PERSONAL EXPLANATION

  Mrs. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, I was unavailable to vote because of a
health emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll
Call No. 230, NO on Roll Call No. 231, and YEA on Roll Call No. 232.

           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to raise a question of the privileges
of the House and offer a resolution previously noticed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 1399

       Whereas transparency is essential for accountability in
     government;
       Whereas sexual harassment and unwelcome sexual advances by
     Members, Delegates, or Resident Commissioners, in violation
     of clause 9 and clause 18 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the
     House, affect the safety, dignity, and the integrity of the
     proceedings of the House of Representatives: Now, therefore,
     be it
       Resolved, (1) That with respect to reviews, investigations,
     or matters which the Committee on Ethics or the Office of
     Congressional Workplace Rights have reviewed, conducted, or
     facilitated, the Committee on Ethics and the Office of
     Congressional Workplace Rights shall, not later than 60 days
     after the adoption of this resolution, make publicly
     available--
       (A) a single consolidated list that sets forth separately
     for each Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner--
       (i) the name of each Member, Delegate, or Resident
     Commissioner who was the subject of any review or
     investigation involving a violation of clause 9 of Rule XXIII
     of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as it pertains
     to acts of sexual harassment, or clause 18 of Rule XXIII of
     the Rules of the House of Representatives, or any case
     involving sexual harassment or sexual abuse, if it resulted
     in a payment of taxpayer funds; and
       (ii) adjacent to each such name, the total amount of
     taxpayer funds included in all settlements, payments,
     reimbursements, awards, or other financial considerations
     paid in connection with such matters;
       (B) the aggregate total amount of taxpayer funds included
     in all settlements, payments, reimbursements, awards, or
     other financial considerations paid in connection with such
     reviews, investigations, or matters involving Members,
     Delegates, or Resident Commissioners that did not, in any
     portion of the settlement, involve sexual harassment, sexual
     abuse, or sexual misconduct;
       (C) the aggregate total amount of taxpayer funds included
     in all settlements, payments, reimbursements, awards, or
     other financial considerations paid in connection with such
     reviews, investigations, or matters involving, in part or in
     full, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct
     by employees of the House of Representatives; and
       (D) the aggregate total amount of taxpayer funds included
     in all settlements, payments, reimbursements, awards, or
     other financial considerations paid in connection with such
     reviews, investigations, or matters involving

     conduct by employees of the House of Representatives that did
     not, in any portion of the settlement, involve sexual
     harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct.
       (2) That for purposes of this resolution, any such
     settlement, payment, reimbursement, award, or other financial
     consideration shall be treated as involving sexual
     harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct if sexual
     harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct was any
     component of the matter, regardless of whether the matter
     also involved, was classified as, or was resolved under
     another claim, violation, or category.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.
  Pursuant to clause 2 of rule IX, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
Massie) will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Massie).
  Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in a representative democracy, as we have here, a
Republic, if you will, transparency is essential to the operation of
government, particularly transparency in the official behavior of the
Members of this body, as well as the officers and employees of this
body.
  In 1995, due to the Congressional Accountability Act--which, by the
way, was a good bill. We always say that Congress should be subject to
the same laws as the rest of the country. Well, that is what the 1995
Congressional Accountability Act was about, saying that you can't
discriminate or harass your employees just because you are a Member of
Congress or an office of the House of Representatives.
  In that sense, it was good, but it also set up a fund from which
payments could be made to settle claims. Presumably, this is in the
best interests of the victims of those claims.
  This program went on for many years with a lot of opaqueness, and
there wasn't much clarity in terms of what kind of claims were being
paid out. Were they being paid out to settle claims against staff? Were
they being paid out to settle claims against Members?
  Occasionally, there would be reports from the offices that were
responsible for administrating the law, but there just wasn't enough
information in there. That is part of what my privileged resolution
here today is about: getting more transparency into what happened in
the first 20 years of this program.
  In 2018, Congress sought to revise the transparency of this program
and also to impose more accountability. I have a concern that the 2018
bill may not have been carefully drafted and may have left some
loopholes that are now open.
  Even though we get an annual report now that reports which offices in
the House have paid out settlements and whether those settlements
impose a requirement on the Member in that office to pay back that
taxpayer money, what I have discovered is that there have been no
reports that have reported that any Member of Congress has settled a
claim against a staffer for which the Member of Congress is responsible
for paying back that claim.
  When I dig into the results, and also the language of the 2018
amendment to the Congressional Accountability Act, I see that ``covered
payments'' refer to chapter A of title 2, but when you look at the
Code: 2 U.S.C. 1415, harassment is qualified to two other sections of
code, referring to race, gender, age, and discrimination against
veterans, for instance. It is unclear to me if it covers physical or
sexual harassment or other forms of sexual misconduct that may be
settled through ethics investigations and then through the Office of
Congressional Workplace Rights.
  I believe it is necessary to have this report that my resolution
requests. I believe it is important to the House of Representatives to
have transparency so that people know there wasn't a mistake in the
2018 law--or maybe there was an intentional omission in the 2018 law
where several claims could escape the new requirement in 2018 that
Congressmen pay back certain settlements and that these certain
settlements be reported.
  It shouldn't require a long debate and a lot of explanation for a
resolution that is only two pages. I would urge my colleagues to vote
for this in the interest of transparency and openness. We need to know
what has been going on here in the House of Representatives in order to
convince and assure the people that we are conducting the people's
business with the utmost integrity and treating the officers and
employees of this institution with the respect that they deserve.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this resolution, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the resolution.
  There was no objection.
  The question is on adoption of the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question are postponed.