HR 5382 passes the House

The House did get around to HR 5382 this afternoon and the bill passed on a roll-call vote, 269-120. The vote fell to some degree among party lines: only two Republicans voted against the bill, Reps. Charles Bass (R-NH) and Don Young (R-AK). (Interestingly, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), the only member to vote against HR 3752 in March, voted in favor of HR 5382.) On the other hand, nearly two-thirds of Democrats voting were opposed to the bill. The AP and MSNBC have articles on the bill’s passage, and the House Science Committee has issued a press release praising the bill’s passage. The Senate, however, has yet to act on the bill; as I write they are currently mired in a debate on the omnibus budget bill.

Also, the Congressional Record has published a transcript of the floor debate yesterday afternoon on HR 5382. It’s an interesting read as the major players—Rohrabacher, Boehlert, Oberstar, and DeFazio—make their cases for and against the bill.