[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H11052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE

  (Mr. LEWIS of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, last week the Ethics Committee 
concluded for the third time that the gentleman from Georgia, Newt 
Gingrich, violated House rules in his use of a political adviser for 
official business. The committee concludes----


                             Point of Order

  Mr. CHRYSLER. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his point of order.
  Mr. CHRYSLER. Mr. Speaker, referring to matters before the Ethics 
Committee, which is specifically forbidden in the House rules, is my 
point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will reiterate the principle in 
this matter. The Chair will repeat the admonitions of the Chair from 
June 26, 1996, September 12, September 17, and September 24.
  It is an essential rule of decorum in debate that Members should 
refrain from references in debate to the conduct of other Members, 
where such conduct is not the question actually pending before the 
House, by way of a report from the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct or by way of another question of the privileges of the House.
  This principle is documented on pages 168 and 526 of the House Rules 
and Manual, and reflects the consistent rulings of the Chair in this 
and in prior Congresses and applies to 1-minute and special order 
speeches.
  The fact that a resolution has been noticed pursuant to rule IX does 
not permit such references where that resolution is not actually 
pending.
  Neither the filing of a complaint before the Committee on Standards 
of Official Conduct, nor the publication in another forum of charges 
that are personally critical of another Member, justify the references 
to such charges on the floor of the House. This includes references to 
the motivations of Members who file complaints and to members of the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  As cited on page 526 of the Manual, this also includes references to 
concluded investigations of sitting Members by the Standards Committee. 
(July 24, 1970). Clause 1 of rule XIV is a prohibition against engaging 
in personality in debate. It derives from article 1, section 5 of the 
Constitution, which authorizes each House to make its own rules, and to 
punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and has been part of the 
rules of the House in some relevant form since 1789. This rule 
supersedes any claim of a Member to be free from questioning in any 
other place.
  On January 27, 1909, the House adopted a report that stated the 
following: ``It is the duty of the House to require its Members, in 
speech or debate, to preserve that proper restraint which will permit 
the House to conduct its business in an orderly manner and without 
unnecessarily and unduly exciting animosity among its Members,'' from 
Cannon's Precedents, Volume VIII. at Section 2497. This report was in 
response to improper references in debate to the President, but clearly 
reiterated a principle that all occupants of the Chair in this and in 
prior Congresses have held to be equally applicable to Members' remarks 
in debate toward the Speaker and each other.

                              {time}  1030

  The Chair asks and expects the cooperation of all Members in 
maintaining a level of decorum that properly dignifies the proceedings 
of the House.
  The gentleman from Georgia may proceed in order.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, quote, the committee concludes 
that your conduct of allowing the routine presence in your office of 
Mr. Jones demonstrates a continuing pattern of lax administration and 
poor judgment that has concerned this committee in the past, unquote.
  Newt Gingrich has repeatedly shown his willingness to break House 
rules to suit his needs. The charges being investigated by the outside 
counsel, James Cole, are far more serious and involve violations of the 
law, including tax fraud.


                             point of order

  Mr. CHRYSLER. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Camp). The gentleman will suspend. The 
gentleman will state his point of order.
  Mr. CHRYSLER. Mr. Speaker, he is referring to matters that are before 
the House Ethics Committee which are specifically forbidden in the 
House rules, is my point of order.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I be heard on the point of 
order?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will hear the gentleman.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me say to the gentleman from the other 
side, there comes a time when an injustice is so great, when you must 
even challenge the rule to demonstrate that injustice. I know the 
gentleman from the other side and the Members from the other side would 
not like for this report to come out.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend. The Chair again 
sustains the point of order, and the gentleman will proceed in order.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. There now exists a $500,000 report from the 
outside counsel. Later today or tomorrow, the House will once again 
consider a privileged resolution I have offered calling for the release 
of the outside counsel's report. The public deserves the right to see 
that report. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for the release 
of the secret Gingrich ethics report.

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