Censuring Representative Bennie Thompson.

Bill: 118-hres-479
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Gaetz, Matt [R-FL-1]
Introduced: 2023-06-07
Policy area: Congress
Latest action: action_date: 2023-06-07
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ethics.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-06-07
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>This resolution censures Representative Thompson and removes him from the Committee on Homeland Security.</p>

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 479 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 7, 2023 Mr. Gaetz (for himself and Mr. Bishop of North Carolina ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ethics RESOLUTION Censuring Representative Bennie Thompson.

Whereas, on December 30, 2022, Representative Bennie Thompson, then Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol ( January 6th Committee ), sent a letter to the Biden White House, along with property of the House of Representatives, in violation of longstanding Rules of the House of Representatives, including the Rules for the 117th Congress; Whereas, on December 30, 2022, Representative Thompson also sent a similar letter and records to the Department of Homeland Security, also in violation of the Rules; Whereas, as a committee chair, Representative Thompson was required, under rule VII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, to turn over all committee records to the Clerk of the House at the close of Congress, in order to further transparency and to preserve the historical record of Congress; Whereas Representative Thompson intentionally violated this rule, as evidenced by his letters to the executive branch, which expressly detail his expectation that the House property improperly turned over to the executive branch would eventually be turned over to the National Archives, an expectation that could only have salience if the materials turned over were, in fact, congressional records; Whereas Congress still is unsure of the scope of the records kept or improperly destroyed by the January 6th Committee, as evidenced by the May 18, 2023 letter from Representative Barry Loudermilk, chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on House Administration, to the National Archives requesting a catalogue of records produced by the January 6th Committee; and Whereas, under rule VII and rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 117th and 118th Congresses, the responsibility to ensure proper recordkeeping by a committee resides with the committee chairperson, a responsibility that Representative Thompson intentionally violated or recklessly neglected: Now, therefore, be it

That— (1) Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi be censured; (2) Representative Bennie Thompson forthwith present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure; (3) Representative Bennie Thompson be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker; and (4) Representative Bennie Thompson be, and is hereby, removed from the Committee on Homeland Security.