[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 25, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H2805-H2806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I offer a question of the privileges of the 
House previously noticed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Whereas, Roll Call reported on February 9, 2008, that the 
     offices of a prominent lobbying firm had been raided by the 
     FBI in November;
       Whereas, The New York Times reported on February 10, 2009, 
     that ``Federal prosecutors are looking into the possibility 
     that a prominent lobbyist may have funneled bogus campaign 
     contributions'' to Members of Congress;
       Whereas, the Washington Post reported on February 14, 2009, 
     that they ``examined contributions that were reported as 
     being made by the firm's employees and consultants, and found 
     several people who were not registered lobbyists and did not 
     work for the lobbying firm'';
       Whereas, Roll Call reported on February 11, 2009, that 
     ``the defense-appropriations-focused lobbying shop that the 
     FBI raided this November'' had in recent years ``spread 
     millions of campaign contributions to lawmakers'';
       Whereas, The Hill reported on February 10, 2009, that the 
     raided firm ``earned more than $14 million in lobbying 
     revenue'' and ``specializes in obtaining earmarks in the 
     defense budget for a long list of clients'';
       Whereas, The Hill reported on February 10, 2009, that the 
     2008 clients of this firm had ``received $299 million worth 
     of earmarks, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense'';
       Whereas, CQ Today reported on February 19, 2009, that ``104 
     House Members got earmarks for projects sought by clients of 
     the firm in the 2008 defense appropriations bills,'' and that 
     87 percent of this bipartisan group of Members received 
     campaign contributions from the raided firm;
       Whereas, CQ Today also reported that ``Members who took 
     responsibility for the firm's earmarks in that spending bill 
     have, since 2001, accepted a cumulative $1,815,138 in 
     campaign contributions from the firm's political action 
     committee and employees'';
       Whereas, Roll Call reported on February 19, 2009, that a 
     bipartisan group of four Members have made plans to divest 
     themselves of campaign contributions received from the raided 
     firm;
       Whereas, Politico reported on February 12, 2009, that 
     ``several sources said FBI agents have spent months laying 
     the groundwork for their current investigation, including 
     conducting research on earmarks and campaign contributions'';
       Whereas, numerous press reports and editorials have alleged 
     several cases of influence peddling between Members of 
     Congress and outside interests seeking Federal funding;
       Whereas, such reports and editorials reflect public 
     distrust and have raised inquiries and criticism about the 
     integrity of congressional proceedings and the dignity of the 
     institution; and
       Whereas, the House of Representatives should respond to 
     such claims and demonstrate integrity in its proceedings:
       Now, therefore, be it Resolved That--
       (a) The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, or a 
     subcommittee of the committee designated by the committee and 
     its members appointed by the chairman and ranking member, is 
     instructed to investigate the relationship between earmark 
     requests already made by Members and the source and timing of 
     past campaign contributions.
       (b) The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall 
     submit a report of its findings to the House of 
     Representatives within 2 months after the date of adoption of 
     this resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to lay on the 
table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 226, 
noes 182, answered ``present'' 12, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 87]

                               AYES--226

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Adler (NJ)
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Bright
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Childers
     Clarke
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Foster
     Fudge
     Gonzalez
     Gordon (TN)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Klein (FL)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Massa
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMahon
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--182

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Deal (GA)
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Harper
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Himes
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan (OH)
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant

[[Page H2806]]


     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Mitchell
     Moran (KS)
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Olson
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden
     Walz
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--12

     Barrett (SC)
     Bonner
     Butterfield
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Clay
     Conaway
     Dent
     Hastings (WA)
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Welch
     Whitfield

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Bachus
     Boucher
     Campbell
     Cassidy
     Cooper
     Frank (MA)
     Kline (MN)
     Miller, Gary
     Perriello
     Rush
     Stark

                              {time}  1615

  Messrs. KISSELL, LEWIS of California, and DOGGETT changed their 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.

                          ____________________