[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 3, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H6124-H6125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT TO REPORT TO 
  THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON THE ACTIONS THE COMMITTEE HAS TAKEN 
  CONCERNING ANY MISCONDUCT OF MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE IN 
              CONNECTION WITH ACTIVITIES OF THE PMA GROUP

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of 
the House.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 500

       Whereas there have been allegations in the media concerning 
     the improper involvement of Members of the House of 
     Representatives in certain activities of the PMA Group; and
       Whereas according to these media accounts and the 
     statements of those involved, the Department of Justice is 
     conducting an investigation into such activities of the PMA 
     Group: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That not later than 45 days after the adoption of 
     this resolution, the Committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct shall report to the House of Representatives on the 
     actions the Committee has taken, if any, concerning any 
     misconduct of Members and employees of the House in 
     connection with such activities of the PMA Group.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.


                     Motion Offered by Mr. McGovern

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

       Mr. McGovern moves that the resolution be referred to the 
     Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts is 
recognized on his motion.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, this measure merits review in the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question 
on the motion.


                        Parliamentary Inquiries

  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. FLAKE. I just saw the resolution. I don't know if it actually 
just punts the ball until the appropriations cycle is done or if it 
actually requires that the committee investigate.
  Can the committee wait for 45 days and then announce that it is not 
investigating the PMA scandal, and then we're at the same place we are 
now?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair cannot interpret the pending 
resolution. It is available at the desk for review.
  Mr. FLAKE. Further parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his further 
parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. FLAKE. This resolution, as I understand it, does not require the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to do anything but report 
whether or not an investigation is occurring.
  Does this motion require any action on the part of the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The pending motion is to refer the 
resolution to committee.
  Mr. FLAKE. So no action is required.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, does this motion do anything other than 
refer this worthless piece of paper to the Ethics Committee?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The proposal is to refer the resolution to 
committee.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Further parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his further 
parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Does it require the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct to do anything?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The proposal before the body is to refer the 
resolution to committee.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his further 
parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. BOEHNER. If the House were to adopt this motion, this resolution, 
would it require the committee to do anything?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The measure would be referred to committee 
for its consideration.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Further parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his further 
parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. BOEHNER. If the House were to adopt this motion to refer this to 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, under the previous 
announcement from the Chair, the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct would be required to do nothing.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The committee would have referral of the 
resolution.
  Mr. BOEHNER. And nothing else?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The committee would have referral of the 
resolution.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. FLAKE. Does the resolution require that the committee report back 
in 45 days or 45 legislative days?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair cannot interpret the resolution. 
It is available for inspection.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, the reason I ask is because within 45 days, 
the appropriations cycle will likely be completed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is not stating a parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Without objection, the previous question is ordered.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I object.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  The question is on ordering the previous question.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion.
  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 270, 
nays 134, answered ``present'' 17, not voting 12, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 300]

                               YEAS--270

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Adler (NJ)
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Buyer
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Childers
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr

[[Page H6125]]


     Fattah
     Filner
     Forbes
     Foster
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     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
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     LaTourette
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Massa
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMahon
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reichert
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Teague
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NAYS--134

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Carter
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Deal (GA)
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gingrey (GA)
     Granger
     Graves
     Guthrie
     Harper
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Olson
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Pitts
     Platts
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rehberg
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--17

     Barrett (SC)
     Bonner
     Bright
     Butterfield
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Conaway
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Hastings (WA)
     Kline (MN)
     Latham
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Myrick
     Poe (TX)
     Walden
     Welch

                             NOT VOTING--12

     Becerra
     Broun (GA)
     Davis (IL)
     Gordon (TN)
     Johnson, Sam
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ruppersberger
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sullivan
     Terry
     Wilson (OH)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). Members have 2 minutes 
remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1628

  Mr. BACHUS changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Messrs. LoBIONDO, JOHNSON of Georgia, HALL of Texas, GOHMERT, 
MINNICK, GERLACH, WOLF, Mrs. BIGGERT and Mrs. SCHMIDT changed their 
vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________