IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 878 
Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2018 
Mr. CROWLEY submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the table 
RESOLUTION 
Raising a question of the privileges of the House. 
Whereas the tradition of the House Chaplain dates to the 
earliest days of the House of Representatives, beginning 
in 1789; 
Whereas the role of House Chaplain has been filled by sixty 
individuals of various religious denominations, serving 
Members of Congress of all faiths; 
Whereas Father Patrick Conroy has served honorably as 
House Chaplain since May 25, 2011, when he was ap-
pointed by then-Speaker John A. Boehner in consultation 
with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi; 
Whereas Father Conroy had been re-appointed and elected by 
the House of Representatives on three separate occasions, 
most recently January 3, 2017; 
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HRES 878 LTH 
Whereas on April 16, 2018, the nation’s first Jesuit—and 
only the second Catholic—Chaplain of the U.S. House of 
Representatives submitted his resignation before the full 
House; 
Whereas the Chaplain had only eight months remaining in 
his term of service to the House; 
Whereas this resignation was requested by the office of Paul 
D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives; 
Whereas the Speaker’s office said ‘‘. . . the decision (to re-
move the Chaplain) was his (Speaker Ryan’s);’’ 
Whereas on May 3, 2018, Father Conroy submitted a letter 
retracting and rescinding his resignation, which was ac-
cepted by Speaker Ryan; 
Whereas despite the Speaker’s statement accepting this re-
traction letter, a number of Members of Congress remain 
concerned about what motivated the original request for 
Father Conroy to resign and the lack of adequate notifi-
cation or explanation given to Members; 
Whereas the rights of Members of the House of Representa-
tives were undermined when the leader of one party made 
a unilateral decision to ask for the resignation of the 
Chaplain; 
Whereas this resignation and the circumstances behind it has 
compromised the integrity and the dignity of the House 
of Representatives by politicizing the office of the House 
Chaplain: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) There is hereby established a select com-
mittee to investigate the circumstances around the 
resignation of the House Chaplain. 
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(2) The select committee shall be comprised of 
six members, of which three shall be appointed by 
the Chair of the Committee on Ethics, and three by 
the Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics. 
(3) The select committee shall investigate the 
motivations and actions that led to the resignation 
of the Chaplain, including the decisions to remove 
the Chaplain and the process by which Members of 
Congress were notified of the resignation. 
(4) The select committee shall provide a report 
to the House by July 13, 2018. 
Æ 
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