[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.''

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