[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H11108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1745
   ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING QUESTION OF 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, Pursuant to clause 2, rule IX, I hereby give 
notice of my intention to offer a question of the privileges of the 
House.
  Mr. Speaker, the resolution says:

       Whereas, a complaint filed against Representative Gephardt 
     alleges House Rules have been violated by Representative 
     Gephardt's concealment of profits gained through a complex 
     series of real estate tax exchanges and;
       Whereas, the complaint also alleges possible violations of 
     banking disclosure and campaign finance laws or regulations 
     and;
       Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has 
     in other complex matters involving complaints hired outside 
     counsel with expertise in tax laws and regulations and;
       Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is 
     responsible for determining whether Representative Gephardt's 
     financial transactions violated standards of conduct or 
     specific rules of the House of Representatives and;
       Whereas, the complaint against Representative Gephardt has 
     been pending before the committee for more than seven months.
       Whereas, on Friday, September 20, 1996 the ranking Democrat 
     of the Ethics Committee, Representative James McDermott in a 
     public statement suggested that cases pending before the 
     committee in excess of 60 days be referred to an outside 
     counsel; now be it
       Resolved that the committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct is authorized and directed to hire a special counsel 
     to assist in the investigation of the charges filed against 
     the Democrat Leader Representative Richard Gephardt.
       Resolved that all relevant materials presented to, or 
     developed by, the committee to date on the complaint be 
     submitted to a special counsel, for review and recommendation 
     to determine whether the committee should proceed to a 
     preliminary inquiry.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hansen). Under rule IX, a resolution 
offered from the floor by a Member other than the majority leader or 
the minority leader as a question of the privileges of the House has 
immediate precedence only at a time or place designated by the Chair in 
the legislative schedule within 2 legislative days. The Chair will 
announce that designation at a later time.
  A determination as to whether the resolution constitutes a question 
of privilege will be made at that later time.

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