Alaska’s only representative in Congress missed a critical vote on Friday because, as she later explained to the Anchorage Daily News, she had to use the bathroom.
The record shows that Peltola was present to vote over the course of two days on multiple amendments on a bill that is key to America’s national security and energy independence.
Amendment 77 was the final amendment to House Bill 21, the Strategic Production Response Act, before the main vote on the bill would be taken. After Peltola voted no on that final amendment, she sat chatting with a colleague until the vote was finished and the main vote was pending.
Votes on amendments were taking about 2 minutes and there were short procedural moments between votes when representatives could take care of private business. But instead of waiting for the final vote to start, Peltola slipped out.
The bathrooms outside the House Chambers are right outside the doors in an area sometimes called “the bubble,” and the vote on the final version of the bill went on for six minutes.
Later, when asked by the ADN reporter about why she missed the vote, Peltola brushed off the importance of her bathroom run, saying that because the Senate is controlled by Democrats and because the Democrat president has already said he will veto the bill, it has no chance of passing.
That may or may not be the case in the Senate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has signed on as an early co-sponsor of the legislation and she may have the ability to call in some favors from the Democrats in the Senate, such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is an energy-friendly colleague, and Sen. Kyrsten Lea Sinema, an independent from Arizona.
Also last week, Peltola had to explain to reporters why her college attendance is overstated on her official biographies. She overstated her attendance by over a year at one university, and ended up admitting to the reporters that she left college without finishing and could not explain how the mistake was made. She said it was a mistake she made long ago on her bio and she never changed it.
Peltola serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, and Alaska’s energy-based economy depends on her and Alaska’s two senators to make the right calls for the state’s jobs and for the nation’s energy security. It’s likely her predecessor Congressman Don Young would have voted yes. Peltola later told a reporter that she would have voted yes, had she been present.
But her husband, Gene Peltola, is involved in carbon trading, which is a relatively new and lucrative industry in the energy sector.
There is a way for Rep. Peltola to put that on the record now. Although she ducked out of being on the vote sheet, the House provides “missed votes” forms for lawmakers to fill out. Those “missed votes” don’t go into the official tally, but allow lawmakers to state on the record how they would have voted, if they had shown up. Peltola’s chief of staff, who was chief of staff for the late Congressman Young, would be familiar with the process.
That missed vote form is available at this link.
