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[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.
                                 <all>
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