bilateral economic assistance and independent agency programs within the Department of State. This amendment would, over a ten year period, fully offset the enormous disaster relief package that was fully un-offset when it passed the House last week. It cuts enough to both pay for the cost of the bill ($19.1 billion) as well as the assumed interest on the debt ($5.87 billion) that the bill created.

YES – Amendment #91 (Division D): Sponsored by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), this amendment strikes the paragraph that prevents the U.S. from withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and strikes the paragraph that allows for payments for the agreement. Virtually none of the signers of the Paris Agreement have met their emissions reduction targets, while in the same period the United States has led the world in greenhouse gas emissions reduction. We should continue to let the market, not intergovernmental agreements, lead the way in reducing emissions.

YES – Amendment #98 (Division D): Sponsored by Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), this amendment would reduce spending for each amount in Division D, except those amounts made available to the Department of Defense, by 14 percent. We should note that while this amendment is on the right track, it would be even better if it did not exclude those amounts made available to the Department of Defense from its cuts. No department should be exempt from close scrutiny, and the Department of Defense, like most other agencies, has proven to be one rampant with waste and excessive, unnecessary spending. With the national debt looming as our greatest national security threat, it is in the best interest of the military itself to pare back on Pentagon spending.

We understand that amendments to Division B, Division C, and Division E will be considered during the week of June 17. A separate key vote notice will be sent if certain amendments to those divisions are made in order by the House Rules Committee. Additionally, we will review amendments to the Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, H.R. 3055, and send a key vote notice related to amendments, if necessary.

FreedomWorks may count the votes on these amendments to the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Legislative Branch, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, H.R. 2740, on our 2019 Congressional Scorecard and reserves the right to score other amendments. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks