[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4468-H4469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I have a privileged resolution at the desk 
and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Serrano). The Clerk will report the 
resolution.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 1221

       Whereas the Democratic Leadership has engaged in a 
     continuing pattern of withholding accurate information vital 
     for Members of the House of Representatives to have before 
     voting on legislation;
       Whereas the conference report on H.R. 2419, which was 
     adopted by the House on May 14, 2008, and the Senate on May 
     15, 2008, contained title III, relating to trade, which 
     contained sections 3001 through 3301;
       Whereas the Speaker and the Clerk certified that the 
     enrolled copy of H.R. 2419 transmitted to the President was a 
     true and accurate reflection of the actions taken by the 
     House and Senate;
       Whereas the enrolled copy certified by the Speaker and the 
     Clerk and presented to the President failed to include title 
     III and sections 3001 through 3301 and was not an accurate or 
     complete document;
       Whereas the President vetoed and returned to the House said 
     certified copy;
       Whereas before laying the President's message before the 
     House, the Speaker and the Democratic Leadership were 
     informed by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the 
     Committee on Agriculture that said certified copy was 
     erroneous and not an accurate or complete document;
       Whereas on May 21, 2008, the Democratic Leadership 
     deliberately chose to ignore that notification and instead 
     allowed the House to vote on an incorrect version of this 
     legislation;
       Whereas a veto override requires \2/3\ of the House to vote 
     in the affirmative, and knowledge of this mistake may have 
     influenced each Member's decision and therefore changed the 
     outcome of this vote, which is why the Democratic Leadership 
     chose not to pursue a correction of this legislation;
       Whereas the effect of these actions raises serious 
     constitutional questions and jeopardizes the legal status of 
     this legislation;

[[Page H4469]]

       Whereas Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer knowingly 
     scheduled and began consideration of the President's veto of 
     H.R. 2419, without regard to the serious and obvious 
     constitutional questions and detrimental implications to the 
     sanctity of the House and its process;
       Whereas at the direction of the Republican Leader, senior 
     staff contacted the Chief-of-Staff to the Speaker and the 
     Floor Director for the Majority Leader, requesting that they 
     immediately halt consideration of the veto message until the 
     facts surrounding the errors could be sorted out and all 
     Members could be notified;
       Whereas the Democratic Leadership refused that request;
       Whereas in the 109th Congress, the current Speaker, Nancy 
     Pelosi, offered a privileged resolution, H. Res. 683, 
     accusing the Republicans of concealment, incompetence, and 
     corruption with respect to the enrollment error of the 
     Deficit Reduction Act;
       Whereas the Deficit Reduction Act was the subject of 
     numerous lawsuits questioning its validity due to the 
     enrollment error, including a lawsuit filed by several 
     Democratic Members;
       Whereas in a memorandum from the Clerk of the House to 
     Speaker Nancy Pelosi entitled ``Farm Bill Omission'' and 
     dated May 21, 2008, the Clerk stated ``Enrolling Division 
     staff expressed concern in receiving direct calls from 
     Leadership and the Committee to accelerate the enrolling 
     process.''; and
       Whereas the Democratic Leadership's repeated efforts to 
     thwart the normal legislative process by cutting corners, 
     ignoring requirements of the Constitution and House rules, 
     and rushing through legislation with major errors, forces 
     Members to vote on controversial legislation without thorough 
     time for review and must be denounced:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That----
       (1) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall 
     begin an immediate investigation into the abuse of power 
     surrounding the inaccuracies in the process and enrollment of 
     H.R. 2419, Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, vetoed by 
     the President on May 21, 2008; and,
       (2) the Speaker, Majority Leader and other Members of the 
     Democratic Leadership are hereby admonished for their roles 
     in the events surrounding this enrollment error.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.
  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.
  Mr. BOEHNER. 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 220, 
nays 188, answered ``present'' 10, not voting 16, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 352]

                               YEAS--220

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

                               NAYS--188

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Cubin
     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)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gilchrest
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walsh (NY)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Young (FL)

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--10

     Barrett (SC)
     Bonner
     Delahunt
     Doyle
     Green, Gene
     Hastings (WA)
     Jones (OH)
     Kline (MN)
     McCaul (TX)
     Roybal-Allard

                             NOT VOTING--16

     Andrews
     Carter
     Castor
     Cleaver
     Crenshaw
     Dingell
     Gillibrand
     Hobson
     Kennedy
     Kilpatrick
     Lynch
     Paul
     Rush
     Walden (OR)
     Wexler
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  1242

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas changed his vote from ``yea'' 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.
  Stated against:
  Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 352, On Motion To Table H. 
Res. 1221, I was unavoidably absent due to a family medical emergency. 
Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

                          ____________________