[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 58 (Thursday, April 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2815-H2817]
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. 1287

       Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
     initiated an investigation into allegations related to 
     earmarks and campaign contributions in the Spring of 2009.
       Whereas, on December 2, 2009, reports and findings in seven 
     separate matters involving the alleged connection between 
     earmarks and campaign contributions were forwarded by the 
     Office of Congressional Ethics to the Standards Committee.
       Whereas, on February 26, 2010, the Standards Committee made 
     public its report on the matter wherein the Committee found, 
     though a widespread perception exists among corporations and 
     lobbyists that campaign contributions provide a greater 
     chance of obtaining earmarks, there was no evidence that 
     Members or their staff considered contributions when 
     requesting earmarks.
       Whereas, the Committee indicated that, with respect to the 
     matters forwarded by the Office of Congressional Ethics, 
     neither the evidence cited in the OCE's findings nor the 
     evidence in the record before the Standards Committee 
     provided a substantial reason to believe that violations of 
     applicable standards of conduct occurred.
       Whereas, the Office of Congressional Ethics is prohibited 
     from reviewing activities taking place prior to March of 2008 
     and lacks the authority to subpoena witnesses and documents.
       Whereas, for example, the Office of Congressional Ethics 
     noted that in some instances documents were redacted or 
     specific information was not provided and that, in at least 
     one instance, they had reason to believe a witness withheld 
     information requested and did not identify what was being 
     withheld.
       Whereas, the Office of Congressional Ethics also noted that 
     they were able to interview only six former employees of the 
     PMA Group, with many former employees refusing to consent to 
     interviews and the OCE unable to obtain evidence within PMA's 
     possession.
       Whereas, Roll Call noted that ``the committee report was 
     five pages long and included no documentation of any evidence 
     collected or any interviews conducted by the committee, 
     beyond a statement that the investigation `included extensive 
     document reviews and interviews with numerous witnesses.' '' 
     (Roll Call, March 8, 2010)
       Whereas, it is unclear whether the Standards Committee 
     included in their investigation any activities that occurred 
     prior to 2008.
       Whereas, it is unclear whether the Standards Committee 
     interviewed any Members in the course of their investigation.
       Whereas, it is unclear whether the Standards Committee, in 
     the course of their investigation, initiated their own 
     subpoenas or followed the Office of Congressional Ethics 
     recommendations to issue subpoenas. Therefore be it:
       Resolved, That not later than seven days after the adoption 
     of this resolution, the Committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct shall report to the House of Representatives, with 
     respect to the activities addressed in its report of February 
     26, 2010, (1) how many witnesses were interviewed, (2) how 
     many, if any, subpoenas were issued in the course of their 
     investigation, and (3) what documents were reviewed and their 
     availability for public review.

                              {time}  1145

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.


                     Motion to Refer the Resolution

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move the resolution be 
referred to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  Mr. FLAKE. I move the previous question on the resolution itself.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The motion for the previous question is 
preferential.
  The question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. FLAKE. 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 187, 
nays 218, answered ``present'' 16, not voting 9, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 217]

                               YEAS--187

     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Childers
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Cooper
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Donnelly (IN)
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Griffith
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Himes
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Lamborn
     Lance
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     McCarthy (CA)
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McMahon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Tim
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Olson
     Owens
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Perriello
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     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)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walz
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NAYS--218

     Ackerman
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boccieri
     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)
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Gonzalez
     Gordon (TN)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     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.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kratovil
     Kucinich

[[Page H2816]]


     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     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
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Teague
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--16

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

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Barrett (SC)
     Conyers
     Davis (AL)
     Gohmert
     Inglis
     Maloney
     Polis (CO)
     Ruppersberger
     Rush

                              {time}  1215

  Ms. ESHOO, Messrs. NEAL, HARE, HINOJOSA, ALTMIRE, DICKS, MILLER of 
North Carolina, CARNEY, GEORGE MILLER of California, MARSHALL, TOWNS, 
GORDON of Tennessee, CLAY, BISHOP of Georgia, GRAYSON, HILL of Indiana, 
SPRATT, THOMPSON of Mississippi, HOLDEN, KANJORSKI, HOYER, BOUCHER, 
WATT, ELLISON, Ms. HIRONO, Messrs. LEVIN, STARK, GUTIERREZ, BERMAN, 
GENE GREEN of Texas, WU, TONKO, DAVIS of Illinois, SCHRADER, PALLONE, 
Ms. BERKLEY, Messrs. SERRANO, EDWARDS of Texas, LUJAN, and GONZALEZ 
changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Messrs. COLE, PUTNAM, WAMP, CALVERT, AKIN, RYAN of Wisconsin, ROONEY, 
LAMBORN, YOUNG of Florida, BOEHNER, BACHUS, GARRETT of New Jersey, 
SENSENBRENNER, BARTLETT, HENSARLING, Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS, Messrs. 
GOODLATTE, WESTMORELAND, Mrs. HALVORSON, and Mr. ADLER of New Jersey 
changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  Messrs. HASTINGS of Washington, LATHAM, and McCAUL changed their vote 
from ``yea'' to ``present.''
  Mr. WELCH changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``present.''
  So the previous question was not ordered.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 
1 hour.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this is a matter that belongs 
before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question 
on the motion.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to refer.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. 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 refer will be followed by 5-minute votes 
on the motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 2194 and the motion to 
suspend the rules on House Resolution 1270.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 402, 
nays 0, answered ``present'' 17, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 218]

                               YEAS--402

     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Akin
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Austria
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Childers
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cohen
     Cole
     Connolly (VA)
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Driehaus
     Duncan
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Fallin
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Fudge
     Gallegly
     Garamendi
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Graves
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Guthrie
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NY)
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Maffei
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMahon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olson
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pingree (ME)
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Pomeroy
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Putnam
     Quigley
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Scalise
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--17

     Blackburn
     Bonner
     Butterfield
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Conaway
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Harper
     Hastings (WA)
     Latham
     Lofgren, Zoe
     McCaul
     Myrick
     Simpson
     Walden
     Welch

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Barrett (SC)
     Berman
     Burgess
     Conyers
     Davis (AL)
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Maloney
     Polis (CO)
     Ruppersberger
     Rush

                              {time}  1232

  So the motion to refer was agreed to.

[[Page H2817]]

  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________