IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 746 

Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2006 

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

RESOLUTION 

Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 

Whereas it has been two years since credible reports of misconduct by Mr. Jack Abramoff and Members of Congress 

began appearing regularly in the public record, including 

reports closely linking Republican Members of Congress 

with the documented misconduct of Mr. Abramoff; 

Whereas in the first session of the 109th Congress, for the 

first time in the history of the House of Representatives, 

the rules of procedure of the Committee on Standards of 

Official Conduct were changed on a partisan basis, the 

Chairman of the Committee and two of his Republican 

Colleagues were dismissed from the Committee, the newly 

appointed Chairman of the Committee improperly and 

unilaterally fired non-partisan staff, and the Chairman 

attempted to appoint supervisory staff without a vote of 


rfake on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
2 

HRES 746 IH 

the Committee in direct contravention of the intent of the 

bi-partisan procedures adopted in 1997; 

Whereas because of these actions, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct conducted no investigative activities in the first session of the 109th Congress and has 

not yet conducted such activities; 

Whereas the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the 

Senate Committee on Finance have both undertaken investigations of Mr. Jack Abramoff’s activities, yet no 

House Committee has begun any such investigation; 

Whereas, on March 29, 2006, Mr. Jack Abramoff was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud; 

Whereas a Justice Department press release reported that 

Mr. Jack Abramoff ‘‘corruptly provid[ed] things of value 

to public officials . . . including, but not limited to, a 

lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on world-famous 

courses, tickets to sporting events and other entertainment, regular meals at Abramoff’s upscale restaurant, 

and campaign contributions for [a] Representative, his 

political action committee, his campaign committee, and 

other political committees on behalf of [that] Representative.’’ (Department of Justice press release, January 3, 

2006); 

Whereas Mr. Jack Abramoff’s plea agreement states that he 

and his colleagues ‘‘provided things of value to public officials in exchange for a series of official acts and influence . . . including agreements to support and pass legislation (and) agreements to place statements in the Congressional Record.’’ (Abramoff Plea Agreement); and 


rfake on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
3 

HRES 746 IH 

Whereas, on November 5, 2005, in the United States District 

Court for the District of Columbia, a former Congressional staff member and business partner of Mr. Jack 

Abramoff pled guilty to conspiracy to violate Federal laws 

and admitted that, beginning in January 2000, he offered and provided things of value to public officials, including Members of Congress and staff, in exchange for 

a series of official acts: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Committee on Standards of Offi2 cial Conduct shall immediately initiate an investigation of 

3 the misconduct by Members of Congress and their staff 

4 implicated in the scandals associated with Mr. Jack 

5 Abramoff’s criminal activity. 

Æ 


rfake on PROD1PC77 with BILLS