[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 6, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H831-H833]
RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to rule IX, I rise to a question of
the privileges of the House, and I send to the desk a privileged
resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
The Clerk read as follows:
Resolution
Raising a question of the privileges of the House pursuant to rule IX.
Whereas the first duty of Members of Congress is to uphold
their constitutional duty to protect and defend the American
people, and the House Majority and its leadership have
abdicated that duty by permitting actions that give Russia a
clearer view of our intelligence capabilities;
Whereas the integrity of the legislative process of the
House has been seriously damaged by the Majority's failure to
properly adhere to the procedures of clause 11 (g) of rule X,
of the Rules of the House of Representatives in seeking to
release highly classified information contained in a memo by
the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Devin
Nunes to assist the President in attacking the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and undermining ongoing investigations into
Russia's meddling in America's elections;
Whereas the Department of Justice on January 24, 2018
warned Chairman Nunes that releasing his memo without
affording the FBI and the Department an opportunity to review
and advise the Intelligence Committee of risks to our
national security and ongoing investigations would be
``extraordinarily reckless'';
Whereas on January 29, 2018 after Chairman Nunes refused to
allow the FBI and the Department of Justice to advise the
Intelligence Committee of risks to our national security and
intelligence, the Committee voted on a party-line vote to
release the Nunes memo pursuant to clause 11 (g) of rule x;
Whereas during the business meeting of January 29, 2018,
the Intelligence Committee on a party-line vote refused to
release a memo by the Ranking Member, thereby providing only
a misleading perspective for Members and the public about the
propriety of the FISA court's actions described in the Nunes
Memo;
Whereas on January 31, 2018, the FBI publicly indicated
that the Nunes memo is based upon the distortion of highly
classified information and contains ``material omissions of
fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy'';
Whereas on January 31, 2018, Chairman Nunes transmitted a
memo to the President that contained material changes from
the version that the Intelligence Committee approved on
January 29, 2018, and did so without a vote of the
Intelligence Committee to authorize that particular memo's
release, thereby failing to adhere to the procedures outlined
in clause 11 (g) of rule X and calling into question the
integrity of the legislative and committee process;
Whereas the President's decision to declassify the Nunes
Memo on February 2, 2018 and allow the release of this highly
misleading memo was ``an unprecedented action,'' according to
the Department of Justice;
Whereas House Intelligence Committee Republicans refused to
answer whether Republican Members or staff consulted or
coordinated with the White House in the preparation of the
Nunes memo;
Whereas Administration officials, members of the national
security community and experts across the political spectrum
have debunked and denounced the Nunes memo since its
publication;
Whereas on February 5, 2018 during the Intelligence
Committee's business meeting, a full week after voting to
release only the Committee Republicans' memo and not to
release a separate memo prepared by the Committee's Ranking
Member, the Committee finally voted unanimously to release
the memo by the Ranking Member;
Whereas the record must be set straight by releasing for
public view after appropriate classification review the memo
prepared by the Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee;
and
Whereas this House must defend our national security and
intelligence before that of any political party or any
President's personal interest: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the House of Representatives disapproves of Chairman
Nunes transmitting a memo to the President over the objection
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that it was
misleading and inaccurate and that contained material changes
from the version that the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence approved on January 29, 2018, without a vote of
that committee to authorize that particular memo's release,
in violation of clause 11 (g) of rule X of the Rules of the
House of Representatives; and
(2) it is imperative that the House vote to call upon the
President to expeditiously seek review, by the Department of
Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and process
and release the memo by the Ranking Member of the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, and that the President
declassify such memo without any redactions based on
political considerations, for the sake of America's national
security, the public interest, and the integrity of the
legislative process and ongoing investigations.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentlewoman from California wish to
present argument on the parliamentary question of whether the
resolution presents a question of the privileges of the House?
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I do.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is recognized on the
question of order.
{time} 1645
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I wish to explain why the House should
consider this privileged resolution.
Mr. Speaker, Members of Congress take an oath to support and defend
the Constitution of the United States and protect the American people.
The House majority and its leadership have abandoned that duty.
It is imperative that the House vote to release the Democratic memo
to set the record straight on Republicans' attempts to undermine the
Russian investigation. It is also important to note that who knows what
they have next.
The majority's decision to release highly classified and distorted
intelligence is profoundly dangerous and gives a bouquet to Putin. As
the Department of Justice warned, the public
[[Page H832]]
release of the memo is an unprecedented action and extraordinarily
reckless.
The FBI also expressed grave concerns about the material omissions of
fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy. The memo prepared
by the House Intelligence Committee's Democrats must be expeditiously
released after review and appropriate redaction of sources and methods
by law enforcement officials: the Justice Department, the intelligence
community.
The President must declassify the memo without any redactions based
on any political considerations. This is an urgent matter of national
security and intelligence.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair has heard arguments on the
question of order. The Chair is prepared to rule.
The gentlewoman from California seeks to offer a resolution as a
question of the privileges of the House under rule IX. The resolution
resolves, in part, that the House take a certain vote and ``process and
release'' a memo prepared by a Member of the House.
In evaluating the resolution under rule IX, the Chair must determine
whether the resolution affects ``the rights of the House collectively
and its safety, dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings.''
As the Chair has ruled in analogous circumstances, including, for
example, on November 4, 1999, and on December 13, 2011, a resolution
expressing the sentiment that the House should act on a specified item
of business does not constitute a question of the privileges of the
House.
Accordingly, the resolution offered by the gentlewoman from
California does not constitute a question of the privileges of the
House under rule IX.
For what purpose does the gentleman from Maryland seek recognition?
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry relating to
the powers of the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Do the House rules in rule X, clause 11(g), which define----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend.
For what purpose does the gentlewoman from California seek
recognition?
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to hear the gentleman's
parliamentary inquiry, but if the Chair is not going to allow that to
be heard, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Shall the decision of the
Chair stand as the judgment of the House?
Motion to Table
Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. McCarthy moves that the appeal be laid on the table.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on the motion to table will be followed by 5-minute votes
on:
Ordering the previous question on House Resolution 727, and
Adopting House Resolution 727, if ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 236,
noes 190, not voting 4, as follows:
[Roll No. 57]
AYES--236
Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Banks (IN)
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Brady (TX)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Curtis
Davidson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Donovan
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Dunn
Emmer
Estes (KS)
Farenthold
Faso
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frelinghuysen
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garrett
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Handel
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Katko
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Knight
Kustoff (TN)
Labrador
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lewis (MN)
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Noem
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney, Francis
Rooney, Thomas J.
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce (CA)
Russell
Rutherford
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smucker
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Zeldin
NOES--190
Adams
Aguilar
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capuano
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Crist
Crowley
Cuellar
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Esty (CT)
Evans
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hanabusa
Hastings
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kihuen
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham, M.
Lujan, Ben Ray
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
Norcross
O'Halleran
O'Rourke
Pallone
Panetta
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rosen
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--4
Beyer
Cummings
Shuster
Walz
{time} 1703
So the motion to table was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted
``nay'' on rollcall No. 53, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 54, ``nay'' on
rollcall No. 55, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 56, and ``nay'' on rollcall
No. 57.
[[Page H833]]
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