[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 690 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 690

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 29, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas page 5 of the ``Regulations on the Use of the CONGRESSIONAL FRANK By 
        Members of the House of Representatives'' states, ``It is the policy of 
        the Congress that the privilege of sending mail as franked mail shall be 
        established under this section in order to assist and expedite the 
        conduct of the official business, activities and duties of the Congress 
        of the United States. It is the intent of the Congress that such 
        official business, activities and duties cover all matters which 
        directly or indirectly pertain to the legislative process or to any 
        congressional representative functions generally, or to the functioning, 
        working, or operating of the Congress and the performance of official 
        duties in connection therewith, and shall include, but not be limited 
        to, the conveying of information to the public, the requesting of the 
        views of the public, or the views and information of other authority of 
        government, as a guide or a means of assistance in the performance of 
        those functions.'';
Whereas clause 5 of rule XXIV of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
        provides, ``Before making a mass mailing, a Member, Delegate, or 
        Resident Commissioner shall submit a sample or description of the mail 
        matter involved to the House Commission on Congressional Mailing 
        Standards for an advisory opinion as to whether the proposed mailing is 
        in compliance with applicable provisions of law, rule, or regulation.'';
Whereas the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, authorized in 
        Public Law 91-191, is commonly referred to as the ``Franking 
        Commission'';
Whereas the Democratic staff director and Republican staff director of the 
        Franking Commission have served in their respective positions for more 
        than a decade and report to the Democratic and Republican members of the 
        Franking Commission, respectively;
Whereas during the 111th Congress the members of the Franking Commission are 
        Representatives Susan Davis (D-CA), chairwoman; Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), 
        ranking Republican member; Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Rep. Kevin 
        McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA);
Whereas the aforementioned Franking Commission advisory opinions required for 
        Members seeking approval to send mass mailings, or their electronic 
        equivalents, are routinely signed on behalf of the Commission by its 
        Democratic and Republican staff directors or their designees;
Whereas no Member may receive Franking Commission approval without signatures 
        from both majority and minority staff;
Whereas the Commission's Democratic staff director has been permitted by the 
        Commission's Democratic Members to abuse her position during the current 
        Congress by willfully and knowingly applying different standards to 
        material submitted for Franking Commission approval by Republican 
        Members than she applies to material submitted by Democratic Members;
Whereas, on July 27, 2009, the Commission's Democratic staff director refused to 
        approve a mailing proposed by Representative Joe Barton of Texas which 
        included the words ``Democrat majority'', but indicated she would 
        approve the mailing if Representative Barton instead substituted the 
        words ``congressional majority'', yet on August 3, 2006, the same 
        Democratic staff director signed a Franking Commission approval document 
        for a mailing issued by then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that included 
        the following sentence, ``But too many here and across our nation are 
        paying the price for the Republican Congressional majority's special 
        interest agenda . . .''
Whereas the Democratic staff director has refused to grant permission to 
        Republican Members wishing to provide their constituents with copies of 
        a chart intended to illustrate in graphic form many of the provisions of 
        the Democrats' proposed health care legislation;
Whereas charts similar in form and general purpose have for many years been 
        approved routinely by the Commission's Democratic staff director in 
        mailings produced by Members on both sides of the aisle;
Whereas, on December 12, 1993, the Franking Commission granted approval to Rep. 
        David Levy of New York to disseminate a similar chart, intended to 
        illustrate graphically the provisions of comprehensive health care 
        legislation proposed by the Clinton Administration;
Whereas the Commission's Democratic staff director has refused to approve 
        requests by Republican Members to informally characterize certain 
        features of the Democrats' pending health care proposal as ``government 
        run health care'' but has approved requests by Democratic Members to 
        informally characterize the same aspects of the bill as ``the public 
        option'';
Whereas the Commission's Democratic staff director has refused to approve more 
        than twenty requests by Republican Members to use the phrase ``cap and 
        tax'' to describe a Democratic proposal to reduce carbon emissions by 
        imposing new fees, taxes and higher costs on American consumers and 
        businesses;
Whereas a search for the term ``cap and tax'' on the Google internet search 
        engine yielded at least 4,478,000 appearances of this commonly used 
        phrase;
Whereas an article in the April 27, 2009, edition of ``Politico'' newspaper 
        quoted the most senior Member of the House, Democratic Representative 
        John Dingell of Michigan, the former chairman of the House Committee on 
        Energy and Commerce, as saying, ``Nobody in this country realizes that 
        cap and trade is a tax, and it's a great big one.'';
Whereas the Commission's Democratic staff director has dismissed the proposed 
        descriptive term, ``cap and tax'' as an informal and inappropriate 
        characterization of the legislation, while at the same time granting 
        approval to Democratic Members seeking to use the phrase ``cap and 
        trade'' to informally and inappropriately characterize the same bill;
Whereas the Commission's Democratic staff director has refused to approve 
        material submitted by Republican Members seeking to convey to the public 
        those Members' concern about substantial job losses expected to result 
        if the Democrats' proposed national energy tax is enacted, while at the 
        same time approving mailings submitted by Democratic Members informing 
        the public about large numbers of new jobs the Democrats claim will be 
        created by the same legislation;
Whereas the Democratic staff director's actions have prompted a steady stream of 
        media reports describing a climate of partisan censorship imposed on the 
        House by the Democratic majority;
Whereas an article in the July 23, 2009, edition of Roll Call newspaper stated, 
        ``A dispute over the right of House Republicans to use the chamber's 
        official franking service to send a mailer critical of Democratic health 
        care plans has escalated beyond the Franking Commission to `high levels 
        on the Democratic side,' Franking Commission member Rep. Dan Lungren (R-
        CA) said at a Thursday press conference. Asked whether he believed the 
        matter had been referred to Rep. Pelosis (D-CA) office, Lungren, the 
        ranking member of the House Administration Committee, said, `All I've 
        been told is that its above the Franking Commission and that it appears 
        to be above our committee, so I don't know where you go after that'.'';
Whereas by permitting the Commission's Democratic staff director to carry out 
        her duties in a partisan and unfair manner, the Democratic Members of 
        the Franking Commission have brought discredit on the House; and
Whereas clause 1 of rule XXXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 
        also known as the Code of Official Conduct, provides ``A Member, 
        Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall 
        behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the 
        House'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House views with disapproval the failure of the 
Democratic Members of the Franking Commission to ensure that the 
Commission's Democratic staff carries out its important 
responsibilities in a professional, fair, and impartial manner.
                                 <all>