WASHINGTON — Here’s how the state’s U.S. senators voted on major issues in the week ending Jan. 29. The House was in recess.
Boost for nuclear energy
By a vote of 87 for and 4 against, the Senate on Jan. 28 expanded the role of nuclear power in a wide-ranging energy bill (S 2012) that remained in debate. In part, the amendment directs the Department of Energy to establish a “national innovation center” at which the government and private sector would jointly develop advanced technologies for nuclear reactors.
Voting yes: Maria Cantwell, D, Patty Murray, D
Economic impact of crude-oil exports
Voting 62 to 28, the Senate ordered Government Accountability Office studies over three years of the extent to which U.S. shipbuilders, consumers and independent refineries suffer economic losses under a new law that allows American crude oil to be exported for the first time since 1975. The vote occurred as the Senate started lengthy debate on a bill (S 2012, above) that would advance fossil-fuel, nuclear and renewable-energy production in the U.S. while improving domestic infrastructure for transporting energy supplies.
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Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray
Funding of highly experimental research
By a vote of 55 to 37, the Senate on Jan. 28 approved a 7 percent funding increase in S 2012 (above) for a Department of Energy unit, established in 2007, that funds energy research so experimental it cannot attract private-sector investment. This amendment would increase the ARPA-E budget by $113 million, to $1.725 billion, between fiscal 2016 and 2020.
Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray