Congressman Jamie Raskin (Democrat, representing most of Montgomery County in Maryland’s now less-gerrymandered 8th Congressional District) is going for his 5th term in the “people’s house”, the United States House of Representatives.
With election day and (hopefully) election results around the corner, I thought it would be good to take a quick look at how my Congressman has voted on some common-sense, mainly single-issue bills in the US Congress during his near-decade in the institution. Unfortunately, we cannot expect outlets like https://moco360.media/ to do this basic, straightforward analysis.
Here goes a short list of pretty straightforward bills proposed recently, and how Congressman Raskin voted:
Bill: Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE Act
Summary: “This bill requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections. Specifically, the bill prohibits states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.”
How Congressman Raskin voted: Raskin voted NO against this proposed Act of Congress.
This bill passed the US House of Representatives with 221 votes in Congress. It passed with some Democrat member votes / bipartisan support.
Bill: Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act
Summary: Per the bill’s sponsor: “This bill will protect our communities by defining bail bonds as insurance products and by bringing charitable bail funds under state insurance regulation. These changes will add a much-needed layer of transparency and accountability to bail funds, that up until now, have been operating in the shadows without oversight.”
How Congressman Raskin voted: Raskin voted NO against this proposed Act of Congress.
This bill (H.R. 8205) passed with 255 “Yes” votes including 44 Democrat members supporting the bill.
Bill: No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act
Summary: “This bill makes a state or political subdivision of a state ineligible for any federal funds the jurisdiction intends to use to benefit non-U.S. nationals (i.e., aliens under federal law) who are unlawfully present if the jurisdiction withholds information about citizenship or immigration status or does not cooperate with immigration detainers.
Specifically, such funds are denied to any jurisdiction that has a law, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts any government entity from
**maintaining, sending, or receiving information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual;
**exchanging information regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status with a federal, state, or local government entity;
**complying with a valid immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); or
**notifying DHS about an individual’s release from custody.”
[Note that Montgomery County government routinely does not cooperate with immigration detainers on suspected / arrested persons, with many tragic results in the aftermath of suspected persons being released back into the public. Recently, more cooperation was agreed to between federal immigration enforcement field personnel in Baltimore, MD and Montgomery County, MD department of corrections / MoCo’s Exec branch.]
How Congressman Raskin voted: Raskin voted NO against this proposed Act of Congress.
This bill (H.R. 5717) passed with 219 “Yes” votes including 12 Democrat members supporting the bill.
Bill: Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act
Summary: Under current law, a non-U.S. national is deportable [only] for certain criminal convictions, including domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse. The bill makes any sex offense (including crimes against minors) or conspiracy to commit a sex offense a basis for deportation.
How Congressman Raskin voted: Raskin voted NO against this proposed Act of Congress.
This bill (H.R. 7909) passed with 266 votes including 51 Democrat members supporting the bill.
An interesting voting record by the Congressman.
But he did succeed in getting more federal funds ($300K) a few federal budgets ago for “brew master” training at MoCo Community College and some small street upgrades in downtown Silver Spring. To help the breweries.
More to come.
