[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 190 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13842-H13843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE--REQUEST FOR REPORT FROM COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS 
        OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT REGARDING COMPLAINTS AGAINST SPEAKER

  Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the 
privileges of the House on behalf of myself and the gentleman from 
Florida [Mr. Peterson], and I offer a privileged resolution (H. Res. 
288) and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

       Whereas the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is 
     currently considering several ethics complaints against 
     Speaker Newt Gingrich;
       Whereas the Committee has traditionally handled such cases 
     by appointing an independent, non-partisan, outside counsel--
     a procedure which has been adopted in every major ethics case 
     since the Committee was established.
       Whereas--although complaints against Speaker Gingrich have 
     been under consideration for more than 14 months--the 
     Committee has failed to appoint an outside counsel;
       Whereas the Committee has also deviated from other long-
     standing precedents and rules of procedure; including its 
     failure to adopt a Resolution of Preliminary Inquiry before 
     calling third-party witnesses and receiving sworn testimony;
       Whereas these procedural irregularities--and the unusual 
     delay in the appointment of an independent, outside counsel--
     have led to widespread concern that the Committee is making 
     special exceptions for the Speaker of the House;
       Whereas the integrity of the House depends on the 
     confidence of the American people in the fairness and 
     impartiality of the Committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct.
       Therefore be it resolved that;
       The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on 
     Standards of Official Conduct should report to the House, no 
     later than December 12, 1995, concerning:
       (1) The status of the Committee's investigation of the 
     complaints against Speaker Gingrich;
       (2) the Committee's disposition with regard to the 
     appointment of a non-partisan outside counsel and the scope 
     of the counsel's investigation;
       (3) a timetable for Committee action on the complaints.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution states a question of 
privilege.


                  motion to table offered by mr. armey

  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Armey moves to lay the resolution on the table.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey].
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.


                             recorded vote

  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 218, 
noes 170, answered ``present'' 9, not voting 35, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 833]

                               AYES--218

     Allard
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker (CA)
     Baker (LA)
     Ballenger
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bereuter
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bliley
     Blute
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Brownback
     Bryant (TN)
     Bunn
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Canady
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Christensen
     Chrysler
     Clinger
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins (GA)
     Combest
     Cooley
     Cox
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cremeans
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Davis
     Deal
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Doolittle
     Dornan
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     English
     Everett
     Fawell
     Fields (TX)
     Flanagan
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fowler
     Fox
     Franks (CT)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frisa
     Funderburk
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Graham
     Greenwood
     Gunderson
     Gutknecht
     Hancock
     Hansen
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Heineman
     Herger
     Hilleary
     Hoekstra
     Hoke
     Horn
     Houghton
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kim
     Kingston
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     LaHood
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Lightfoot
     Linder
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Longley
     Lucas
     Manzullo
     Martinez
     Martini
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McKeon
     Metcalf
     Meyers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Molinari
     Moorhead
     Myers
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oxley
     Packard
     Parker
     Paxon
     Petri
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Riggs
     Roberts
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roth
     Roukema
     Royce
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer
     Seastrand
     Sensenbrenner
     Shadegg
     Shaw

[[Page H13843]]

     Shays
     Shuster
     Skeen
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Stearns
     Stockman
     Stump
     Talent
     Tate
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Traficant
     Upton
     Vucanovich
     Waldholtz
     Walker
     Wamp
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)
     Zeliff
     Zimmer

                               NOES--170

     Abercrombie
     Andrews
     Baesler
     Baldacci
     Barcia
     Barrett (WI)
     Becerra
     Beilenson
     Bentsen
     Berman
     Bevill
     Bishop
     Bonior
     Boucher
     Brewster
     Browder
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant (TX)
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Coleman
     Collins (IL)
     Collins (MI)
     Conyers
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Danner
     de la Garza
     DeFazio
     DeLauro
     Dellums
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doyle
     Durbin
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Fields (LA)
     Filner
     Foglietta
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Furse
     Gejdenson
     Gephardt
     Gibbons
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hefner
     Hilliard
     Holden
     Hoyer
     Jackson-Lee
     Jacobs
     Jefferson
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson, E.B.
     Johnston
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kleczka
     Klink
     LaFalce
     Lantos
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Luther
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McHale
     McKinney
     Meehan
     Meek
     Menendez
     Mfume
     Miller (CA)
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Montgomery
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Neal
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Orton
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pastor
     Payne (NJ)
     Payne (VA)
     Peterson (FL)
     Pickett
     Pomeroy
     Poshard
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reed
     Richardson
     Rivers
     Roemer
     Rose
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanders
     Schroeder
     Schumer
     Scott
     Serrano
     Sisisky
     Skaggs
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Stokes
     Studds
     Tanner
     Taylor (MS)
     Tejeda
     Thompson
     Thornton
     Thurman
     Torricelli
     Towns
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Ward
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Williams
     Wise
     Woolsey
     Wyden
     Wynn
     Yates

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--9

     Cardin
     Goss
     Hobson
     Johnson (CT)
     McDermott
     Pelosi
     Sawyer
     Schiff
     Wilson

                             NOT VOTING--35

     Ackerman
     Borski
     Chapman
     Chenoweth
     Condit
     Costello
     Edwards
     Ensign
     Ewing
     Flake
     Geren
     Hastert
     Hayes
     Hinchey
     Hostettler
     Kennelly
     King
     Kolbe
     Laughlin
     Lincoln
     Maloney
     Manton
     Markey
     McNulty
     Moran
     Morella
     Peterson (MN)
     Quillen
     Quinn
     Stupak
     Torkildsen
     Torres
     Tucker
     Volkmer
     Walsh

                              {time}  1509

  Mr. BACHUS changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the motion to table was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________