[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 111 (Wednesday, July 22, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8509-H8510]
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 rise to a question of the privileges of the 
House and offer the resolution previously noticed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 667

       Whereas, The Hill reported that a prominent lobbying firm, 
     founded by Mr. Paul Magliocchetti and the subject of a 
     ``federal investigation into potentially corrupt political 
     contributions,'' has given $3.4 million in political 
     donations to no less than 284 members of Congress.
       Whereas, the New York Times noted that Mr. Magliocchetti 
     ``set up shop at the busy intersection between political 
     fund-raising and taxpayer spending, directing tens of 
     millions of dollars in contributions to lawmakers while 
     steering hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks 
     contracts back to his clients.''
       Whereas, a guest columnist recently highlighted in Roll 
     Call that ``. . . what [the firm's] example reveals most 
     clearly is the potentially corrupting link between campaign 
     contributions and earmarks. Even the most ardent earmarkers 
     should want to avoid the appearance of such a pay-to-play 
     system.''
       Whereas, multiple press reports have noted questions 
     related to campaign contributions made by or on behalf of the 
     firm: including questions related to ``straw man'' 
     contributions, the reimbursement of employees for political 
     giving, pressure on clients to give, a suspicious pattern of 
     giving, and the timing of donations relative to legislative 
     activity.
       Whereas, Roll Call has taken note of the timing of 
     contributions from employees the firm and its clients when it 
     reported that they ``have provided thousands of dollars worth 
     of campaign contributions to key Members in close proximity 
     to legislative activity, such as the deadline for earmark 
     request letters or passage of a spending bill.''
       Whereas, the Associated Press highlighted the ``huge 
     amounts of political donations'' from the firm and its 
     clients to select members and noted that ``those political 
     donations have followed a distinct pattern: The giving is 
     especially heavy in March, which is prime time for submitting 
     written earmark requests.''
       Whereas, clients of the firm received at least three 
     hundred million dollars worth of earmarks in fiscal year 2009 
     appropriations legislation, including several that were 
     approved even after news of the FBI raid of the firm's 
     offices and Justice Department investigation into the firm 
     was well known.
       Whereas, after a cursory review, the fiscal year 2010 
     defense appropriations earmark list recently made available 
     includes at least seventy earmarks worth hundreds of millions 
     of dollars for former PMA clients.
       Whereas, the Associated Press reported that ``the FBI says 
     the investigation is continuing, highlighting the close ties 
     between special-interest spending provisions known as 
     earmarks and the raising of campaign cash.''
       Whereas, the persistent media attention focused on 
     questions about the nature and timing of campaign 
     contributions related to the firm, as well as reports of the 
     Justice Department conducting research on earmarks and 
     campaign contributions, raise concern about the integrity of 
     Congressional proceedings and the dignity of the institution.
       Now, therefore, be it: Resolved, That the Committee on 
     Standards of Official Conduct shall immediately establish an 
     investigative subcommittee and begin an investigation into 
     the relationship between the source and timing of past 
     campaign contributions to Members of the House related to the 
     raided firm and earmark requests made by Members of the House 
     on behalf of clients of the raided firm.

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


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. ANDREWS. 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.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on the motion to table will be followed by 5-minute votes 
on adoption of H. Res. 665; and motions to suspend the rules on: H.R. 
1675, H.R. 2938, and H. Res. 69.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 224, 
nays 189, answered ``present'' 14, not voting 6, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 605]

                               YEAS--224

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Adler (NJ)
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Gonzalez
     Gordon (TN)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     Kissell
     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
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMahon
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     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
     Rush
     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
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                               NAYS--189

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Childers
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Deal (GA)
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Donnelly (IN)
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Himes
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kline (MN)
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta

[[Page H8510]]


     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Matheson
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy (NY)
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Olson
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Perriello
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Quigley
     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)
     Smith (WA)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Teague
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--14

     Bonner
     Butterfield
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Conaway
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Harper
     Hastings (WA)
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Myrick
     Poe (TX)
     Walden
     Welch

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Kennedy
     McCarthy (NY)
     Meek (FL)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1216

  Messrs. FORTENBERRY, KING of New York, and BRIGHT changed their vote 
from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. LYNCH changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida and Messrs. BUTTERFIELD and CHANDLER changed 
their vote from ``yea'' to ``present.''
  Mrs. MYRICK and Messrs. HASTINGS of Washington and WALDEN changed 
their 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 is laid on the table.

                          ____________________