[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 3 (Friday, January 7, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H118-H120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RELATING TO THE STATUS OF CERTAIN ACTIONS TAKEN BY MEMBERS-ELECT

  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 26, I send to 
the desk as the designee of the majority leader a resolution and ask 
for its immediate consideration.
  Mr. WEINER. I reserve a point of order, Madam Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. A point of order is reserved.
  The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H. Res. 27

       Whereas, Representative-elect Sessions and Representative-
     elect Fitzpatrick were not administered the oath of office 
     pursuant to the third clause in article VI of the 
     Constitution until after the completion of legislative 
     business on January 6, 2011; and
       Whereas, the votes cast by Representative-elect Sessions 
     and Representative-elect Fitzpatrick on rollcalls 3 through 8 
     therefore were nullities: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the votes recorded for Representative-elect Sessions 
     and Representative-elect Fitzpatrick on rollcalls 3 through 8 
     be deleted and the vote-totals for each of those rollcalls be 
     adjusted accordingly, both in the Journal and in the 
     Congressional Record;
       (2) the election of Representative-elect Sessions to a 
     standing committee and his participation in its proceedings 
     be ratified;
       (3) the measures delivered to the Speaker for referral by 
     Representative-elect Sessions be considered as introduced and 
     retain the numbers assigned;
       (4) any submissions to the Congressional Record by 
     Representative-elect Sessions or Representative-elect 
     Fitzpatrick be considered as valid;
       (5) any cosponsor lists naming Representative-elect 
     Sessions or Representative-elect Fitzpatrick be considered as 
     valid; and
       (6) any non-voting participation by Representative-elect 
     Sessions or Representative-elect Fitzpatrick in proceedings 
     on the floor be ratified.

                             Point of Order

  Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I rise to a point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his point of order.
  Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I make a point of order that the 
consideration of this resolution is in violation of the House rules 
that we just passed in which a new section was created to rule XXI that 
required at least 3 days' notice to consider legislation, that it be 
posted on the Internet and we have a chance to review it. It is 
particularly important in this case since we're dealing with a 
constitutional issue, one that is without precedent, and I insist on 
the point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair must observe that the rule cited 
applies to bills and joint resolutions; and pursuant to House 
Resolution 26, all points of order are waived.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.
  Mr. WEINER. Am I to understand that under the rules that were just 
passed, they are already exempting this resolution, which is of a 
question of the interpretation of the Constitution of the United 
States, that it is already being waived, that that new rule requiring 3 
days is already being waived?

[[Page H119]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The rule that the gentleman cites applies 
only to bills and joint resolutions.

                              {time}  1110

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 
26, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) and the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Weiner) each will control 2 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I am the only speaker on my side, so I 
will reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thought that the chairman was going to say that he was going to be 
brief. Well, he had no choice with this rule. It's a pretty short one.
  I just want to say in the brief 2 minutes that we have here that this 
is a pretty important issue that we are faced with. And I should say 
just at the outset that I have the greatest respect for my friend, Mr. 
Sessions. I consider him to be a friend. I hope to get to know Mr. 
Fitzpatrick as well and to call him a friend as well. But what we are 
dealing with today is perhaps the most basic test that we have of 
whether we're going to take legislation seriously.
  To the great credit of the maker of this resolution, which we just 
got, it stipulates right in the first couple of sections, we violated 
the Constitution on our very first day. The constitutional requirement 
for oath was violated. And I give you great credit for recognizing that 
in the resolution.
  Now you do say that it created nullities, which is, frankly, a way of 
saying we operated outside this document on the same day we were 
reading it. When Mr. Sessions and Mr. Fitzpatrick stood up in front of 
a television set and held their right hand up--not unlike about 2,000 
of my constituents, I suspect--they were violating a very important 
part of these proceedings, and yet we have a grand total of 2 minutes 
on each side, Mr. Dreier, and to my colleagues, in which to debate how 
to fix that infirmity.
  Mr. Sessions presided over the Rules Committee during a large portion 
in which he was not even a duly sworn Member of the United States 
Congress. Yet we are doing nothing to go back and see would that 
participation influence proceedings at all.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this resolution, not 
because Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Sessions are not Members of Congress, 
they clearly are and I congratulate them, but because for the first 
time in American history, the first time in the history of this body, 
we are going to pass a fix of a constitutional infirmity with--wait for 
it--4 minutes of debate when we didn't have the bill until just now. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to think about the precedent this sets.
  I ask the consent of the chairman for an additional 1 minute so we 
can have an understanding.
  Mr. DREIER. I have no authority to do that. We are living under this 
rule that was passed by the House.
  Mr. WEINER. The gentleman may yield to a unanimous consent request.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from New York has 
expired.
  Mr. WEINER. Only does Mr. Dreier have the ability to accede to a 
unanimous consent request.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from California yield for 
such a request?
  Mr. DREIER. I have my time, and I will be utilizing that, Madam 
Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from New York has 
expired.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the fact that my friend from 
New York has stated his respect for Mr. Sessions and Mr. Fitzpatrick.
  These two individuals were in this Capitol. They were in this Capitol 
when they took the oath of office. They didn't happen to be in this 
exact room. Under the standard of collegiality in Jefferson's Manual, 
it is indicated that they have to be within the proximity of the 
Speaker.
  Madam Speaker, any Member who does not vote in favor of this 
resolution is allowing the problem to persist. This resolution 
rectifies the problem which we all realize has happened. I believe that 
we have a responsibility to this institution, we have a responsibility 
to the Constitution, we have a responsibility to the American people, 
and this resolution rectifies a problem that has existed.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. WEINER. Parliamentary inquiry, Madam Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.
  Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, under the rules of the House, are the 
Members of Congress who are not duly sworn entitled to be paid for the 
days of service in which they were here and were not sworn in?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not stated a proper 
parliamentary inquiry.
  Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 26, the previous question 
is ordered on the resolution.
  The question is on the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 257, 
noes 159, answered ``present'' 3, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 11]

                               AYES--257

     Adams
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Amash
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barletta
     Barrow
     Bartlett
     Bass (NH)
     Benishek
     Berg
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boren
     Boustany
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brooks
     Broun (GA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Buerkle
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canseco
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cardoza
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castor (FL)
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Chandler
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Costa
     Costello
     Cravaack
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Critz
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Denham
     Dent
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Dold
     Donnelly (IN)
     Dreier
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers
     Emerson
     Farenthold
     Fattah
     Fincher
     Flake
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green, Al
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grimm
     Guinta
     Guthrie
     Hall
     Hanna
     Harper
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Heck
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herrera Beutler
     Himes
     Holden
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan
     Kelly
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kline
     Labrador
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Landry
     Lankford
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Long
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Marino
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meehan
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (PA)
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Polis
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Quayle
     Reed
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rigell
     Rivera
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross (AR)
     Ross (FL)
     Rothman (NJ)
     Royce
     Runyan
     Ryan (WI)
     Schilling
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Schwartz
     Schweikert
     Scott (SC)
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Stearns
     Stivers
     Stutzman
     Sullivan
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walsh (IL)
     Watt
     Webster
     West
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)
     Young (IN)

                               NOES--159

     Ackerman
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baldwin
     Bass (CA)
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Braley (IA)

[[Page H120]]


     Brown (FL)
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Chu
     Clarke (MI)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     Deutch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Giffords
     Gonzalez
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hanabusa
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holt
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kildee
     Kind
     Kissell
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Markey
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Olver
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Pingree (ME)
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Richmond
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sires
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Stark
     Sutton
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--3

     DeFazio
     Fitzpatrick
     Sessions

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Austria
     Barton (TX)
     Boswell
     Cicilline
     Davis (IL)
     Honda
     Issa
     Jones
     Mack
     Maloney
     Paul
     Pearce
     Scalise
     Smith (NE)
     Speier

                              {time}  1132

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

                          ____________________