{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://clayhiggins.house.gov/2019/12/03/higgins-introduces-resolution-prohibiting-present-vote-impeachment/", "Higgins Introduces Resolution Prohibiting \u201cPresent\u201d Vote on Impeachment", "2019-12-03", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "LA", "Clay Higgins", "H001077", "clayhiggins.house.gov", "clayhiggins", "https://clayhiggins.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) is introducing H. Res. 736, the \u201cStand for Something Resolution,\u201d which eliminates the option to vote \u201cpresent\u201d and forces members of the U.S. House of Representatives to take a \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d stance on legislation.\n\nMembers of Congress have used the \u201cpresent\u201d voting option to avoid taking a stand on consequential pieces of legislation. Some recent examples include:\n\nOn July 18, 2018, 133 House Democrats voted \u201cpresent\u201d on H. Res. 990, Congressman Higgins\u2019 resolution to support ICE agents and their mission.\n\nOn March 26, 2019, 43 Senate Democrats voted \u201cpresent\u201d on S.J. Res. 8, the Green New Deal. This included Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bennet, and Kirsten Gillibrand.\n\nOn October 29, 2019, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) voted \u201cpresent\u201d on H. Res. 296, a bill condemning the Armenian genocide.\n\nCongressman Higgins issued the following statement:\n\n\u201cMembers of Congress weren\u2019t sent to DC to sit on the sidelines and vote \u2018present.\u2019 With a vote on articles of impeachment potentially forthcoming, voting \u2018present\u2019 shouldn\u2019t be an option.\n\n\u201cWe were not elected to be silent. The American people deserve to know where every member of Congress stands. We should have the courage of our convictions to either vote for or against every piece of legislation. To vote \u2018present\u2019 reflects fear.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://clayhiggins.house.gov/2019/12/03/higgins-introduces-resolution-prohibiting-present-vote-impeachment/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8324040099978447, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}