[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 18, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H12114-H12115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges 
of the House and send to the desk a privileged resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 770

       Whereas Chairman Schiff and Chairman Nadler willfully and 
     intentionally violated the Rules of the House of 
     Representatives by abusing and exceeding their powers as 
     Chairmen of Committees;
       Whereas, on September 9, 2019, without consultation of the 
     Ranking Minority Member, in violation of rule 9 of the Rules 
     of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Chairman 
     Schiff, in coordination with the Committees on Oversight and 
     Reform and Foreign Affairs announced a wide-ranging 
     investigation into the ``Trump-Giuliani Ukraine scheme'';
       Whereas, on September 26, 2019, in an unprecedented action, 
     Chairman Schiff unilaterally released a redacted version of 
     the August 2019 whistleblower complaint;
       Whereas, on September 26, 2019, in his opening statement at 
     a public hearing, Chairman Schiff engaged in a false 
     retelling of the July 25, 2019 telephone conversation between 
     President Trump and President Zelensky;
       Whereas, on November 20, 2019, a letter was transmitted 
     from the Ranking Minority Member to Chairman Schiff 
     requesting, pursuant to House Resolution 660, the concurrence 
     of the chair to issue certain subpoenas;
       Whereas, on November 20, 2019, after excusing the witnesses 
     at an open hearing, and without prior notice to the 
     Republicans on the Committee, Chairman Schiff announced that 
     the Committee had a ``business matter to take up'' and 
     convened an impromptu business meeting to consider the 
     Ranking Minority Member's November 20 request concerning 
     certain subpoenas;
       Whereas, on November 20, 2019, Chairman Schiff violated 
     clause 2(g)(3) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
     Representatives, which states, ``The chair of a committee 
     shall announced the date, place, and subject matter of. . .a 
     committee meeting, which may not commence earlier than the 
     third calendar day. . .on which members have notice 
     thereof'';
       Whereas, on November 20, 2019, Chairman Schiff's actions 
     further violated paragraph 4(B) of House Resolution 660, 
     which states, ``In the case that the chair declines to concur 
     in a proposed action of the ranking minority member. . .the 
     ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the 
     committee for decision the question whether such authority 
     shall be so exercised and the chair shall convene the 
     committee promptly to render that decision, subject to the 
     notice procedures for a committee meeting under clause 
     2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI'';
       Whereas, on November 21, 2019, pursuant to clause 2(j)(1) 
     of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, all 
     Republican Members on the Permanent Select Committee on 
     Intelligence wrote to Chairman Schiff demanding to call 
     witnesses at a minority day of hearings;
       Whereas, subsequent to receiving the request for an 
     additional day of hearings by members of the minority party, 
     Chairman Schiff refused to schedule such hearings;
       Whereas, on December 6, 2019, Chairman Schiff, without 
     consultation of the Ranking Minority Member, in violation of 
     section 3 of House Resolution 660, unilaterally transmitted 
     additional records and other materials to the Committee on 
     the Judiciary;
       Whereas Chairman Schiff compelled the production of 
     documents from AT&T and Verizon and, in violation of clause 
     2(k)(6) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
     Representatives, publicly used these documents to smear the 
     personal attorneys of the President, a journalist, and to 
     create a false narrative about a sitting Member of Congress 
     and current and former congressional staff;
       Whereas on multiple occasions in both closed-door 
     depositions and public hearings, Chairman Schiff abused his 
     power as chair by unilaterally restricting Republican lines 
     of questions and supporting witnesses' attempts to evade 
     answering Republicans' [or ``the minority's''] questions by 
     directing witnesses not to answer certain questions from 
     Republican Members and staff;
       Whereas on multiple occasions in both closed-door 
     depositions and public hearings, Chairman Schiff abused his 
     power as chair by failing to follow proper parliamentary 
     procedure, failing to recognize Members who wished to raise 
     valid points of order, and repeatedly interrupting Republican 
     Members and staff when they controlled the time;
       Whereas at the House Judiciary Committee's first hearing 
     pursuant to House Resolution 660, on December 4, 2019, 
     Chairman Nadler was furnished with a request for a minority 
     day of hearings, pursuant to clause 2(j)(1) of rule XI of the 
     Rules of the House of Representatives, signed by all 
     Republican Members of the Committee;
       Whereas subsequent to receiving the request for an 
     additional day of hearings by members of the minority party, 
     Chairman Nadler refused to schedule such hearings;
       Whereas Ranking Minority Member Collins furnished Chairman 
     Nadler with a letter reminding him of his obligation to 
     schedule a minority day of hearings, as requested by members 
     of the minority party, and Chairman Nadler ignored the letter 
     and failed to respond;
       Whereas Chairman Nadler repeatedly misstated the rules, 
     misguiding members of the Committee and the American people, 
     and refused to rule properly on members' points of order 
     concerning the requested minority hearing day;
       Whereas Chairman Nadler refused to consider the scheduling 
     of the minority hearing day during a committee meeting until 
     the markup of articles of impeachment;
       Whereas in place of finding common ground with the 
     minority, Chairman Schiff and Chairman Nadler have constantly 
     disregarded the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
     ignored the fundamental rights of the minority; and
       Whereas Chairman Schiff's and Chairman Nadler's actions and 
     abuses of power as chairmen of the Permanent Select Committee 
     on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary have 
     willfully trampled on the rights of the minority in violation 
     of the Rules of the House of Representatives and brought 
     dishonor and discredit upon the House of Representatives: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the House of Representatives strongly condemns Chairman 
     Adam B. Schiff for repeated and blatant abuse of power in a 
     way that is not befitting an elected Member of the House of 
     Representatives nor his position as Chairman; and
       (2) the House of Representatives strongly condemns the 
     manner in which Chairman

[[Page H12115]]

     Jerrold Lewis Nadler has failed to respond to the minority's 
     request for an additional day of hearings to consider the 
     impeachment of President Donald John Trump.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies as a question of 
the privileges of the House.


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
  The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:
  Mr. Hoyer moves to lay the resolution on the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 226, 
noes 191, not voting 13, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 692]

                               AYES--226

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Amash
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brindisi
     Brown (MD)
     Brownley (CA)
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten (IL)
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu, Judy
     Cicilline
     Cisneros
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Cox (CA)
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Cunningham
     Davids (KS)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Engel
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Finkenauer
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Golden
     Gomez
     Gonzalez (TX)
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hastings
     Hayes
     Heck
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horn, Kendra S.
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster (NH)
     Lamb
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lewis
     Lieu, Ted
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Maloney, Sean
     Matsui
     McAdams
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Moore
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mucarsel-Powell
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Raskin
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Rose (NY)
     Rouda
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell (AL)
     Shalala
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Sires
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Suozzi
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres Small (NM)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--191

     Abraham
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bergman
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Bost
     Brady
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Comer
     Conaway
     Cook
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson (OH)
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Flores
     Fortenberry
     Foxx (NC)
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Gianforte
     Gibbs
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Gooden
     Gosar
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Hern, Kevin
     Herrera Beutler
     Hice (GA)
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill (AR)
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Hurd (TX)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff (TN)
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Marchant
     Marshall
     Massie
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     Meadows
     Meuser
     Miller
     Mitchell
     Moolenaar
     Mooney (WV)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Peterson
     Posey
     Ratcliffe
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Riggleman
     Roby
     Rodgers (WA)
     Roe, David P.
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose, John W.
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spano
     Stauber
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Timmons
     Tipton
     Turner
     Upton
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walker
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Watkins
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Yoho
     Zeldin

                             NOT VOTING--13

     Bishop (UT)
     Clay
     Gabbard
     Holding
     Hunter
     Langevin
     Omar
     Rooney (FL)
     Serrano
     Shimkus
     Van Drew
     Woodall
     Young


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). There are 2 minutes 
remaining.

                              {time}  0959

  Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio changed his vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Mr. GARAMENDI changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  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.

                          ____________________