IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 310

Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 9, 2005

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

RESOLUTION

Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas, in 1968, in furtherance of its constitutional authority and to promote the highest ethical standards for 

Members of Congress, the House of Representatives established the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; 

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 rule XI, clause 3(g) of the Rules of the House, first 

adopted in 1997 upon the recommendation of the task 

force, provides that the Committee ‘‘staff be assembled 
2

HRES 310 LTH 

and retained as a professional non-partisan staff’’ and 

‘‘[a]ll staff members shall be appointed by an affirmative 

vote of the majority of the Members of the Committee’’; 

Whereas rule XI states that each such staff person ‘‘shall be 

professional and demonstrably qualified for the position 

which he is hired’’ and is prohibited from engaging in 

‘‘any partisan political activity directly affecting any congressional or presidential election’’; 

Whereas rule XI also provides that, ‘‘in addition to any other 

staff provided by law, rule or other authority’’, the Chair 

and Ranking Minority Member may each appoint, without a vote of the Committee, one person as a shared staff 

member from his or her personal staff to perform service 

for the Committee; and further provides such shared 

staff persons are exempt from the provision requiring 

that ‘‘the staff be assembled and retained as a professional, nonpartisan staff’’ and the provision stating that 

‘‘no member of the staff shall engage in any partisan political activity directly affecting any congressional or presidential election’’; 

Whereas, from 1997 through 2004, the Staff Director/Chief 

Counsel and other professional staff were appointed by 

an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the 

Committee, and the shared staff members exercised no 

supervisory or other authority over the professional staff; 

Whereas, in January of 2005, the Chairman of the Committee improperly and unilaterally fired nonpartisan 

Committee staff; 

Whereas the Chairman now proposes to designate his shared 

staff person as the Committee Staff Director, clothed 
3

HRES 310 LTH 

with supervisory authority, without subjecting him to a 

vote of the Committee; 

Whereas, because of the Chairman’s proposal and with nearly 

half of the First Session of the 109th Congress having 

expired, the Committee has been unable to carry out its 

charge, set out in rule XI, to investigate allegations of 

misconduct by Members and staff; and 

Whereas the Committee’s resulting inability to carry out its 

duties has subjected the House to public ridicule and produced contempt for the ethics process, thus bringing discredit to the House: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the Committee on Standards of Offi2 cial Conduct is hereby directed to proceed in accord with 

3 clause 3(g) of rule XI, to appoint, upon an affirmative 

4 vote of the majority of the Members of the Committee, 

5 a non-partisan professional staff.

Æ