[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 312 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 312

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas The Hill reported that a prominent lobbying firm, founded by Mr. Paul 
        Magliocchetti and the subject of a ``federal investigation into 
        potentially corrupt political contributions'', has given $3.4 million in 
        political donations to no less than 284 Members of Congress;
Whereas the New York Times noted that Mr. Magliocchetti ``set up shop at the 
        busy intersection between political fund-raising and taxpayer spending, 
        directing tens of millions of dollars in contributions to lawmakers 
        while steering hundreds of millions of dollars in earmark contracts back 
        to his clients.'';
Whereas a quest columnist recently highlighted in Roll Call that ``. . . what 
        [the firm's] example reveals most clearly is the potentially corrupting 
        link between campaign contributions and earmarks. Even the most ardent 
        earmarkers should want to avoid the appearance of such a pay-to-play 
        system.'';
Whereas multiple press reports have noted questions related to campaign 
        contributions made by or on behalf of the firm; including questions 
        related to ``straw man'' contributions, the reimbursement of employees 
        for political giving, pressure on clients to give, a suspicious pattern 
        of giving, and the timing of donations relative to legislative activity;
Whereas Roll Call has taken note of the timing of contributions from employees 
        of the firm and its clients when it reported that they ``have provided 
        thousands of dollars worth of campaign contributions to key Members in 
        close proximity to legislative activity, such as the deadline for 
        earmark request letters or passage of a spending bill.'';
Whereas the Associated Press highlighted the ``huge amounts of political 
        donations'' from the firm and its clients to select Members and noted 
        that ``those political donations have followed a distinct pattern: The 
        giving is especially heavy in March, which is prime time for submitting 
        written earmark requests.'';
Whereas clients of the firm received at least $300 million worth of earmarks in 
        fiscal year 2009 appropriations legislation, including several that were 
        approved even after news of the FBI raid of the firm's offices and 
        Justice Department investigation into the firm was well known;
Whereas the Associated Press reported that ``the FBI says the investigation is 
        continuing, highlighting the close ties between special-interest 
        spending provisions known as earmarks and the raising of campaign 
        cash.''; and
Whereas the persistent media attention focused on questions about the nature and 
        timing of campaign contributions related to the firm, as well as reports 
        of the Justice Department conducting research on earmarks and campaign 
        contributions, raise concern about the integrity of Congressional 
        proceedings and the dignity of the institution: 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, shall 
        immediately begin an investigation into the relationship 
        between the source and timing of past campaign contributions to 
        Members of the House related to the raided firm and earmark 
        requests made by Members of the House on behalf of clients of 
        the raided firm; 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 the resolution.
                                 <all>