[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 76 (Thursday, June 9, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H4318-H4319]
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, we are halfway through the first session of
the 109th Congress and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
has yet to begin its important work; and because the chairman of the
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct refuses to obey the rules of
the House and provide for a nonpartisan staff; therefore, pursuant to
rule IX, I rise in regard to a question of the privileges of the House
and offer a privileged resolution.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
Whereas, in 1968, in furtherance of its constitutional
authority and to promote the highest ethical standards for
Members of Congress, the House of Representatives established
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct;
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, Rule XI, clause 3(g) of the Rules of the House,
first adopted in 1997 upon the recommendation of the task
force, provides that the Committee ``staff be assembled and
retained as a professional non-partisan staff'' and ``[a]ll
staff member shall be appointed by an affirmative vote of the
majority of the Members of the Committee;''
Whereas, Rule XI states that each such staff person ``shall
be professional and demonstrably qualified for the position
which he is hired'' and is prohibited from engaging in ``any
partisan political activity directly affecting any
congressional or presidential election;''
Whereas, Rule XI also provides that, ``in addition to any
other staff provided by law, rule or other authority,'' the
Chair and Ranking Minority Member may each appoint, without a
vote of the Committee, one person as a shared staff member
from his or her personal staff to perform service for the
Committee; and further provides such shared staff persons are
exempt from the provision requiring that ``the staff be
assembled and retained as a professional, nonpartisan staff''
and the provision stating that ``no member of the staff shall
engage in any partisan political activity directly affecting
any congressional or presidential election;''
Whereas, from 1997 through 2004, the Staff Director/Chief
Counsel and other professional staff were appointed by an
affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the
Committee, and the shared staff members exercised no
supervisory or other authority over the professional staff;
Whereas, in January of 2005, the Chairman of the Committee
improperly and unilaterally fired nonpartisan Committee
staff;
Whereas, the Chairman now proposed to designate his shared
staff person as the Committee Staff Director, clothed with
supervisory authority, without subjecting him to a vote of
the Committee;
[[Page H4319]]
Whereas, because of the Chairman's proposal and with nearly
half of the First Session of the 109th Congress having
expired, the committee has been unable to carry out its
charge, set out in Rule XI, to investigate allegations of
misconduct by Members and staff;
Whereas, the Committee's resulting inability to carry out
its duties has subjected the House to public ridicule and
produced contempt for the ethics process, thus bringing
discredit to the House; now be it
Resolved, That the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct is hereby directed to proceed in accord with clause
3(g) of rule XI, to appoint, upon an affirmative vote of the
majority of the Members of the Committee, a non-partisan
professional staff.
{time} 1300
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). In the opinion of the Chair,
the resolution constitutes a question of privileges of the House.
Motion to Table Offered by Mr. Blunt
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I move to table the resolution.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary
inquiry.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, am I correct that if the gentleman from
Missouri's motion prevails, that we will be unable to discuss the
substance of the motion made by the minority leader?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The adoption of the motion to table would
dispose of the resolution.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table
offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 219,
noes 199, not voting 15, as follows:
[Roll No. 240]
AYES--219
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
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
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)
Feeney
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Flake
Foley
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Graves
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hoekstra
Hostettler
Hunter
Hyde
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jenkins
Jindal
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
King (IA)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuhl (NY)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
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
Myrick
Neugebauer
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nunes
Nussle
Osborne
Otter
Oxley
Paul
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pombo
Porter
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
Souder
Stearns
Sullivan
Tancredo
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Turner
Upton
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NOES--199
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (OH)
Brown, Corrine
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
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Ford
Frank (MA)
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Harman
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
Kucinich
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
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
Solis
Spratt
Stark
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--15
Bono
Cox
Everett
Granger
Hastings (FL)
Hobson
Hulshof
King (NY)
LaHood
Menendez
Murtha
Strickland
Sweeney
Terry
Tiberi
{time} 1323
Ms. DeGETTE changed her vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
Mr. OXLEY changed his 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.
____________________