[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 42 (Wednesday, April 5, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1513-H1514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE--PRIVILEGED RESOLUTION REQUIRING ETHICS 
 INVESTIGATION OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS INVOLVED IN JACK ABRAMOFF SCANDAL

  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.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The Clerk will report the 
resolution.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

       Whereas, on March 31, 2006, Tony Rudy, a former top 
     Republican Leadership staff person, pleaded guilty to charges 
     that he conspired with Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff to 
     bribe public officials, including accepting money, meals, 
     trips, and tickets to sporting events from Mr. Abramoff in 
     exchange for official acts that included influencing 
     legislation to aid Mr. Abramoff's clients;
       Whereas The Washington Post has stated that Mr. Rudy's plea 
     bargain is an admission of a ``far-reaching criminal 
     enterprise operating out of'' the Republican Leader's office, 
     ``an enterprise that helped sway legislation, influence 
     public policy, and enrich its main players.'' (The Washington 
     Post, April 1, 2006)
       Whereas the press has reported that ``court papers point 
     out official actions that were taken in (the Republican 
     Leader's) office that benefited Abramoff, his clients or (the

[[Page H1514]]

     former Republican Leader's Chief of Staff Ed) Buckham.'' 
     (Roll Call, April 3, 2006);
       Whereas, according to Mr. Rudy's plea agreement, his crimes 
     involving illegal favors and lobbying activity lasted from 
     1997 through 2004;
       Whereas on March 31, 2006, Assistant U.S. Attorney General 
     Alice S. Fisher stated, ``The American public loses when 
     officials and lobbyists conspire to buy and sell influence in 
     such a corrupt and brazen manner. By his admission in open 
     court today, Mr. Rudy paints a picture of Washington which 
     the American public and law enforcement will simply not 
     tolerate.''
       Whereas Mr. Rudy is the second former high-ranking 
     Republican Leadership staff person, in addition to Michael 
     Scanlon, to admit wrongdoing in the corruption investigation 
     centered on Mr. Abramoff;
       Whereas, on March 29, 2006, Mr. Abramoff was sentenced to 
     five years and ten months in prison after pleading guilty to 
     conspiracy and wire fraud;
       Whereas it is the purview of the Committee on Standards of 
     Official Conduct to investigate allegations that relate to 
     the official conduct of a Member or a staff person, the abuse 
     of a Member's official position, and violations of the Rules 
     of the House, and to take disciplinary action in cases of 
     wrongdoing;
       Whereas, the fact that cases are being investigated by the 
     U.S. Justice Department does not preclude the Committee on 
     Standards of Official Conduct from determining investigative 
     steps that must be taken;
       Whereas, in the first session of the 109th Congress, for 
     the first time in the history of the House of 
     Representatives, the rules of procedure of the Committee on 
     Standards of Official Conduct were changed on a partisan 
     basis, the Chairman of the Committee and two of his 
     Republican Colleagues were dismissed from the Committee, the 
     newly appointed Chairman of the Committee improperly and 
     unilaterally fired non-partisan staff, and the Chairman 
     attempted to appoint supervisory staff without a vote of the 
     Committee in direct contravention of the intent of the bi-
     partisan procedures adopted in 1997;
       Whereas, because of these actions, the Committee on 
     Standards of Official Conduct conducted no investigative 
     activities in the first session of the 109th Congress;
       Resolved, That the Committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct shall immediately initiate an investigation of the 
     misconduct by Members of Congress and their staff implicated 
     in the scandals associated with Mr. Jack Abramoff's criminal 
     activity.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies as a question of 
the privileges of the House.


                 Motion to Table Offered by Mr. Boehner

  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to table the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
  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 218, 
noes 198, answered ``present'' 5, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 87]

                               AYES--218

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachus
     Baker
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     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)
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     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
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Osborne
     Otter
     Oxley
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Schwarz (MI)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Sodrel
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--198

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     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
     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
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Gerlach
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green (WI)
     Green, Al
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kind
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Leach
     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
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Platts
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Ross
     Rothman
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Schiff
     Schwartz (PA)
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Shays
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--5

     Doyle
     Green, Gene
     Mollohan
     Paul
     Roybal-Allard

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Allen
     Butterfield
     DeLay
     Evans
     Hoekstra
     Nussle
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Schakowsky
     Tanner
     Watson
     Whitfield

                              {time}  1656

  Mr. GORDON changed his vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  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.

                          ____________________