[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H5655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DECORUM AND CIVILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania). The Chair 
recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak a little about decorum and 
civility. Here in Washington, D.C., we have a lack of it, it seems, and 
it is spreading all over. We are seeing it in the news. We are seeing a 
lot of it happen right here in this building.
  Just a few days ago, an intern on the Senate side decided it would 
somehow be good or proper to make obscene comments as the President was 
walking around in the building. That intern received only a slap on the 
wrist for doing so.
  We see it happening inside this Chamber in several ways. It is in 
something as simple as the 1-minute speeches we have in this Chamber 
each day. Members frequently blow through that time up to 80, 90 
seconds before finally being gaveled down.
  House rules are supposed to mean something. Sometimes in those 
speeches, even though they know it is against House rules, Members are 
disparaging individuals, calling them out by name, only to be gaveled 
after the speech is over with, instead of during, to stop that 
bad behavior.

  About 2 years ago in June, we even had a sit-in that occurred in this 
Chamber in a big part of this side of the room over here; a sit-in 
where bootleg videos were being sent out and C-SPAN broadcast them, 
outside of the House rules, because one particular group felt like 
their voice needed to be heard, even outside of the rules, instead of 
working within the process the American people sent us here to do. Very 
disappointing.
  Then, just last week, one of our Members decided that they wanted to 
play a tape recording that came allegedly from inside one of the 
detention centers along the border, outside of clear decorum of House 
rules. The Member was repeatedly told it was outside the rules. Yet 
that recording went on for at least 3\1/2\ minutes, disrespecting this 
institution, disrespecting what the people sent us here to do.
  We need to have enforcement of these rules. They need to be stronger. 
We need to empower the Speaker and the Chair to enforce the rules. When 
it is time, shut off the mike. It goes against the grain of what the 
American people sent us here for in the over 200 years of this 
institution.
  Outside of this room we have Members of this body actually publicly 
calling for intimidation and harassment of fellow workers in 
government, whether it is in the Cabinet or fellow Members of this 
body.
  What have we come to as a country when that behavior is called for by 
elected Members of this body? What have we come to?
  We have seen it on the streets after the election and after the 
inauguration of this President, with Antifa and other groups claiming 
to be the voice of, I don't know who. Certainly, it isn't the voice of 
the people, hiding behind masks, hiding their identity, and causing 
wanton destruction.
  When words like this come from people elected as a part of this body, 
that just fuels the fire, not only for bad behavior and disrespect for 
people who are doing their jobs, maybe with a different opinion from 
others, but respectfully doing their jobs; harassing them in 
restaurants or in markets, at the gas station, or wherever it is going 
to be; it is completely out of line.
  I do not know where we are going as a country when our elected 
officials are calling for that kind of bad behavior.
  So what are we going to do about it?
  A lot of what drives this is what the people think, when the people 
demand that their elected leaders ratchet up their behavior to be just 
a little bit better.
  You don't have an institution here when there are no rules, no order, 
no function. Instead, you have chaos. You can't get anything done 
around here, or anywhere else--even something as simple as a board 
game--if people are not following the rules. All that breeds is more 
misbehavior and more rule breaking.
  There are a lot of people across this country who feel like that with 
the government out of control, legislation out of control, rules are 
for suckers. Why should they play when no one else is; when our borders 
aren't enforced; when laws on the books aren't enforced; and they see 
people being given rewards, whether the benefits of citizenship or just 
as simple as running this House Chamber. It is very discouraging and 
disappointing to the American public.
  This institution is a much older and much more hallowed place than 
any one of us will ever walk through for whatever time we are bestowed 
the opportunity to serve people in our respective districts 2 years at 
a time.
  So it is high time that we have the rules in place, and that they are 
enforced, but also to look inwardly at ourselves as Members of this 
body to uphold the rules, the integrity of this institution.

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