Herseth Sandlin misses 17 votes in final days

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has missed 17 votes in the waning days of her term in the U.S. House.

The Democratic congresswoman, whose last full day in office is today, skipped the votes during the final days of the 2011 session, which concluded in December. Herseth Sandlin missed single votes on Dec. 17 and 22. She missed seven votes on Dec. 17 and eight more on Dec. 21.

Herseth Sandlin maintained a 98 percent attendance record during her six and a half years in Congress, according to her staff. Most of Herseth Sandlin’s missed votes came in early 2009, shortly after her son was born, according to her spokeswoman, Whitney Phillips.

Phillips said the congresswoman was unable to attend the four recent House sessions, and that is why she missed the votes.

“Rep. Herseth Sandlin unfortunately was not able to be present for these votes due to family and travel obligations,” Phillips said.

“While missing a handful of votes due to these unavoidable conflicts is regrettable, Rep. Herseth Sandlin did record her intent with the Clerk of the House, indicating how she would have voted on each question.”

Some of the missed votes pertained to notable legislation, such as the Senate amendment to House Resolution 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act; the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010; the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Improvement Act; the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act; the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010; the Senate amendment to H.R. 3082, Making Further Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011; H.R. 6547, which would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require criminal background checks for school employees; and an attempt to change the House vote this spring in favor of repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Some of the votes Herseth Sandlin missed were relatively minor.

Two would have named post offices, one in New York, another in Florida. Another vote was to recognize the 45th anniversary of the White House Fellows Program, while she also missed a vote to congratulate Cam Newton for winning the 2010 Heisman Trophy.

Herseth Sandlin also skipped votes to express support for designation of Jan. 23 as “Ed Roberts Day” and to congratulate Gerda Weissmann Klein on receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Herseth Sandlin was defeated in November by Republican Kristi Noem, who will be sworn in Wednesday.

Tags: stephanie herseth sandlin, kristi noem, election 2010, news, state, politics