Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Bill: 113-hres-517
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5]
Introduced: 2014-03-13
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Congressional committees

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

House of Representatives

Legislative rules and procedure

Members of Congress
Latest action: action_date: 2014-03-13
text: On motion to table the measure Agreed to by recorded vote: 217 - 173, 10 Present (Roll no. 133).

Summaries:
action_date: 2014-03-13
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>Condemns the offensive and disrespectful manner in which Chairman Darrell E. Issa conducted the hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 5, 2014.</p> <p> Requires that he come to the well of the House of Representatives to issue a public apology to Members of the House. <BR> </p>

tv_txt: IV 113th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 517 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 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; 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

That the House of Representatives strongly condemns the offensive and disrespectful manner in which Chairman Darrell E. Issa conducted the hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 5, 2014, and requires that he come to the well of the House to issue a public apology to Members of the House.