[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1039 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1039

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2008

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



_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas on January 5, 2007, the House of Representatives adopted a rule of the 
        House amending clause 2(a) of rule XX to include that, ``A record vote 
        by electronic device shall not be held open for the sole purpose of 
        reversing the outcome of such vote.'';
Whereas on the evening of March 11, 2008, the Speaker pro tempore repeated an 
        annoucement regarding enforcement of such rule, stating ``An alleged 
        violation of clause 2(a) of rule XX may subject the vote to collateral 
        challenge in the form of a question of the privileges of the House 
        pursuant to rule IX.'';
Whereas a press release dated October 7, 2005, from then Minority Leader Nancy 
        Pelosi stated, ``Democrats have proposed guidelines for how we think the 
        House of Representatives should operate, a Minority Bill of Rights.'' 
        Included in this document is the declaration that ``No vote shall be 
        held open in order to manipulate the outcome. When we take back the 
        People's House, we will heed that declaration.'';
Whereas on the evening of March 11, 2008, the House debated House Resolution 
        1031, providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 895) 
        establishing within the House of Representatives an Office of 
        Congressional Ethics, and for other purposes;
Whereas H. Res. 1031 provided that ``House Resolution 895, amended by the 
        amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying 
        this resolution, is hereby adopted.'';
Whereas on March 11, 2008, the publication Roll Call reported, ``Republicans 
        nearly defeated the measure on a procedural maneuver, but House leaders 
        held the vote open for at least 10 additional minutes to turn a handful 
        of Democrats--sealing the win with the votes of Reps. Emanuel Cleaver 
        (D-Mo.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Bart 
        Stupak (D-Mich.). With their support, the bill was allowed to come to 
        the floor.'' (``House Passes Ethics Bill; Pelosi Hails Victory,'' Roll 
        Call, March 11, 2008.);
Whereas on March 11, 2008, the publication The Politico reported, ``Republicans, 
        backed by 18 Democrats, thought they had won a parliamentary vote prior 
        to consideration of the new ethics office, a victory that would have 
        derailed [sic] But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democratic 
        leadership held the vote open for 16 minutes beyond the alloted 15-
        minute deadline, and in that period, convinced several Democrats to 
        switch their votes.'' (``New Ethics Office Approved by House After 
        Controversial Quote,'' The Politico, March 11, 2008.);
Whereas on March 11, 2008, The Politico further reported, ``In response to GOP 
        manipulation of votes during their years of control, Pelosi promised at 
        the beginning of the 110th Congress that floor votes would only last 15 
        minutes, and `no vote shall be held open to manipulate the outcome.' 
        Pelosi, however, appeared to go back on that promise during the previous 
        question vote, which was open for a total of 31 minutes before it was 
        gaveled closed.'' (``New Ethics Office Approved by House After 
        Controversial Quote,'' The Politico, March 11, 2008.);
Whereas on March 11, 2008, The Politico further reported, ``The most vocal 
        Democratic opponent of the OCE, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), who 
        made an impassioned speech on the floor urging his colleagues to vote 
        against the measure, insisted that the opposition had actually won the 
        parliamentary vote, regardless of the final outcome. `We did win,' 
        Abercrombie declared afterwards. `This thing is totally discredited.''' 
        (``New Ethics Office Approved by House After Controversial Quote,'' The 
        Politico, March 11, 2008.);
Whereas on March 12, 2008, Associated Press reported, ``Republicans yelled in 
        protest as Democrats held the 15-minute vote open for 27 minutes while 
        Democratic leaders urged holdouts in the party to support the party 
        position.'' (``House Approves Ethics Panel,'' Associated Press, March 
        12, 2008.);
Whereas on March 11, 2008, Roll Call reported, ```There are still plenty of 
        people trying to keep it from coming to the floor,' said one Democratic 
        lawmaker, who spoke in advance of the vote on the condition of 
        anonymity, fearing reprisals from party leadership. The Member added 
        that colleagues expressed a `lot of unhappiness', as many acknowledged 
        they would have to vote for the bill once it reached the floor.'';
Whereas at 9:31 p.m. the vote on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 1031, 
        was ordered and was to be a 15-minute vote;
Whereas that vote was held open for 27 total minutes;
Whereas 413 Members of the House, which was the total number of Members present 
        and voting, had registered their votes after 21 minutes had elapsed;
Whereas no new Member of the House voted after 21 minutes into the vote who had 
        not previously recorded their vote;
Whereas at 21 minutes elapsed, the vote was 204 yeas and 209 nays, the motion 
        failing;
Whereas for approximately the next 5 minutes, no further votes were cast or 
        changed and the previous question vote was held open for the sole 
        purpose of changing the outcome of the vote;
Whereas during the final moments of Roll Call Vote 121, after conversing with 
        Democratic leaders in full view of the House, three Democratic Members 
        changed their votes from Nay to Aye;
Whereas Speaker Nancy Pelosi left the floor during this time and returned with 
        Representative Bart Stupak who changed his vote from a no to a yes;
Whereas Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Whip James Clyburn approached 
        Representatives Sanford Bishop and Emanuel Cleaver on the Democratic 
        side of the aisle and had them change their votes from a no to a yes;
Whereas according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's document entitled ``A New Direction 
        for America,'' page 24 states that ``floor votes should be completed 
        within 15 minutes with the customary 2-minute extension to accommodate 
        members' ability to reach the House Chamber to cast their votes. No vote 
        shall be held open in order to manipulate the outcome.'';
Whereas the result of the 3 Democratic vote changes, after 12 minutes of 
        extended vote time and pressure from Democratic leadership, manipulated 
        the outcome and changed the result from 204 yeas and 209 nays, the 
        motion failing, to 207 yeas and 206 nays, the motion passing; and
Whereas a Democratic Member approached Members and staff of the minority 
        following the announced outcome of the vote and revealed that, ``Deals 
        were made to get Cleaver and Bishop;'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House denounces this action in the strongest terms 
        possible, rejects the practices of holding votes open beyond a 
        reasonable period of time for the sole purpose of circumventing 
        the will of the House, and directs the Speaker to take such 
        steps as necessary to prevent any further abuse;
            (2) The votes on ordering the previous question and 
        adoption of House Resolution 1031 are hereby vacated;
            (3) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is 
        directed to investigate without further delay violations of 
        House rules by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Members of the 
        Democratic leadership and report its findings and 
        recommendations to the House, including a recommendation 
        regarding the appropriate actions for the Speaker's activities; 
        and
            (4) The Select Committee to Investigate the Voting 
        Irregularities of August 2, 2007, is hereby directed to 
        investigate and include in the report its findings and 
        resulting recommendations concerning the actions of the 
        Speaker, concerning the time the vote was held open and the 
        changes in votes cast by members, resulting in passage of the 
        previous question vote to H. Res. 1031 on March 11, 2008.
                                 <all>