[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 159 (Thursday, October 29, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H12117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE CHAIRWOMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF 
                            OFFICIAL CONDUCT

  (Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Madam Speaker, as you know, I chair 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and Mr. Bonner is the 
ranking member.
  I regret to report that there was a cyberhacking incident of a 
confidential document of the committee. A number of Members have been 
contacted by The Washington Post, which is in possession of a document. 
We don't know with certainty whether it is an accurate document, but we 
thought it important to state the relevance of the material.
  As the body knows, under rule XVIII, the Chair and ranking member are 
permitted, indeed, obliged, to explore extraneous matters that come to 
our attention, anything from a stray newspaper article to a comment 
involving Members or staff, to make sure that there is nothing serious. 
In the course of doing that, no inference should be made as to any 
Member. We might have a newspaper article that we look at, there is 
nothing to it, but we have to make sure that that is the case.
  I would yield to the ranking member for his further comments.
  Mr. BONNER. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
  The purpose of this colloquy is to notify the Members that because 
The Washington Post has a document that they believe originated from 
our committee, and because some Members of the body are receiving 
questions from the newspaper, we wanted to assure the body, first of 
all, this was an isolated incident that to our knowledge has only 
occurred once; secondly, that our security system for the committee has 
not been breached; and, third, and I think most importantly, that any 
name of a Member or a staff member that might appear on a document, if 
it in fact were a document from our committee, it should not be 
inferred that a Member is under an investigation of the committee, 
other than the fact that the committee has responsibilities.
  For instance, when a colleague calls and asks about whether they can 
take a trip, their name would appear on this weekly report that the 
Chair and ranking member receive. That doesn't mean that they are doing 
anything other than following the rules of the House to inquire whether 
they should take that trip or whether it is permissible.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. I would just like to note that we 
understand that the computer system of the committee is secure; that at 
any one time, as the ranking member has said, dozens of Members' names 
are on our weekly report, and no inference should be made as to 
incorrect behavior on the part of those Members.
  We wanted to make sure that the body knew and that the public knew 
that any other inference would be a serious mistake.

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