[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 125 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WHEN IS A REPORT A REPORT?

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address theHouse for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I was prepared to speak on another matter, 
but I think I am prepared now to speak that in this body, Members have 
a right to speak. And if we cannot speak on theHouse floor, when we 
cannot mention words like report and what has happened to this country 
when one side is gagged because the other side has more votes than this 
side, I must ask, Mr. Speaker, when is a report a report?
  When a gentlewoman from Connecticut discusses it with the majority 
leader, is it then a report? When later that day the majority leader 
says, oh, no, there is no report, then it is not a report? When the 
American taxpayers pay a half million dollars and then get 100 pages 
back, is that a report?


                             point of order

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan will suspend.
  The gentleman from Georgia will state his point of order.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is referring to matters again 
before the Standards Committee and the Speaker has ruled again and 
again that that is out of order. The gentleman should either continue 
in order or sit down.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The point of order is well taken. To the 
extent that the gentleman from Michigan refers to a pending matter 
before the Standards Committee, he is asked to refrain from those 
observations and proceed in order.


                         parliamentary inquiry

  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, I have listened very carefully to the 
gentleman from Michigan. Very, very carefully. Never once was the word 
Ethics Committee mentioned or Official Standards mentioned. Only a 
generic statement as to meetings between a gentlewoman, whom he did not 
identify the gentlewoman from Connecticut, and he only said the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut talked to the gentleman from Texas.
  If you want to assume that he is talking about the Ethics Committee, 
you can do that. But that is what it is, an assumption. He never once 
mentioned it.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In response to the gentleman from Missouri, 
the Chair determined the gentleman from Michigan's remarks to refer to 
the chairman of the committee, and, hence, the ruling.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is not stating a parliamentary 
inquiry, he is engaging in debate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan may proceed in 
order on his 1-minute address.
  Mr. STUPAK. I would like to be heard on the point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair has ruled. The gentleman may 
either make a point of order or proceed in order.


                             point of order

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his point of order.

                              {time}  1030

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I have talked about 100 pages that cost the 
taxpayers half a million dollars. I have asked when is a report a 
report? I have asked when a Member from Connecticut discusses it with 
the majority leader is it a report? I have asked when the majority 
leader then denies there is not a report, then is it a report? And, 
based upon that, according to the gentleman who made the objection and 
the ruling from the Chair, there is a report, if I reach your 
conclusions correctly.
  So if there is a report, then why do you know there is a report, why 
do the people over here know there is a report, and none of us know 
there is a report? So if there is a report, why do we not just release 
the report?
  That is my point of order, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). The gentleman fails to 
state a point of order. The Chair, however, has not ruled that there is 
a report. The Chair has ruled it is improper during the course of 1-
minute discussions to discuss a pending investigation before the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  The gentleman is invited to proceed in order on the balance of his 
time.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, since you have reached the conclusion that 
there is a report, let me then go back to what Speaker Gingrich said in 
1989, and I quote: The Speaker said: ``435 Members of theHouse should 
look at all the facts, should have available to them all the reports 
and all the background documents, and the American people should have 
the same.''
  Mr. Speaker, since you have concluded there is a report, please 
release the report.

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