Here's how area members of Congress voted

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted Dec. 9 through Dec. 15:

House

House Vote 1:WESTERN SALT LAKES: The House has passed the Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act (S. 1466), sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., to require the U.S. Geological Survey to study salt lake ecosystems in the Great Basin region of the West. The vote, on Dec. 12, was 356 yeas to 56 nays.NOT VOTING: Bob Gibbs R-OH (7th)YEAS: Troy Balderson R-OH (12th)

NAYS: Jim Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 2:QUANTUM COMPUTING SECURITY: The House has agreed to the Senate amendment to the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act (H.R. 7535), sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to require federal government agencies to prepare information technology systems for encryption capabilities that can withstand attacks from future quantum computing technologies. The vote, on Dec. 13, was 420 yeas to 3 nays.YEAS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th), Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 3:PASSING LEGISLATION: The House has passed a motion sponsored by Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., to pass 13 bills en bloc, without a separate roll call vote for each bill. Issues covered by the bills included: rider safety in taxis; the naming of several post office facilities; severe weather forecasting and alerts; and fire investigation procedures. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 349 yeas to 80 nays.YEAS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th)

NAYS: Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 4:SHORT-TERM GOVERNMENT FUNDING: The House has agreed to the Senate amendment to the Further Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 1437), sponsored by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., to extend funding for the federal government through Dec. 23. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 224 yeas to 201 nays.NAYS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th), Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 5:GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT: The House has passed the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act (S. 3905), sponsored by Sen. Gary C. Peters, D-Mich. The bill would require changes in federal government acquisition regulations regarding both agency and personal conflicts of interest with potential contractors to the government. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 219 yeas to 205 nays.NAYS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th), Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 6:LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING: The House has passed the Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act (S. 4003), sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. The bill would have the Justice Department develop training and grant programs for law enforcement departments to adopt alternative responses to individuals in a mental, behavioral health or suicidal crisis. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 264 yeas to 162 nays.NAYS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th), Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 7:PUERTO RICO: The House has passed the Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 8393), sponsored by Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., to hold a plebiscite in Puerto Rico in November 2023, in which voters will be asked to choose between independence, statehood, or free association with the U.S. for Puerto Rico. Free association would be limited independence, and include the loss of guaranteed U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 233 yeas to 191 nays.NAYS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th), Jordan R-OH (4th)

House Vote 8:VA COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: The House has passed the VA Employee Fairness Act (H.R. 1948), sponsored by Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., to change collective bargaining standards for Veterans Health Administration workers by including professional competence and compensation matters as eligible for bargaining. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 219 yeas to 201 nays.NAYS: Gibbs R-OH (7th), Balderson R-OH (12th), Jordan R-OH (4th)

Senate

Senate Vote 1:APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves to be a judge on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Montgomery-Reeves has been a Delaware state judge since 2016, including, since 2019 a state Supreme Court judge. Previously, she was a private practice lawyer in Wilmington. The vote, on Dec. 12, was 53 yeas to 35 nays.YEAS: Sherrod Brown D-OH, Rob Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 2:SECOND APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Dana M. Douglas to be a judge on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Douglas has been a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana since 2019; before that, she was a private practice commercial lawyer in New Orleans. The vote, on Dec. 13, was 65 yeas to 31 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OH, Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 3:INTERNATIONAL FINANCE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jay Curtis Shambaugh to be the Treasury Department’s Undersecretary for International Affairs. Shambaugh was an official on the White House Council of Economic Advisors in the Obama administration, and before and after that, an economics professor at Georgetown and Dartmouth universities. The vote, on Dec. 13, was 70 yeas to 27 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OH, Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 4:CHARTER SCHOOLS RULE: The Senate has rejected a resolution (S.J. Res. 60), sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to disapprove of and void an Education Department rule issued this July that governs grants to charter schools. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 49 yeas to 49 nays.NAYS: Brown D-OHYEAS: Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 5:DIPLOMAT TO LATIN AMERICA: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Francisco O. Mora to be the United States' Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, an international cooperation group of 35 countries, most of them in Latin America. Mora has been a professor at various universities focused on U.S. relations with Latin America and, in the first half of the Obama administration, was a Defense Department official for the Western Hemisphere. The vote, on Dec. 14, was 51 yeas to 45 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OHNAYS: Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 6:MILITARY APPEALS COURT: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Musetta Tia Johnson to be a judge, for a 15-year term, on the U.S. appeals court for the various branches of the military. Johnson, a retired colonel in the Army's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, is currently a national security lawyer at Georgetown University. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 76 yeas to 20 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OH, Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 7:MILITARY SPENDING: The Senate has agreed to the House amendment to the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7776), sponsored by Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., to authorize Army Corps of Engineers water resources projects and about $858 billion of fiscal 2023 spending on the military. The military part of the bill would authorize funding for new aircraft and ships, increase pay for servicemembers by 4.6% and increase their benefits, and repeal the military's COVID vaccination requirement. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 83 yeas to 11 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OH, Portman R-OH

Senate Vote 8:SHORT-TERM GOVERNMENT FUNDING: The Senate has agreed to the House amendment to the Further Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 1437), sponsored by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., to extend funding for the federal government through Dec. 23. The vote, on Dec. 15, was 71 yeas to 19 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OH, Portman R-OH

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Votes cast by area members of Congress Dec. 9-15