[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 61 (Thursday, May 14, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H3260-H3261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE--EXPRESSING DISAPPROVAL OF CONDUCT OF COMMITTEE 
 ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT'S INVESTIGATION BY REPRESENTATIVE 
                                 BURTON

  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of 
the House, and I send to the desk a privileged resolution (H. Res. 
431), pursuant to clause 2 of rule IX, and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 431

       Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States has noted 
     that, although the power to conduct investigations is 
     inherent in the legislative process, that power is not 
     unlimited, may be exercised only in aid of the legislative 
     function, and cannot be used to expose for the sake of 
     exposure alone;
       Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States has further 
     noted that the investigative power of Congress contains ``no 
     general authority to expose the private affairs of 
     individuals without justification in terms of the functions 
     of Congress'';
       Whereas Representative Burton is the only member in the 
     history of the House of Representatives who has had the power 
     to unilaterally issue subpoenas and the power to disclose 
     information obtained therefrom, and has abused these powers;
       Whereas the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has 
     determined that it is improper to alter a House document if 
     such alteration changes the meaning or extensively modifies 
     the document;
       Whereas the Speaker of the House of Representatives has 
     correctly and steadfastly called for adherence to the Rule of 
     Law and emphasized that no man is above the law;
       Whereas those upon whom the House of Representatives has 
     bestowed its Constitutional power to investigate must abide 
     by the Rule of Law, and must exercise the investigative power 
     fairly and judiciously and in a manner that will preserve the 
     dignity of the House and reflect credit thereon.
       Whereas the Rules of the House of Representatives provide 
     that documents and other materials obtained pursuant to a 
     Committee subpoena are records of the Committee that may not 
     be publicly disclosed by a chairman without authorization by 
     the Committee;
       Whereas the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 
     has adopted procedures governing the public disclosure of 
     documents and other materials obtained pursuant to a 
     Committee subpoena;
       Whereas pursuant to a Committee subpoena, Representative 
     Burton obtained from the Department of Justice tape 
     recordings of the telephone conversations engaged in by 
     Webster Hubbell while in prison;
       Whereas the Department of Justice advised Representative 
     Burton of his responsibility to pay special regard to the 
     sensitive nature of the tape recordings, which recordings the 
     Department of Justice could not lawfully disclose to the 
     public;
       Whereas Representative Burton intentionally violated the 
     Rules of the House of Representatives and the procedures of 
     the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight and 
     displayed an utter disregard for both the privacy rights of 
     those involved and the ability of the Bureau of Prisons to 
     perform its functions effectively by publicly disclosing the 
     tape recordings and transcripts of telephone conversations 
     between Webster Hubbell and his wife, other family members, 
     friends, and attorneys;
       Whereas the transcripts publicly disclosed by 
     Representative Burton in violation of the Rules of the House 
     of Representatives and the procedures of the Committee had 
     been altered and selectively edited so as to mislead Members 
     of the House of Representatives and the public, distort the 
     public record; impair the ability of the House of 
     Representatives to perform its legislative and oversight 
     functions, and violate the integrity of Committee 
     proceedings.
       Whereas the materials publicly disclosed by Representative 
     Burton in violation of the Rules of the House of 
     Representative and the procedures of the Committee contained 
     conversations between a husband and wife pertaining to 
     family, personal, medical, and marital problems;
       Whereas, through these actions, his failure to abide by the 
     Rule of Law, and his consistent abuse of the investigative 
     powers of the House of Representatives, Representative Burton 
     has brought discredit upon the House of Representatives: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives disapproves of 
     the manner in which Representative Burton has conducted the 
     Committee on Government Reform and Oversight's investigation 
     of political fund-raising improprieties and possible 
     violations of law.

                              {time}  1030

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ney). In the opinion of the Chair, the

[[Page H3261]]

resolution constitutes a question of the privileges of the House under 
rule IX.


                  Motion to Table Offered by Mr. Armey

  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I move 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) to lay the resolution on the table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 223, 
noes 196, not voting 13, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 153]

                               AYES--223

     Aderholt
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bereuter
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bliley
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Brady
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Cox
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     English
     Ensign
     Everett
     Ewing
     Fawell
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Fox
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kim
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Manzullo
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McKeon
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Moran (KS)
     Morella
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pappas
     Parker
     Paul
     Paxon
     Pease
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Ramstad
     Redmond
     Regula
     Riley
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roukema
     Royce
     Ryun
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Skeen
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (OR)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Stearns
     Stump
     Sununu
     Talent
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Tiahrt
     Upton
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watkins
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--196

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baesler
     Baldacci
     Barcia
     Barrett (WI)
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Blumenauer
     Bonior
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Capps
     Cardin
     Carson
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Condit
     Conyers
     Costello
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Cummings
     Danner
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Furse
     Gejdenson
     Gephardt
     Gordon
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Hall (OH)
     Hamilton
     Hastings (FL)
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Holden
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (WI)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manton
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHale
     McIntyre
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (CA)
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Neal
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickett
     Pomeroy
     Poshard
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Schumer
     Scott
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Sisisky
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith, Adam
     Snyder
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Stokes
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Thompson
     Thurman
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Wexler
     Weygand
     Wise
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Yates

                             NOT VOTING--13

     Bateman
     Fowler
     Gonzalez
     Harman
     Hefner
     John
     Pombo
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Riggs
     Skaggs
     Torres
     Traficant

                              {time}  1057

  Messrs. GREENWOOD, LIVINGSTON and ROGAN changed their 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.

                          ____________________