John Linder

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 525, the following suspensions are expected to be considered today, September 27: H.R. 4000, POW/MIA; H.R. 4041, Dos Palos Land Conveyance; H.R. 3219, Native American Housing; S. 1004, Coast Guard Reauthorization Conference Report; S. 1505, Pipeline Safety; H.R. 2779, Metric Conversion (if/when Senate sends over); and S. 1972, Older American Indian Tech. Amdts.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, one more time today we have seen a pathetic display from the Democrats, who for the last 2 weeks have been demanding that a report, that now we know did not exist at the time, be published. The report was published yesterday, and we now know what it says. It says, signed by two Democrats and signed by the special counsel: It is important to understand that this action does not mean the subcommittee has at this point made any determination that there is reason to believe Representative Gingrich committed any violation within the jurisdiction of this committee. The fact of the matter is the Ethics Committee has asked for more time to look into other things. It does not say, as the gentleman from Michigan pointed out, it does not say anything about tax fraud. It does not say anything about corruption. It does not say anything about money laundering. It says, ``This action does not mean the subcommittee has at this point made any determination that there is any reason to believe that Representative Gingrich committed any violation within the jurisdiction of the committee.'' Mr. Speaker, it is time to stop the personal displays of partisanship and get on with the business of the House.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 540 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, at what point does the Chair decide that these scurrilous attacks on personalities and this abuse of the House rules becomes so out of order that people are asked to take their seat?

Mr LINDER

Mr LINDER. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. The gentleman from Missouri is referring to matters before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which is explicitly against the House rules.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, Pursuant to clause 2, rule IX, I hereby give notice of my intention to offer a question of the privileges of the House. Mr. Speaker, the resolution says: Whereas, a complaint filed against Representative Gephardt alleges House Rules have been violated by Representative Gephardt's concealment of profits gained through a complex series of real estate tax exchanges and; Whereas, the complaint also alleges possible violations of banking disclosure and campaign finance laws or regulations and; Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has in other complex matters involving complaints hired outside counsel with expertise in tax laws and regulations and; Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is responsible for determining whether Representative Gephardt's financial transactions violated standards of conduct or specific rules of the House of Representatives and; Whereas, the complaint against Representative Gephardt has been pending before the committee for more than seven months. Whereas, on Friday, September 20, 1996 the ranking Democrat of the Ethics Committee, Representative James McDermott in a public statement suggested that cases pending before the committee in excess of 60 days be referred to an outside counsel; now be it Resolved that the committee on Standards of Official Conduct is authorized and directed to hire a special counsel to assist in the investigation of the charges filed against the Democrat Leader Representative Richard Gephardt. Resolved that all relevant materials presented to, or developed by, the committee to date on the complaint be submitted to a special counsel, for review and recommendation to determine whether the committee should proceed to a preliminary inquiry.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Madam Speaker, I have a point of order.

Mr. LINDER. Point of order, Madam Speaker.

Mr. LINDER. The gentleman in the well is referring to matters before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which is explicitly against the rules of the House.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 2, rule IX, I hereby give notice of my intention to offer a question of privileges of the House.

Mr. LINDER. Madam Speaker: Whereas, a complaint filed against Representative Gephardt alleges House Rules have been violated by Representative Gephardt's concealment of profits gained through a complex series of real estate tax exchanges and; Whereas, the complaint also alleges possible violations of banking disclosure and campaign finance laws or regulations and; Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has in other complex matters involving complaints hired outside counsel with expertise in tax laws and regulations and; Whereas, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is responsible for determining whether Representative Gephardt's financial transactions violated standards of conduct or specific rules of the House of Representatives; and Whereas, the complaint against Representative Gephardt has been pending before the committee for more than seven months and the integrity of the ethics process and the manner in which Members are disciplined is called into question; and Whereas, on Friday, September 20, 1996 the ranking Democrat of the Ethics Committee, Representative James McDermott in a public statement suggested that cases pending before the committee in excess of 60 days be referred to an outside counsel; now be it Resolved that the committee on Standards of Official Conduct is authorized and directed to hire a special counsel to assist in the investigation of the charges filed against the Democrat Leader Representative Richard Gephardt. Resolved that all relevant material presented to, or developed by, the committee to date on the complaint be submitted to a special counsel, for review and recommendation to determine whether the committee should proceed to a preliminary inquiry.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. The gentleman's time has expired, but the point of order is the same one, that he is referring to matters against the rules of the House.

Mr. LINDER. Point of order, Madam Speaker.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. LINDER. The gentleman is referring one more time to matters before the committee on ethics. I believe that is against the rules of the House.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, over the course of the last 10 days or so, when the minority party has tried to bring to the floor of this House a discussion of matters before the Committee on Ethics, the Chair has consistently ruled that not only referring to the matters before the Committee on Ethics, but referring to press reports about those matters is against the rules of the House. The gentleman is standing there with a large print of an editorial out of a newspaper that does precisely that: To make the case, in print, for the people watching this, about matters before the Committee on Ethics. It strikes me that, if the Chair is going to rule that we cannot talk about it, the same argument would obtain that just displaying it is abusing the rules of the House.

Mr. LINDER. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. LINDER. Is the gentleman seeking to address the point of order, or is he making another speech? My point was this, that merely having that on display is an abuse of the rules of the House.

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman point out to me where in the entire resolution the words ``martial law'' appear? Could the gentleman point out to me where in the resolution the words ``martial law'' appear?

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this day I served notice that I would ask the House to consider a question of privilege under rule IX. I respectfully request that that resolution be brought to the floor right now.

Mr. LINDER

Mr. LINDER. Madam Speaker, it is my understanding last week that the Chair ruled that even if newspapers make references to matters before the Committee on Standards, it is inappropriate under House rules to bring those matters to the floor of the House. It is entirely acceptable for the gentlewoman from Colorado to speak on this issue as much as she wants outside the House of this Congress. But on this floor, it is against the rules.

Mr. LINDER. Point of order, Madam Speaker.