[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1992-H1993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE--RESTORING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN ETHICS PROCESS
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to rule IX, I rise in regard to a
question of the privileges of the House, and I offer a privileged
resolution that would create a bipartisan task force to return to
ethical rules of the House.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The Clerk will report the
resolution.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 213
Whereas, the constitution of the United States authorizes
the House of Representatives to ``determine the Rules of its
Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and,
with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member'';
Whereas, in 1968, in compliance with this authority and to
uphold its integrity and ensure that Members act in a manner
that reflects credit on the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct was established;
Whereas, the ethics procedures in effect during the 108th
congress, and in the three preceding Congresses, were enacted
in 1997 in a bipartisan manner by an overwhelming vote of the
House of Representatives upon the bipartisan recommendation
of the ten-member Ethics Reform Task Force, which conducted a
thorough and lengthy review of the entire ethics process;
Whereas, in the 109th Congress, for the first time in the
history of the House of Representatives, decisions affecting
the ethics process have been made on a partisan basis without
consulting the Democractic Members of the Committee or of the
House;
Whereas, the Chairman of the Committee, and two of his
Republican colleagues, were dismissed from the Committee;
Whereas, in a statement to the press, the departing
Chairman of the Committee stated ``[t]here is a bad
perception out there that there was a purge in the Committee
and that people were put in that would protect our side of
the aisle better than I did,'' and a replaced Republican
Member, also in a statement to the press, referring to his
dismissal from the Committee, noted his belief that ``the
decision was a direct result of our work in the last
session;''
Whereas, the newly appointed chairman of the Committee
improperly and unilaterally fired non-partisan Committee
staff who assisted in the ethics work in the last session;
Whereas, these actions have subjected the Committee to
public ridicule, produced contempt for the ethics process,
created the public perception that their purpose was to
protect a Member of the House, and weakened the ability of
the Committee to adequately obtain information and properly
conduct its investigative duties, all of which has brought
discredit to the House; now be it
Resolved, that the Speaker shall appoint a bi-partisan task
force with equal representation of the majority and minority
parties to make recommendations to restore public confidence
in the ethics process; and be it further
Resolved, that the task force report its findings and
recommendations to the House of Representatives no later than
June 1, 2005.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution does present a question of
privilege.
Motion to Table Offered by Mr. Sensenbrenner
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to table the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 218,
nays 195, not voting 21, as follows:
[Roll No. 106]
YEAS--218
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
[[Page H1993]]
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Bono
Boozman
Boustany
Bradley (NH)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Castle
Chabot
Chocola
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cox
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis (KY)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeLay
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
English (PA)
Everett
Feeney
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Flake
Foley
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jenkins
Jindal
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuhl (NY)
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McMorris
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Moran (KS)
Murphy
Musgrave
Neugebauer
Ney
Northup
Nunes
Nussle
Osborne
Otter
Paul
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pombo
Porter
Portman
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Saxton
Schwarz (MI)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Sodrel
Stearns
Sullivan
Sweeney
Terry
Thomas
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (FL)
NAYS--195
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (OH)
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carson
Case
Chandler
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Ford
Frank (MA)
Gonzalez
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hefley
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
Kucinich
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Menendez
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murtha
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Reyes
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz (PA)
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sherman
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Stupak
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
NOT VOTING--21
Allen
Berkley
Brown, Corrine
Evans
Gillmor
Gordon
Hayes
Hyde
Johnson, E. B.
LaHood
Lofgren, Zoe
Myrick
Norwood
Olver
Oxley
Rangel
Solis
Souder
Tancredo
Taylor (NC)
Young (AK)
{time} 1334
Mr. MORAN of Virginia changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
Messrs. PRICE of Georgia, SAXTON, KNOLLENBERG, LEWIS of Kentucky,
PETERSON of Pennsylvania, COLE of Oklahoma, RADANOVICH, WOLF, KING of
New York, INGLIS of South Carolina, ENGLISH of Pennsylvania and HALL
changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
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.
Stated against:
Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 106, on motion to
table the resolution, H. Res. 215, I was unavoidably detained. Had I
been present, I would have voted ``nay.''
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 106, I
had turned off my pager during a committee meeting and neglected to
turn it back on. When the vote was called, therefore, I did not learn
of it. Had I been present, I would have voted, ``nay.''
____________________