![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.489583333333333in"
height="1.15625in"}**Legislative
Bulletin.....................................February 14, 2008**

> **Contents:**
>
> **H. Res. 982---**Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H.
> Res. 979) recommending that the House of Representatives find Harriet
> Miers and Joshua Bolten, Chief of Staff, White House, in contempt of
> Congress for refusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by the
> Committee on the Judiciary and for the adoption of the resolution (H.
> Res. 980) authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate or
> intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas

H. Res. 982--- Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res.
979) recommending that the House of Representatives find Harriet Miers
and Joshua Bolten, Chief of Staff, White House, in contempt of Congress
for refusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by the Committee on the
Judiciary and for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 980)
authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate or intervene in
judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas

*(Slaughter, D-NY)*

**[Order of Business]{.underline}**: H. Res. 982 is scheduled to be
considered on Thursday, February 14, 2008, as a self-executing rule.

**[Summary]{.underline}**: H. Res. 982 would provide for the adoption of
H. Res. 979 and H. Res. 980. H. Res. expresses the sense that the House
of Representatives find Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, in contempt of
Congress for refusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by the
Committee on the Judiciary and for the adoption of the resolution
authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate or intervene in
judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas.

**H. Res. 979**---Recommending that the House of Representatives find
Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, Chief of Staff, White House, in
contempt of Congress for refusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by
the Committee on the Judiciary *(Conyers, D-MI)*

H. Res. 979 would express the sense of the House of Representatives
that:

-   "pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of
    Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on the
    Judiciary, detailing the refusal of former White House Counsel
    Harriet Miers to appear before the Subcommittee on Commercial and
    Administrative Law as directed by subpoena, to the United States
    Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Ms. Miers be
    proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law; and be it
    further;

-   "that pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of
    Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on the
    Judiciary, detailing the refusal of former White House Counsel
    Harriet Miers to testify before the Subcommittee on Commercial and
    Administrative Law as directed by subpoena, to the United States
    Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Ms. Miers be
    proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law; and be it
    further;

-   "that pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of
    Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on the
    Judiciary, detailing the refusal of former White House Counsel
    Harriet Miers to produce documents to the Subcommittee on Commercial
    and Administrative Law as directed by subpoena, to the United States
    Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Ms. Miers be
    proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law; and be it
    further;

-   "that pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of
    Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on the
    Judiciary, detailing the refusal of White House Chief of Staff
    Joshua Bolten to produce documents to the Committee on the Judiciary
    as directed by subpoena, to the United States Attorney for the
    District of Columbia, to the end that Mr. Bolten be proceeded
    against in the manner and form provided by law."

**H. Res. 980**---Authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate
or intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas
*(Conyers, D-MI)*

H. Res. 980 would express the sense of the House of Representatives
that:

-   "that the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized
    to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings in any Federal
    court of competent jurisdiction, on behalf of the Committee on the
    Judiciary, to seek declaratory judgments affirming the duty of any
    individual to comply with any subpoena that is a subject of House
    Resolution 979 issued to such individual by the Committee as part of
    its investigation into the firing of certain United States Attorneys
    and related matters, and to seek appropriate ancillary relief,
    including injunctive relief;

-   "The Committee on the Judiciary shall report as soon as practicable
    to the House with respect to any judicial proceedings which it
    initiates or in which it intervenes pursuant to this resolution;

-   "The Office of General Counsel of the House of Representatives
    shall, at the authorization of the Speaker, represent the Committee
    on the Judiciary in any litigation pursuant to this resolution. In
    giving that authorization, the Speaker shall consult with the
    Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group established pursuant to clause 8 of
    Rule II."

**[Committee Action]{.underline}**: H. Res. 982 was introduced on
February 13, 2008. The House Committee on Rules reported an original
measure, H. Rept. 110-526, by Ms. Slaughter. Upon the adoption of H.Res.
982, H.Res. 979 and H.Res. 980 are hereby adopted.

**[Additional Information]{.underline}**: The following is information
provided by the House Judiciary Republican staff:

> House Judiciary Committee Republicans today filed the minority views
> on whether the U.S. House of Representatives should cite former White
> House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten
> for contempt.
>
> *"After countless hours of hearings and interviews with Administration
> officials, the record clearly shows that there is no evidence of
> wrongdoing in the dismissal of eight U.S. Attorneys," stated Ranking
> Member Lamar Smith. "Today's filing is a desperate attempt by
> Democrats to distract attention from their poor record in Congress."*
>
> *"Democrats spent more time this year on politically motivated
> investigations into the Administration's personnel decisions than on
> national security, violent crime and sexual predators combined,"
> concluded Smith. "No wonder their approval ratings are so low.
> Democrats have failed to enact strong legislation, failed to address
> national security concerns and failed the American people."*
>
> The following is summary of the Minority's findings:
>
> **Resources and Time Spent on the Investigation:**

-   The House Judiciary Committee held more than **[15]{.underline}**
    hearings, meetings and mark-ups regarding the U.S. Attorney
    removals.

-   The Committee conducted a **[dozen]{.underline}** witness interviews
    with Department of Justice officials.

-   Committee staff reviewed more than **[10,000]{.underline}** pages of
    documents released by the Administration, hearing transcripts and
    interview transcripts.

-   House Judiciary Committee Democrats gave a taxpayer-funded
    **[\$250,000]{.underline}** contract to an outside investigator to
    run the U.S. Attorney investigation. House Democrat Speaker Nancy
    Pelosi recently named Irv Nathan, the Committee's hired gun, to be
    the new House Counsel. Mr. Nathan would be responsible for taking a
    contempt case to court.

> **Comparative Time and Resources Spent on Other Issues:**

-   According to a recent FBI report, violent crime in the U.S. is on
    the rise. In the first six months of 2007, over 750,000 violent
    crimes were committed in U.S. neighborhoods and communities. Yet,
    under Democrat leadership, the Committee has moved
    **[zero]{.underline}** bills that would address violent crime and
    gang activity.

-   MySpace reported that there are nearly 30,000 sex offenders trolling
    its site. Yet, Democrats have only held **[one]{.underline}**
    hearing to discuss the danger online sexual predators pose to our
    children.

-   The Director of National Intelligence stated in August that we are
    facing a severe intelligence gap in our ability to gather
    information regarding foreign terrorists overseas. Rather than
    addressing this national security crisis, Democrats have been
    playing politics with our intelligence community. They held only
    **[two]{.underline}** hearings, marked up a horrendous bill that
    undercut the intelligence community's ability to protect our nation
    and then were forced to pull it from the floor.

-   Immigration is the only issue to which Democrats have paid more
    attention this year. They've held over **[20]{.underline}** hearings
    and meetings on legislation like the DREAM Act that gives illegal
    immigrants amnesty and in-state tuition for colleges.

-   Democrats spent more time this year on the Administration's
    personnel decisions than on national security, violent crime and
    sexual predators *combined*.

> **Results of the Investigation:**

-   U.S. Attorneys and political appointees serve at the pleasure of the
    President. Meaning, they can be asked to resign at any time for any
    reason.

-   No one at the White House identified the dismissed U.S. Attorneys as
    candidates for dismissal for partisan reasons.

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-   The dismissed U.S. Attorneys were replaced by career Department
    employees, not political appointees, except in the case of U.S.
    Attorney Cummins.

-   The Administration had every right to remove Mr. Cummins, a
    political appointee, for political reasons.

> **Congressional Considerations:**

-   Members of Congress at times have management or performance-related
    concerns with their own staffs. In these situations, Members of
    Congress often ask the staffers in question to resign.

-   Personnel decisions by the White House are no different.

-   As political appointees, the U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of
    the President.

-   In making these management decisions, the Department simply intended
    to improve the performance of the U.S. Attorneys offices.

> **The Dire Consequences of Contempt:**

-   A court decision that senior White House officials are absolutely
    immune from testifying before Congress.

-   A decision stating that White House officials---through whom the
    President asserts executive privilege---cannot be prosecuted for
    contempt.

-   Or perhaps a decision that diminishes the President's ability to
    assert executive privilege over official White House
    business---weakening the right of *any* President, regardless of
    party, to receive sound advice from staff and counsel.

-   A Congress whose approval ratings will drop even further, as a
    nation now allowed a look at the complete facts sees the U.S.
    Attorneys investigation for what it was---a sham investigation to
    score political points in hopes of gaining the White House.

**[Cost to Taxpayers]{.underline}**: The resolution does not authorize
expenditures.\
\
**[Does the Bill Expand the Size and Scope of the Federal
Government?]{.underline}** No.\
\
**[Does the Bill Contain Any New State-Government, Local-Government, or
Private-Sector Mandates?]{.underline}** No.\
\
**[RSC Staff Contact]{.underline}**: Sarah Makin;
<sarah.makin@mail.house.gov>; 202-226-0718.