WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday that pressures President Obama to name the ways he would eliminate the deficit. The Require a PLAN Act would require the president to send a budget for fiscal year 2014 to Congress, and if the estimates in that budget did not produce a year when the budget was balanced, Obama would be required to submit more information detailing how he would achieve a deficit-free budget in the future.
The measure passed by a 253-167 vote, with 227 Republicans and 26 Democrats, including Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, voting for it, and 166 Democrats and Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., voting no.
U.S. House vote
• Require a PLAN Act
Walden (R) Y
Blumenauer (D) N
Bonamici (D) N
DeFazio (D) Y
Schrader (D) N
Before the final vote on the Require a PLAN Act, the House voted on an amendment by Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, that would have urged Obama to use the findings of the Simpson-Bowles Commission as his road map to deficit reduction.
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, often referred to by the names of its co-chairs, former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and Erskine Bowles, a former chief of staff to President Clinton, recommended cutting the deficit by trimming roughly $2 of federal spending for every $1 in increased revenues. The House rejected Schrader’s amendment by a 75-348 vote, with 54 Democrats and 21 Republicans supporting it and 141 Democrats and 207 Republicans voting no.
U.S. House vote
• Amendment to the Require a PLAN Act
Walden (R) N
Blumenauer (D) N
Bonamici (D) N
DeFazio (D) N
Schrader (D) Y
On Tuesday, the Senate rejected a Republican amendment to the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley and other members of the GOP worried that provisions of the bill that would subject offenders on Indian lands to tribal courts are unconstitutional, and his amendment would have imposed stricter oversight of how the money for victims was distributed.
Grassley’s amendment failed by a 34-65 tally, with all 34 votes in favor coming from Republicans. Ten Republicans joined 54 Democrats in opposing it.
U.S. Senate vote
• Amendment to the Violence Against Women Act
Merkley (D) N
Wyden (D) N
