[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 746 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 746

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2006

 Ms. Pelosi submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the 
                                 table

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas it has been two years since credible reports of misconduct by Mr. Jack 
        Abramoff and Members of Congress began appearing regularly in the public 
        record, including reports closely linking Republican Members of Congress 
        with the documented misconduct of Mr. Abramoff;
Whereas in the first session of the 109th Congress, for the first time in the 
        history of the House of Representatives, the rules of procedure of the 
        Committee on Standards of Official Conduct were changed on a partisan 
        basis, the Chairman of the Committee and two of his Republican 
        Colleagues were dismissed from the Committee, the newly appointed 
        Chairman of the Committee improperly and unilaterally fired non-partisan 
        staff, and the Chairman attempted to appoint supervisory staff without a 
        vote of the Committee in direct contravention of the intent of the bi-
        partisan procedures adopted in 1997;
Whereas because of these actions, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
        conducted no investigative activities in the first session of the 109th 
        Congress and has not yet conducted such activities;
Whereas the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Senate Committee on 
        Finance have both undertaken investigations of Mr. Jack Abramoff's 
        activities, yet no House Committee has begun any such investigation;
Whereas, on March 29, 2006, Mr. Jack Abramoff was sentenced to five years and 
        ten months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud;
Whereas a Justice Department press release reported that Mr. Jack Abramoff 
        ``corruptly provid[ed] things of value to public officials . . . 
        including, but not limited to, a lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on 
        world-famous courses, tickets to sporting events and other 
        entertainment, regular meals at Abramoff's upscale restaurant, and 
        campaign contributions for [a] Representative, his political action 
        committee, his campaign committee, and other political committees on 
        behalf of [that] Representative.'' (Department of Justice press release, 
        January 3, 2006);
Whereas Mr. Jack Abramoff's plea agreement states that he and his colleagues 
        ``provided things of value to public officials in exchange for a series 
        of official acts and influence . . . including agreements to support and 
        pass legislation (and) agreements to place statements in the 
        Congressional Record.'' (Abramoff Plea Agreement); and
Whereas, on November 5, 2005, in the United States District Court for the 
        District of Columbia, a former Congressional staff member and business 
        partner of Mr. Jack Abramoff pled guilty to conspiracy to violate 
        Federal laws and admitted that, beginning in January 2000, he offered 
        and provided things of value to public officials, including Members of 
        Congress and staff, in exchange for a series of official acts: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall 
immediately initiate an investigation of the misconduct by Members of 
Congress and their staff implicated in the scandals associated with Mr. 
Jack Abramoff's criminal activity.
                                 <all>