[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 531 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 531

         Relating to a question of the privileges of the House


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 1996

 Mr. Linder submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the 
                                 table

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
         Relating to a question of the privileges of the House

Whereas a complaint filed against Representative Gephardt alleges House Rules 
        have been violated by Representative Gephardt's concealment of profits 
        gained through a complex series of real estate tax exchanges and;
Whereas the complaint also alleges possible violations of banking disclosure and 
        campaign finance laws or regulations and;
Whereas the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has in other complex 
        matters involving complaints hired outside counsel with expertise in tax 
        laws and regulations and;
Whereas the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is responsible for 
        determining whether Representative Gephardt's financial transactions 
        violated standards of conduct or specific rules of the House of 
        Representatives and;
Whereas the complaint against Representative Gephardt has been pending before 
        the committee for more than seven months and the integrity of the ethics 
        process and the manner in which Members are disciplined is called into 
        question; and
Whereas on Friday, September 20, 1996, the ranking Democrat of the Ethics 
        Committee, Representative James McDermott in a public statement 
        suggested that cases pending before the committee in excess of 60 days 
        be referred to an outside counsel: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is 
authorized and directed to hire a special counsel to assist in the 
investigation of the charges filed against the Democratic leader 
Representative Gephardt, and be it further
    Resolved, That all relevant materials presented to, or developed 
by, the committee to date on the complaint be submitted to a special 
counsel, for review and recommendation to determine whether the 
committee should proceed to a preliminary inquiry.
                                 <all>