[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H7452-H7453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING QUESTION OF 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I 
hereby give notice of my intention to offer a resolution which raises a 
question of the privileges of the House. The form of the resolution is 
as follows:

       Whereas, former Representative Robert Dornan has abused his 
     privileges as a former

[[Page H7453]]

     Member of the House of Representatives, and has conducted 
     himself on the floor in a manner which brings discredit to 
     the House;
       Whereas in the course of Representative Menendez of New 
     Jersey representing his constituents, exercising his rights 
     as an elected representative of the people and a Member of 
     this House to debate on the House floor, and asking a valid 
     parliamentary inquiry that did not name any individual by 
     name, Robert Dornan, a former Member of this House, verbally 
     assaulted Representative Menendez of New Jersey, using 
     profane language, accused Representative Menendez of 
     religious bigotry, called his integrity into question, and by 
     the tone of voice and the context of his remarks clearly 
     attempted to lure Representative Menendez off the floor into 
     a physical altercation;
       Whereas Representative Menendez' family did not face 
     persecution and come to this land, the home and cradle of 
     democracy, so that anyone could attempt to intimidate his 
     constitutional exercise of the democratic process on behalf 
     of the people of his district;
       Whereas, clause 2 of rule I of the Rules of the House of 
     Representatives calls upon the Speaker of the House to 
     preserve order and decorum on the House floor Therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved that, the Sergeant-at-Arms is instructed to remove 
     former Representative Robert Dornan from the Hall of the 
     House and rooms leading thereto, and to prevent him from 
     returning to the Hall of the House and rooms leading thereto 
     until the election contest concerning the 46th District of 
     California is resolved.

       The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood).
  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 precedent only at a time or place 
designated by the Chair in the legislative schedule within 2 
legislative days of its being properly noticed.
  The Chair will announce the Chair's designation at a later time. The 
Chair's determination as to whether the resolution constitutes a 
question of privilege will be made at the time designated by the Chair 
for consideration of the resolution.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, in view that the House is in pro forma 
session Friday, presuming that the interpretation is that this is an 
appropriate privileged resolution, would that mean that the resolution 
would have to be considered within the next 2 days, meaning either 
today or tomorrow?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, within the next 2 
legislative days.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Further parliamentary inquiry. A legislative day in 
which we are in pro forma session and on which there is no one here, is 
that considered to be a legislative day in the context of the ruling of 
the Chair?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Yes. The gentleman is correct.

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