Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

        [Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 153 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]

109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 153

Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 15, 2005

Ms. Pelosi submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the
table

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas the Constitution of the United States authorizes the House of
Representatives to ``determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its
Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two
thirds, expel a Member'';
Whereas, in 1968, in compliance with this authority and to uphold its integrity
and ensure that Members act in a manner that reflects credit on the
House of Representatives, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
was established;
Whereas the ethics procedures in effect during the 108th Congress, and in the
three preceding Congresses, were enacted in 1997 in a bipartisan manner
by an overwhelming vote of the House of Representatives upon the
bipartisan recommendation of the ten member Ethics Reform Task Force,
which conducted a thorough and lengthy review of the entire ethics
process;
Whereas in the 109th Congress, for the first time in the history of the House of
Representatives, decisions affecting the ethics process have been made
on a partisan basis without consulting the Democratic Members of the
Committee or of the House;
Whereas the Chairman of the Committee, and two of his Republican colleagues,
were dismissed from the Committee;
Whereas, in a statement to the press, the departing Chairman of the Committee
stated ``[t]here is a bad perception out there that there was a purge in
the Committee and that people were put in that would protect our side of
the aisle better than I did,'' and a replaced Republican Member, also in
a statement to the press, referring to his dismissal from the Committee,
noted his belief that ``the decision was a direct result of our work in
the last session'';
Whereas the newly appointed Chairman of the Committee improperly and
unilaterally fired nonpartisan Committee staff who assisted in the
ethics work in the last session; and
Whereas these actions have subjected the Committee to public ridicule, produced
contempt for the ethics process, created the public perception that
their purpose was to protect a Member of the House, and weakened the
ability of the Committee to adequately obtain information and properly
conduct its investigative duties, all of which has brought discredit to
the House: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Speaker shall appoint a bipartisan task force
with equal representation of the majority and minority parties to make
recommendations to restore public confidence in the ethics process; and
be it further
Resolved, That the task force report its findings and
recommendations to the House of Representatives no later than May 2,
2005.
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