This was a vote on a motion to recommit that would have eliminated a tax on U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations (which had not paid taxes on income earned in the U.S.), and cut payments to medical providers treating  9/11 rescue workers who became ill as a result of their rescue efforts following the attacks on the World Trade Center. (A motion to recommit with instructions is the minority's opportunity to torpedo or significantly change a bill before a final up-or-down vote on the measure. If successful, the motion sends the legislation back to committee with instructions to amend the legislation as specified.) 

The motion to recommit was offered to a bill establishing a new health care program for 9/11 rescue workers who became ill as a result of their rescue efforts following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. To pay for the cost of the rescue workers’ medical care, the bill required U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations to pay taxes on income earned in the U.S. Democrats contended this simply amounted to closing a tax loophole, while many Republicans argued it would prove to be a “job-killing tax.”

Rep. Christopher Lee (R-NY) urged support for the motion to recommit: “I’m a new member of Congress. I'm from New York. I spent my entire career in the private sector before coming here, not in politics, focused on growing jobs in the manufacturing sector, and I can tell you firsthand these taxes will kill jobs in the United States. These are taxes on new jobs. By passing this motion to recommit, we can remove the harmful job-killing tax hikes and do what's right for these 9/11 heroes and leave the politics aside.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) urged support opposition to the motion to recommit: “This legislation [the underlying bill] is designed to provide health care services for the heroes of 9/11, the policemen and the firemen who didn't know what would be in store for them when they went into the World Trade Center. Many of them are suffering from the health consequences of their activities, and we have an obligation to provide the services that they need. What does this motion to recommit do? It would, first of all, reduce payments to health care providers, making it harder for those people to get access to hospitals to treat them. But the worst thing about this motion to recommit is that it strikes a pay-for [the “pay-for” refers to the tax on subsidiaries of foreign corporations] that's been passed three times already in the House…”

The House rejected this motion to recommit by a vote of 185-244. 171 Republicans and 14 Democrats voted “yea.” 240 Democrats and 4 Republicans voted “nay.” As a result, the House rejected a motion to recommit that would have eliminated a tax on U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations (which had not paid taxes on income earned in the U.S.), and cut payments to medical providers treating 9/11 rescue workers who became ill as a result of their rescue efforts following the attacks on the World Trade Center.