[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 25 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 25
Directing the Committee on Ethics to investigate, and issue a report
on, whether any and all actions taken by Members of the 117th Congress
who sought to overturn the 2020 Presidential election violated their
oath of office to uphold the Constitution or the Rules of the House of
Representatives, and should face sanction, including removal from the
House of Representatives.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 11, 2021
Ms. Bush (for herself, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Bowman, Ms.
Omar, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Jones, Mr. Pascrell, Ms. Adams, Ms. Barragan, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Connolly,
Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Demings, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms.
Escobar, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Gomez,
Mr. Hastings, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mrs.
Kirkpatrick, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Lieu, Mr. McNerney, Ms. Moore
of Wisconsin, Ms. Newman, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Rush,
Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Speier, Mr. Sires, Mr. Takano, Mr. Torres of New
York, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Mr. Vargas, Ms. Jacobs of California, and Mr. Kahele) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and
in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Directing the Committee on Ethics to investigate, and issue a report
on, whether any and all actions taken by Members of the 117th Congress
who sought to overturn the 2020 Presidential election violated their
oath of office to uphold the Constitution or the Rules of the House of
Representatives, and should face sanction, including removal from the
House of Representatives.
Whereas nearly 160,000,000 people, or two-thirds of the United States voting
population, voted in the November 2020, presidential election, electing
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President-elect Kamala
Harris, with the highest turnout in over 120 years;
Whereas despite losing the popular vote by more than 7,000,000 votes, Donald J.
Trump, together with Republican Members of Congress, have commenced a
near daily assault on the legitimacy of the 2020 election that includes
filing frivolous lawsuits seeking to have election results invalidated
and the outcome overturned, and making unsubstantiated claims of
systematic election and voter fraud;
Whereas in a politically motivated and last-ditch effort to overthrow the
election, over 140 Members of Congress, led by Representative Mo Brooks
of Alabama, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Senator Ted Cruz of
Texas, have taken unprecedented steps to defy the will of the American
people who overwhelmingly voted for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris by voting against the certification of the
votes of the Electoral College;
Whereas the decision by Republican Members of Congress to join efforts to
invalidate votes in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and
Wisconsin suppresses the votes of millions of people, including Black,
Brown, and Indigenous people who turned out in historic numbers to
deliver this victory to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-
elect Kamala Harris;
Whereas turnout of Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters was astounding
considering the extraordinary COVID-19 pandemic that has stunted
organizing in communities across the country, along with exhaustive
delays in poll centers, mass closure of polling precincts in
predominantly Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, and deliberate
efforts to discount mail-in ballots and spread misinformation on vote by
mail;
Whereas refusing to concede the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election and
raising baseless allegations of fraud in States in which Black, Brown,
and Indigenous people have been instrumental to the election outcome
suggests racial animus and a continuation of efforts by Republican
Members of Congress to disenfranchise Black, Brown, and Indigenous
voters;
Whereas senseless attacks on the results of the 2020 Presidential election that
seek to question the credibility of and will of Black, Brown, and
Indigenous voters betrays the text and spirit of the Constitution of the
United States, which each Member swears to support and defend, and
violates the Rules of the House of Representatives, which explicitly
forbid Members from committing unbecoming acts that reflect poorly on
our chamber;
Whereas section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution posits that no
individual can serve in the House of Representatives who has engaged in
disloyalty or sedition against the United States, stating, ``No person
shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of
President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military,
under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously
taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United
States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or
judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United
States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.'';
Whereas clause 1 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives
states, ``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.'';
Whereas each Member of the House of Representatives must be dedicated to the
United States, the Constitution of the United States, the Rules of the
House of Representatives, and upholding the oath of office;
Whereas efforts by Republican Members of Congress to denounce the votes of
millions of Americans is a continuation of Jim-Crow era measures to
suppress Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters;
Whereas House Republicans have refused to vote in support of voter protections
aimed at supporting disenfranchised Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters,
including H.R. 1, the For the People Act and H.R. 4, the John Lewis
Voting Rights Advancement Act, in the 116th Congress, and the Republican
Senate majority has been a legislative graveyard for these critical
efforts to empower and expand voting rights for the American people;
Whereas the House must rebuke the relentless assault on foundational democratic
principles at the heart of our representative democracy and implement
measures to protect the will of American voters by abolishing the
electoral college, providing resources and funding for poll centers in
predominantly Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, restoring key
pieces to protect voters that were gutted in the Shelby v. Holder
Supreme Court decision, and overturning Federal felony
disenfranchisement laws; and
Whereas efforts by Members of Congress, regardless of party, that seek to
undermine our democracy, disenfranchise Black, Brown, and Indigenous
voters, erode faith in the Federal Government, and attack the popular
will of the American public without merit must be condemned, and those
Members should be held accountable for their actions: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That--
(1) the Committee on Ethics shall investigate, and issue a
report on, whether any and all actions taken by Members of the
117th Congress who sought to overturn the 2020 Presidential
election violated their oath of office to uphold the
Constitution or the Rules of the House of Representatives, and
should face sanction, including removal from the House of
Representatives; and
(2) the House of Representatives condemns all targeted and
malicious efforts to disenfranchise Black, Brown, and
Indigenous voters.
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