[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 8, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3823-H3825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I
rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges
of the House.
The form of the resolution is as follows:
Whereas, the tradition of the House Chaplain dates to the earliest
days of the House of Representatives, beginning in 1789;
Whereas, the role of House Chaplain has been filled by 60 individuals
of various religious denominations, serving Members of Congress of all
faiths;
Whereas, Father Patrick Conroy has served honorably as House Chaplain
since May 25, 2011, when he was appointed by then-Speaker John A.
Boehner in consultation with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi;
Whereas, Father Conroy had been re-appointed and elected by the House
of Representatives on three separate occasions, most recently January
3, 2017;
Whereas, on April 16, 2018, the Nation's first Jesuit--and only the
second Catholic--Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives
submitted his resignation before the full House;
Whereas, the Chaplain had only eight months remaining in his term of
service to the House;
Whereas, this resignation was requested by the office of Paul D.
Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives;
Whereas, the Speaker's office said ``. . . the decision (to remove
the Chaplain) was his (Speaker Ryan's);''
Whereas, on May 3, 2018, Father Conroy submitted a letter retracting
and rescinding his resignation, which was accepted by Speaker Ryan;
Whereas, despite the Speaker's statement accepting this retraction
letter, a number of Members of Congress remain concerned about what
motivated the original request for Father Conroy to resign and the lack
of adequate notification or explanation given to Members;
Whereas, the rights of Members of the House of Representatives were
undermined when the leader of one party made a unilateral decision to
ask for the resignation of the Chaplain;
Whereas, this resignation and the circumstances behind it has
compromised the integrity and the dignity of the House of
Representatives by politicizing the office of the House Chaplain;
Resolved, that there is hereby established a select committee to
investigate the circumstances around the resignation of the House
Chaplain;
The select committee shall be comprised of six members, of which
three shall be appointed by the chair of the Committee on Ethics and
three by the ranking member of the Committee on Ethics;
The select committee shall investigate the motivations and actions
that led to the resignation of the Chaplain, including the decisions to
remove the Chaplain and the process by which Members of Congress were
notified of the resignation;
The select committee shall provide a report to the House by July 13,
2018.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will now recognize the gentleman
from New York to offer the resolution just noticed.
Does the gentleman offer the resolution?
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I do.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 878
Whereas, the tradition of the House Chaplain dates to the
earliest days of the House of Representatives, beginning in
1789;
Whereas, the role of House Chaplain has been filled by 60
individuals of various religious denominations, serving
Members of Congress of all faiths;
Whereas, Father Patrick Conroy has served honorably as
House Chaplain since May 25, 2011, when he was appointed by
then-Speaker John A. Boehner in consultation with Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi;
Whereas, Father Conroy had been re-appointed and elected by
the House of Representatives on three separate occasions,
most recently January 3, 2017;
Whereas, on April 16, 2018, the nation's first Jesuit--and
only the second Catholic--Chaplain of the U.S. House of
Representatives submitted his resignation before the full
House;
Whereas, the Chaplain had only eight months remaining in
his term of service to the House;
Whereas, this resignation was requested by the office of
Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives;
Whereas, the Speaker's office said ``. . . the decision
(to remove the Chaplain) was his (Speaker Ryan's);''
Whereas, on May 3, 2018, Father Conroy submitted a letter
retracting and rescinding his resignation, which was accepted
by Speaker Ryan;
Whereas, despite the Speaker's statement accepting this
retraction letter, a number of Members of Congress remain
concerned about what motivated the original request for
Father Conroy to resign and the lack of adequate notification
or explanation given to Members;
Whereas, the rights of Members of the House of
Representatives were undermined when the leader of one party
made a unilateral decision to ask for the resignation of the
Chaplain;
Whereas, this resignation and the circumstances behind it
has compromised the integrity and the dignity of the House of
Representatives by politicizing the office of the House
Chaplain;
Resolved, that there is hereby established a select
committee to investigate the circumstances around the
resignation of the House Chaplain;
The select committee shall be comprised of six members, of
which three shall be appointed by the chair of the Committee
on
[[Page H3824]]
Ethics, and three by the ranking member of the Committee on
Ethics;
The select committee shall investigate the motivations and
actions that led to the resignation of the Chaplain,
including the decisions to remove the Chaplain and the
process by which Members of Congress were notified of the
resignation;
The select committee shall provide a report to the House by
July 13, 2018.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.
Motion to Table
Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. McCarthy moves to lay the resolution on the table.
Parliamentary Inquiries
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary
inquiry.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, is this motion privileged?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California has offered a
motion to table the question of privilege.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am asking on the underlying resolution
before you, is it a privileged resolution?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair announced that the resolution
qualified as privileged.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary
inquiry.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, could the House consider this motion
immediately? The gentleman from New York requests: Can the House
consider this motion immediately?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The House will first consider the pending
motion to table.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York will state his
parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. CROWLEY. Will the Chair rule as to whether or not the House could
consider this motion immediately?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The House will first consider the motion to
table. If the motion fails, then the House could pursue other
dispositions of the resolution.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, one more further parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York will state his
parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, the vote to table that you are speaking of
will prevent this measure from coming to the floor today immediately.
Is that not true?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The House will now consider the motion to
table.
The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from
California.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. CROWLEY. 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 223,
nays 182, not voting 23, as follows:
[Roll No. 172]
YEAS--223
Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amodei
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Banks (IN)
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Brady (TX)
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Curtis
Davidson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Donovan
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Dunn
Emmer
Estes (KS)
Faso
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frelinghuysen
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garrett
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Handel
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Katko
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Knight
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lesko
Lewis (MN)
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Noem
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Poliquin
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rohrabacher
Rooney, Francis
Rooney, Thomas J.
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce (CA)
Russell
Rutherford
Sanford
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smucker
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Zeldin
NAYS--182
Aguilar
Amash
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capuano
Carbajal
Cardenas
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Crist
Crowley
Cuellar
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Esty (CT)
Evans
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Hanabusa
Hastings
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kihuen
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Krishnamoorthi
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lieu, Ted
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham, M.
Lujan, Ben Ray
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Neal
Nolan
Norcross
O'Halleran
O'Rourke
Pallone
Panetta
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--23
Adams
Blunt Rochester
Brat
Carson (IN)
Cummings
Gutierrez
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kuster (NH)
Labrador
Lipinski
McCollum
Messer
Napolitano
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Renacci
Rogers (KY)
Rokita
Rosen
Scalise
Scott, David
{time} 1714
So the motion to table was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
personal explanation
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been
present, I would hae voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 171 and ``yea'' on
rollcall No. 172.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on May 8, 2018 I was in my
district for my primary election and missed rollcall votes 169, 170,
171, and 172. Had I been present, I would have voted: ``Nay'' on
rollcall 169, ``Nay'' on rollcall 170, ``Nay'' on rollcall 171, and
``Nay'' on rollcall 172.
[[Page H3825]]
____________________