[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 3, Chapters 10 - 14]
[Chapter 11. Questions of Privilege]
[E. Basis of Questions of Personal Privilege]
[Â§ 26. Charges by Fellow Member]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 1666-1670]
 
                               CHAPTER 11
 
                         Questions of Privilege
 
              E. BASIS OF QUESTIONS OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE
 
Sec. 26. Charges by Fellow Member

Charges Involving Unnamed Members

Sec. 26.1 A statement on the floor by the Majority Leader ``there is 
    nothing to stop a man from making a damn fool of himself if he 
    wants to'' which was carried in the press as referring to a 
    particular Member, gave rise to

[[Page 1667]]

    a question of personal privilege.

    On Mar. 19, 1945,~(17) Mr. Earl Wilson, of Indiana, rose 
to a question of privilege:
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17. 91 Cong. Rec. 2415, 2416, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        The Speaker: (18) For what purpose does the 
    gentleman from Indiana rise?
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18. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        Mr. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, I rise to a point of personal 
    privilege.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state the ground for the 
    question of personal privilege.
        Mr. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, the ground on which I make my request 
    is the report which has gone all over the land through the press, 
    leaving the inference that the distinguished majority leader 
    referred to me in his remarks that there is nothing to stop a man 
    making a damn fool of himself if he wants to.
        Also, Mr. Speaker, the concluding sentence in which the 
    majority leader is quoted as saying, now that it has served its 
    purpose, he agrees to erase his remarks from the Record.
        The Speaker: If the gentleman from Indiana is certain that the 
    gentleman from Massachusetts was referring to him, the Chair thinks 
    he has a right to proceed on the question of personal privilege.
        The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.

Sec. 26.2 Statements in the press that a Member had said other Members 
    were giving atomic secrets to the enemy while under the influence 
    of liquor, which the Member denied having made, gave rise to a 
    question of personal privilege.

    On May 5, 1952,(19) Mr. Edwin Arthur Hall, of New York, 
presented as involving a question of personal privilege several 
newspaper articles in which he was attributed as a source of the 
statement that other Members ``were in all probability giving away 
atomic secrets to the enemy while under the influence of liquor.'' 
There ensued some discussion as to the validity of the question of 
personal privilege, during the course of which Mr. Hall denied having 
made the statement. The Speaker (20) then recognized him to 
debate the question of personal privilege.
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19. 98 Cong. Rec. 4787, 4788, 82d Cong. 2d Sess.
20. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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Improper Political Influence

Sec. 26.3 A newspaper article which stated that one Member had involved 
    the name of another Member as secretary of a corporation, reported 
    to be a party to a government contract in relation to which ``gross 
    political interference

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    and influence'' were alleged, gave rise to a question of personal 
    privilege.

    On July 16, 1958,(1) Mr. Perkins Bass, of New Hampshire, 
rose to a question of personal privilege and was recognized to reply to 
a newspaper article which stated that Mr. Oren Harris, of Arkansas, had 
involved the name of Mr. Bass as secretary of a corporation reported to 
be a party to a government contract in relation to which ``gross 
political interference and influence were alleged.''
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 1. 104 Cong. Rec. 13989, 85th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Abuse of Power

Sec. 26.4 A Member's press release charging another Member with an 
    abuse of personal power and of sponsoring a political smear was 
    held to give rise to a question of personal privilege.

    On Mar. 30, 1953,(2) Mr. Clare E. Hoffman, of Michigan, 
rising to a question of personal privilege, called the attention of the 
House to a press release distributed by another Member in which he [Mr. 
Hoffman] was charged with a disgraceful abuse of personal power and 
accused of sponsoring a political smear show. In ruling on the question 
of personal privilege, the Speaker (3) stated:
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 2. 99 Cong. Rec. 2468, 2469, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
 3. Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (Mass.).
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        The Chair has read the statement of the gentleman from Michigan 
    [Mr. Hoffman], and upon examination the Chair feels that the words 
    ``disgraceful abuse of personal power,'' and also where it is 
    stated that ``political smear show'' justify the establishment of 
    the point made by the gentleman.
        The Chair recognizes the gentleman for one hour.

Traitorous Acts

Sec. 26.5 A Member was recognized on a question of personal privilege 
    to answer a newspaper article which purportedly quoted him as 
    implying that three Members of the House may have been guilty of 
    traitorous acts.

    On Jan. 28, 1944,(4) Mr. Samuel A. Weiss, of 
Pennsylvania, rose and presented as a matter of personal privilege a 
newspaper article in which he was quoted as saying ``if the grand jury 
that indicted thirty for traitorous acts recently had gone another step 
they would have indicted three Members of Congress.'' At the conclusion 
of the Member's statement of the question, the Speaker pro tempore 
(5) stated:
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 4. 90 Cong. Rec. 876, 877, 78th Cong. 2d Sess.
 5. John W. McCormack (Mass.).

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        The Chair has read the news item referred to by the gentleman 
    from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weiss]. The Chair feels it raises a matter 
    of personal privilege.
        The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized.

Sec. 26.6 A newspaper statement quoting a Member of the House as saying 
    that a colleague was a ``pimp of Joe Stalin'' gave rise to a 
    question of personal privilege.

    On Jan. 13, 1949,(6) Mr. Clare E. Hoffman, of Michigan, 
rose to a question of personal privilege to call attention to a 
newspaper that purported to quote another Member of the House as saying 
that Mr. Hoffman was a ``pimp of Joe Stalin.'' At the conclusion of Mr. 
Hoffman's preliminary statement, the Speaker (7) said:
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 6. 95 Cong. Rec. 266, 81st Cong. 1st Sess.
 7. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        The Chair believes the gentleman from Michigan has stated 
    grounds for addressing the House on a question of personal 
    privilege. The gentleman from Michigan is recognized.

Impugning Veracity

Sec. 26.7 An article in a newspaper quoting a Member of the House as 
    ``issuing the direct lie charge'' to another Member was held to 
    present a question of personal privilege.

    On Mar. 4, 1942,(8) Mr. Martin Dies, Jr., of Texas, 
rising to a question of personal privilege, read from a newspaper 
article which quoted Mr. Thomas H. Eliot, of Massachusetts, as 
``issuing the direct lie charge'' to Mr. Dies. The Speaker 
(9) granted Mr. Dies recognition on a question of personal 
privilege
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 8. 88 Cong. Rec. 1920, 77th Cong. 2d Sess.
 9. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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Sec. 26.8 A press release issued by a Member containing allegations 
    impugning the motives and veracity of another Member gave rise to a 
    question of personal privilege.

    On July 28, 1970,(10) Mr. Augustus F. Hawkins, of 
California, rose to a question of personal privilege:
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10. 116 Cong. Rec. 26002, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Hawkins: Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of personal 
    privilege.
        The Speaker: (11) The gentleman will state his 
    question of personal privilege.
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11. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
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        Mr. Hawkins: Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
    Crane), in a recent press release which I send to the desk, has 
    made certain allegations with respect to the additional views which 
    I filed to accompany the report of the Select Committee To 
    Investigate

[[Page 1670]]

    U.S. Military Involvement in Southeast Asia. His allegations 
    include charges which directly impugn my motives and veracity in 
    submitting those additional views. I therefore rise to a question 
    of personal privilege to respond to the statement of the gentleman 
    from Illinois.
        The Speaker: The Chair has examined the press release sent to 
    the desk by the gentleman from California (Mr. Hawkins), and the 
    Chair is of the opinion that the gentleman from California has 
    stated a question of personal privilege under rule IX of the rules 
    of the House.
        The gentleman from California (Mr. Hawkins) is recognized.