IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 517 

Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2014 

Mr. KILDEE submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the table 

RESOLUTION 

Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 

Whereas on March 5, 2014, during a hearing before the 

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 

Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa gave a statement 

and then posed ten questions to former Internal Revenue 

Service official Lois Lerner, who stated that she was invoking her Fifth Amendment right not to testify; 

Whereas the Committee’s Ranking Member, Rep. Elijah E. 

Cummings, clearly sought recognition to take his turn for 

questions under Committee and House Rules; 

Whereas, Chairman Issa then unilaterally adjourned the 

hearing and refused to allow him to make any statement 

or ask any questions; 

Whereas Ranking Member Cummings protested immediately, 

stating: ‘‘Mr. Chairman, you cannot run a Committee 

like this. You just cannot do this. This is, we are better 


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HRES 517 LTH 

than that as a country, we are better than that as a 

Committee.’’ 

Whereas, Chairman Issa then returned and allowed Ranking 

Member Cummings to begin his statement, but when it 

became clear that Chairman Issa did not want to hear 

what Ranking Member Cummings was saying, turned off 

Ranking Member Cummings’ microphone, ordered Republican staff to ‘‘close it down,’’ and repeatedly signaled 

to end the hearing with his hand across his neck; 

Whereas Ranking Member Cummings objected again, stating: 

‘‘You cannot have a one-sided investigation. There is absolutely something wrong with that.’’; 

Whereas Chairman Issa made a statement of his own and 

posed questions during the hearing, but refused to allow 

other members of the Committee, and in particular the 

Ranking Member who had sought recognition, to make 

statements under the five-minute rule in violation of 

House Rule XI; 

Whereas Chairman Issa instructed the microphones be turned 

off and adjourned the hearing without a vote or a unanimous consent agreement in violation of Rule XVI because 

he did not want to permit Ranking Member Cummings 

to speak; 

Whereas Chairman Issa’s abusive behavior on March 5 is 

part of a continuing pattern in which he has routinely excluded members of the Committee from investigative 

meetings, has turned off Members’ microphones while 

they were questioning a witness, attempted to prevent 

witnesses from answering questions, and has provided information to the press before sharing it with Committee 

members; 


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HRES 517 LTH 

Whereas on July 18, 2003, former Chairman of the Ways 

and Means Committee, Bill Thomas (R–CA) asked the 

United States Capitol Police to remove minority members 

of the Committee from the library where they were having a discussion about a pending committee mark up, 

and subsequently came to the well of the U.S. House of 

Representatives to publicly apologize for his belligerent 

behavior; 

Whereas Chairman Issa has violated Clause 1 of Rule XXIII 

of the Code of Official Conduct which states that ‘‘A 

Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer or employee of the House shall behave at all times in a manner 

that shall reflect creditably on the House’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly 

2 condemns the offensive and disrespectful manner in which 

3 Chairman Darrell E. Issa conducted the hearing of the 

4 House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

5 on March 5, 2014, and requires that he come to the well 

6 of the House to issue a public apology to Members of the 

7 House. 

Æ 


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