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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 295 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 295

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas The Hill reported that a prominent lobbying firm specializing in 
        obtaining defense earmarks for its clients, the subject of a ``federal 
        investigation into potentially corrupt political contributions'', has 
        given $3.4 million in political donations to no less than 284 Members of 
        Congress;
Whereas multiple press reports have noted questions related to campaign 
        contributions made by or on behalf of the firm; including questions 
        related to ``straw man'' contributions, the reimbursement of employees 
        for political giving, pressure on clients to give, a suspicious pattern 
        of giving, and the timing of donations relative to legislative activity;
Whereas Roll Call has taken note of the timing of contributions from employees 
        of the firm and its clients when it reported that they ``have provided 
        thousands of dollars worth of campaign contributions to key Members in 
        close proximity to legislative activity, such as the deadline for 
        earmark request letters or passage of a spending bill.'';
Whereas CQ Today specifically noted a Member getting ``$25,000 in campaign 
        contribution money from [the founder of the firm] and his relatives 
        right after his subcommittee approved its spending bill in 2005.'';
Whereas the Associated Press noted that Members received campaign contributions 
        from employees of the firm ``around the time they requested'' earmarks 
        for companies represented by the firm;
Whereas the Associated Press highlighted the ``huge amounts of political 
        donations'' from the firm and its clients to select Members and noted 
        that ``those political donations have followed a distinct pattern: The 
        giving is especially heavy in March, which is prime time for submitting 
        written earmark requests.'';
Whereas clients of the firm received at least three hundred million dollars 
        worth of earmarks in fiscal year 2009 appropriations legislation, 
        including several that were approved even after news of the FBI raid of 
        the firm's offices and Justice Department investigation into the firm 
        was well known;
Whereas the Associated Press reported that ``the FBI says the investigation is 
        continuing, highlighting the close ties between special-interest 
        spending provisions known as earmarks and the raising of campaign 
        cash.''; and
Whereas the persistent media attention focused on questions about the nature and 
        timing of campaign contributions related to the firm, as well as reports 
        of the Justice Department conducting research on earmarks and campaign 
        contributions, raise concern about the integrity of Congressional 
        proceedings and the dignity of the institution: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, or a 
        subcommittee of the committee designated by the committee and 
        its members appointed by the chairman and ranking member, shall 
        immediately begin an investigation into the relationship 
        between the source and timing of past campaign contributions to 
        Members of the House related to the raided firm and earmark 
        requests made by Members of the House on behalf of clients of 
        the raided firm; and
            (2) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall 
        submit a report of its findings to the House of Representatives 
        within 2 months after the date of adoption of the resolution.
                                 <all>
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