[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H9695-H9696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I have a privileged resolution at the 
desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 612

       Whereas clause one of House rule XXIII (Code of Official 
     Conduct) states, ``A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, 
     officer or employee of the House shall conduct himself at all 
     times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the 
     House,'';
       Whereas the House Ethics Manual states that, ``The public 
     has a right to expect Members, officers and employees to 
     exercise impartial judgment in performing their duties'' and 
     ``This Committee has cautioned all Members to avoid 
     situations in which even an inference might be drawn 
     suggesting improper action;

[[Page H9696]]

       Whereas during proceedings of the House on August 3, 2007, 
     with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) presiding, 
     a question occurred on approval of the Journal of the 
     previous day's proceedings;
       Whereas following the vote, the gentleman from Wisconsin, 
     Representative Sensenbrenner, inquired ``Could the chair tell 
     me how many Members rose to request a recorded vote and [the] 
     total number of Members present in the House upon which the 
     chair made his decision?'';
       Whereas Representative Murtha replied, ``It is up to the 
     chair. Let me tell you this, the vote will show that the 
     approval would be approved by the House as it has been.'';
       Whereas the Speaker, as the presiding officer, has a duty 
     to be a fair and impartial arbiter of the proceedings of the 
     House, held to the highest ethical standards in deciding the 
     various questions as they arise with impartiality and 
     courtesy toward all Members, regardless of party affiliation;
       Whereas a presiding officer of the House cannot achieve the 
     requisite standard of impartiality while attempting to 
     influence the outcome of a vote, predict the outcome of a 
     vote, or express a preference for a particular outcome of a 
     vote;
       Whereas when the chair imbues his parliamentary statements 
     with a partisan hue or with language more appropriate to a 
     participant in the debate than to its presiding officer, 
     Members' essential confidence in the impartiality of the 
     chair is impaired: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That by his actions on August 3, 2007, the 
     gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Murtha, has brought dishonor 
     and discredit to the United States House of Representatives 
     by misusing the powers of the chair.

                              {time}  2100

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution constitutes a question of 
privilege.


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I move to table the resolution.


                             Point of Order

  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I raise a point of order that the 
gentleman from Maryland engaged in debate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. BOEHNER. Parliamentary inquiry, Madam Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his inquiry.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, isn't it correct that the gentleman from 
Maryland engaged in debate, which allows the House to then proceed with 
up to 1 hour of debate on this resolution?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman was not recognized as the 
Chair had not yet ruled that the resolution constituted a question of 
privilege.
  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.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam 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 211, 
nays 178, answered ``present'' 12, not voting 31, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 822]

                               YEAS--211

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gillibrand
     Gonzalez
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Hall (NY)
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (WI)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Spratt
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--178

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baker
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Jindal
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--12

     Bartlett (MD)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gilchrest
     Hobson
     Johnson (IL)
     Jones (NC)
     Kingston
     LoBiondo
     Rohrabacher
     Wicker
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--31

     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Clarke
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Cummings
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Dicks
     Edwards
     Gordon
     Gutierrez
     Hare
     Hayes
     Higgins
     Hunter
     Johnson, Sam
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lantos
     McDermott
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Paul
     Peterson (MN)
     Radanovich
     Sestak
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Stark
     Waxman

                              {time}  2119

  Mr. LoBIONDO changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``present.''
  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.

                          ____________________