[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 189 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 189

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas Roll Call reported on February 9, 2008, that the offices of a prominent 
        lobbying firm had been raided by the FBI in November;
Whereas The New York Times reported on February 10, 2009, that ``Federal 
        prosecutors are looking into the possibility that a prominent lobbyist 
        may have funneled bogus campaign contributions'' to Members of Congress;
Whereas the Washington Post reported on February 14, 2009, that they ``examined 
        contributions that were reported as being made by the firm's employees 
        and consultants, and found several people who were not registered 
        lobbyists and did not work for the lobbying firm'';
Whereas Roll Call reported on February 11, 2009, that ``the defense-
        appropriations-focused lobbying shop that the FBI raided this November'' 
        had in recent years ``spread millions of campaign contributions to 
        lawmakers'';
Whereas The Hill reported on February 10, 2009, that the raided firm ``earned 
        more than $14 million in lobbying revenue'' and ``specializes in 
        obtaining earmarks in the defense budget for a long list of clients'';
Whereas The Hill reported on February 10, 2009, that the 2008 clients of this 
        firm had ``received $299 million worth of earmarks, according to 
        Taxpayers for Common Sense'';
Whereas CQ Today reported on February 19, 2009, that ``104 House Members got 
        earmarks for projects sought by clients of the firm in the 2008 defense 
        appropriations bills'', and that 87 percent of this bipartisan group of 
        Members received campaign contributions from the raided firm;
Whereas CQ Today also reported that ``Members who took responsibility for the 
        firm's earmarks in that spending bill have, since 2001, accepted a 
        cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from the firm's 
        political action committee and employees'';
Whereas Roll Call reported on February 19, 2009, that a bipartisan group of four 
        Members have made plans to divest themselves of campaign contributions 
        received from the raided firm;
Whereas Politico reported on February 12, 2009, that ``several sources said FBI 
        agents have spent months laying the groundwork for their current 
        investigation, including conducting research on earmarks and campaign 
        contributions'';
Whereas numerous press reports and editorials have alleged several cases of 
        influence peddling between Members of Congress and outside interests 
        seeking Federal funding;
Whereas such reports and editorials reflect public distrust and have raised 
        inquiries and criticism about the integrity of congressional proceedings 
        and the dignity of the institution; and
Whereas the House of Representatives should respond to such claims and 
        demonstrate integrity in its proceedings: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, or a 
        subcommittee of the committee designated by the committee and 
        its members appointed by the chairman and ranking member, is 
        instructed to investigate the relationship between earmark 
        requests already made by Members and the source and timing of 
        past campaign contributions; and
            (2) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall 
        submit a report of its findings to the House of Representatives 
        within 2 months after the date of adoption of this resolution.
                                 <all>