Advertisement

By the Numbers: How California’s congressional delegation voted on the bill to block Syrian refugees

Share via

Eight House Democrats from California crossed party lines Thursday to approve legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the United States.

The decision did not come easy, and lawmakers told the Los Angeles Times about the flood of calls from constituents for and against the measure and how that influenced their votes.

In total, 47 Democrats joined Republicans to back the bill. The 289-137 vote crosses the threshold that would be needed to overcome a presidential veto.

The House bill would require the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and the director of National Intelligence to certify that refugees who are admitted pose no security threat.

The White House, which has proposed admitting at least 10,000 refugees to the United States next year from war-torn Syria, vowed to veto Thursday's bill. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton denounced the bill saying, it is "discriminating against Muslims."

SIGN UP for our free Essential Politics newsletter >>

Some of the eight California members who voted for the bill, including Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego), come from potential swing districts where the Syrian refugee issue could come up next November. Aguilar defended his vote in a statement saying the act "strengthens our defense and will enable us to move forward through a safer and more secure process to relocate refugees."

Others heard from immigrants in their district who felt the legislation is unfair.

*Indicates lawmaker crossing party line

House Democrats

YES  Rep. Pete Aguilar (Redlands)

NO  Rep. Karen Bass (Los Angeles)

NO  Rep. Xavier Becerra (Los Angeles)

YES  Rep. Ami Bera (Elk Grove)

YES  Rep. Julia Brownley (Westlake Village)

NO  Rep. Lois Capps (Santa Barbara)

NO  Rep. Tony Cardenas (Los Angeles)

NO  Rep. Judy Chu (Monterey Park)

YES  Rep. Jim Costa (Fresno)

NO  Rep. Susan A. Davis (San Diego)

NO  Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (Concord)

NO  Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (Menlo Park)

NO  Rep. Sam Farr (Carmel)

YES  Rep. John Garamendi (Walnut Grove)

YES  Rep. Janice Hahn (Los Angeles)

NO  Rep. Michael M. Honda (San Jose)

NO  Rep. Jared Huffman (San Rafael)

NO  Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland)

NO  Rep. Ted Lieu (Torrance)

NO  Rep. Zoe Lofgren (San Jose)

NO  Rep. Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach)

NO  Rep. Doris Matsui (Sacramento)

NO  Rep. Jerry McNerney (Stockton)

NO  Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (Norwalk)

NO  Rep. Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco)

YES  Rep. Scott Peters (San Diego)

NO  Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (Downey)

YES  Rep. Raul Ruiz (Palm Desert)

NO  Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (Whittier)

NO  Rep. Loretta Sanchez (Santa Ana)

NO  Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Burbank)

NO  Rep. Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks)

NO  Rep. Jackie Speier (Hillsborough)

NO  Rep. Eric Swalwell (Dublin)

NO  Rep. Mark Takano (Riverside)

NO  Rep. Mike Thompson (St. Helena)

NO  Rep. Norma Torres (Pomona)

NO  Rep. Juan Vargas (San Diego)

NO  Rep. Maxine Waters (Los Angeles)

House Republicans

YES  Rep. Ken Calvert (Corona)

YES  Rep. Paul Cook (Yucca Valley)

YES  Rep. Jeff Denham (Turlock)

YES  Rep. Duncan Hunter (Alpine)

YES  Rep. Darrell Issa (Vista)

YES  Rep. Steve Knight (Palmdale)

YES  Rep. Doug LaMalfa (Richvale)

YES  Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Bakersfield)

YES  Rep. Tom McClintock (Elk Grove)

YES  Rep. Devin Nunes (Tulare)

YES  Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Costa Mesa)

YES  Rep. Ed Royce (Fullerton)

YES  Rep. David Valadao (Hanford)

YES  Rep. Mimi Walters (Irvine)

Advertisement