[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.
____________________