[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            AUTHORIZING SENATE LEGAL COUNSEL REPRESENTATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 137 submitted earlier today by 
the majority leader and the Republican leader.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by Title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 137) to authorize representation by 
     the Senate Legal Counsel in John Hoffman, et al. v. James 
     Jeffords.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, two Republican voters in Pennsylvania 
have commenced a civil action against Senator Jeffords in federal 
district court in the District of Colombia to challenge Senator 
Jeffords' recent decision to become an Independent and to caucus with 
the Democratic party for organizational purposes within the Senate. 
Specifically, this lawsuit seeks ``to assert the invalidity of Senator 
Jeffords change of party by mere announcement'' and requests a court 
order requiring Senator Jeffords ``to reinstate his status as a 
Republican Senator'' particularly ``during the Senate polling and 
caucusing of its members.''
  Through this action, the plaintiffs seek to subject to judicial 
control a Senator's choice of with which Senators to caucus, as well as 
the process by which the Senate chooses its officers and the chairs of 
its committees. This attempt to question a Senator in court about the 
performance of his legislative responsibilities in the Senate is barred 
by the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, which commits such 
oversight of Senators to the electorate, not to the judiciary. This 
suit also runs afoul of the clauses of the Constitution that commit to 
each House of Congress the responsibility to elect officers and 
determine the rules of its proceedings.
  Because this suit seeks to challenge the validity of actions taken by 
Senator Jeffords in his official capacity, representation in this case 
falls appropriately within the Senator Legal Counsel's statutory 
responsibility. This resolution would accordingly authorize the Senate 
Legal Counsel to represent Senator Jeffords to present to the Court the 
constitutional bases for dismissing this suit.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution and 
preamble be agreed to en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table en bloc, and any statements related thereto be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 137) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Resolutions 
Submitted.'')

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