[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 623 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 623

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 4, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas clause one of House rule XXIII (Code of Official Conduct) states, ``A 
        Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer or employee of the 
        House shall conduct himself at all times in a manner that shall reflect 
        creditably on the House,'';
Whereas the House Ethics Manual states that, ``The public has a right to expect 
        Members, officers and employees to exercise impartial judgment in 
        performing their duties'' and ``this Committee has cautioned all Members 
        `to avoid situations in which even an inference might be drawn 
        suggesting improper action''';
Whereas clause eight of House rule XVII states, ``The Congressional Record shall 
        be a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during the 
        proceedings of the House, subject only to the technical, grammatical, 
        and typographical corrections authorized by the Member, Delegate, or 
        Resident Commissioner making the remarks'';
Whereas during proceedings of the House on August 3, 2007, the gentleman from 
        Ohio, Mr. Boehner, the Republican Leader, offered a privileged 
        resolution, H. Res. 612;
Whereas after the clerk completed reading the resolution, the gentlewoman from 
        California, Ms. Tauscher, who was in the chair, recognized the gentleman 
        from Maryland, stating, ``For what purpose does the gentleman from 
        Maryland rise?'';
Whereas the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Hoyer, the Majority Leader, then 
        proceeded to debate Representative Boehner's motion, stating, ``Madame 
        Speaker, enough is enough'';
Whereas in response to the chair's query, ``Does the gentleman have an 
        amendment?'' Majority Leader Hoyer stated, ``I move to table the 
        resolution'';
Whereas the chair then recognized the Republican Leader who raised a point of 
        order that the chair failed to acknowledge, which the chair declined to 
        entertain;
Whereas as the chair was putting the question to the House, Republican Leader 
        Boehner stated, ``isn't it correct that the gentleman from Maryland 
        engaged in debate, which allows the House to then proceed with up to one 
        hour of debate on this resolution?'';
Whereas the chair stated, ``The chair did not yet rule that the question 
        constitutes a question of privilege'';
Whereas a video recording produced by the Office of the Chief Administrative 
        Officer confirms that the chair, in fact, never ruled on whether the 
        resolution offered by the Republican Leader constituted a question of 
        privilege;
Whereas the Speaker, as the presiding officer, has a duty to be a fair and 
        impartial arbiter of the proceedings of the House, held to the highest 
        ethical standards in deciding the various questions as they arise with 
        impartiality and courtesy toward all Members, regardless of party 
        affiliation;
Whereas the Republican Leader, and any other Member of the House raising a point 
        of order, is entitled to state a point of order and to receive a ruling 
        on it from the chair;
Whereas statements made on the floor of the House during the aforementioned 
        proceedings of August 3, 2007, do not appear in the Congressional Record 
        for that day, and the same Congressional Record reports as having been 
        spoken statements that were not made;
Whereas the House adopted H. Res. 611, establishing a Select Committee to 
        investigate voting irregularities occurring in the House on August 2, 
        2007; and
Whereas H. Res. 612 was offered in response to the events stemming from the 
        incident of August 2, 2007: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the Select Committee to Investigate the Voting 
        Irregularities of August 2, 2007, is directed to investigate 
        and include in the initial report its findings and resulting 
        recommendations concerning the actions of the gentlewoman from 
        California (Ms. Tauscher) while presiding over the House on 
        August 3, 2007, at the time the Republican Leader offered H. 
        Res. 612 and the actions which led to the differences between 
        the statements in the Congressional Record and those actually 
        spoken on that day; and
            (2) the Congressional Record for the legislative day of 
        August 3, 2007, be corrected to reflect verbatim the words 
        actually spoken during consideration of H. Res. 612.
                                 <all>