The House Ethics Committee today launched a full-scale investigation regarding any conduct of House Members, officers and staff related to information concerning improper conduct involving Members and current and former pages. The investigation will be led personally by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington, and its ranking minority member, Rep. Howard L. Berman of California. The next most senior members of the Ethics Committee, Rep. Judy Biggert of Illinois and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio will also serve on the investigative subcommittee established today.
“The American people, and especially the parents of all current and former Pages, are entitled to know how this situation was handled and we are determined to answer their questions,” said Hastings and Berman in a joint statement made following a meeting of the full Ethics Committee.
The Ethics Committee, officially titled the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, met for several hours Thursday morning before voting to establish the investigative subcommittee. The investigative panel then held its first meeting and voted unanimously to approve a request by Hastings and Berman for nearly four dozen subpoenas to individuals and organizations both inside and outside of Congress.
The lawmakers said their inquiry will be conducted “as quickly as possible” and pledged that “we will go wherever the evidence takes us.”
Additional Background Information
On Friday, September 29, 2006, Representative Mark Foley resigned from the House of Representatives. After his resignation, H. Res. 1065 was introduced as a privileged resolution on the floor of the House. H. Res. 1065 directed the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to appoint a subcommittee to determine the facts connected with “Representative Foley’s conduct and the response thereto” and directed the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee to make a preliminary report within ten days. The resolution was not adopted, but was referred to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct by unanimous vote.
Because the privileged resolution was not adopted by the House, the Committee retains discretion to determine whether to take any action on this matter under Committee rules. In order to make that determination, Committee members returned to Washington from recess to deliberate on this matter in a meeting on Thursday, October 4, 2006.
The Committee has determined that this matter warrants immediate Committee review, and has therefore voted unanimously to establish an investigative subcommittee. This action was taken in accordance with clause 3 of House Rule XI and Committee Rules 1(c), 14(a)(3) and 18(a), which authorize the Committee to establish an investigative subcommittee on its own initiative.
The investigative subcommittee will have jurisdiction to conduct a formal inquiry regarding any conduct of House Members, officers and staff related to information concerning improper conduct involving Members and current and former House Pages. At the conclusion of its inquiry, the investigative subcommittee is to report its findings, conclusions and recommendations to the full committee. Anyone having first-hand knowledge regarding this matter is requested to contact the committee offices.
In accordance with Committee Rule 19(a), the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member have designated themselves as members of the subcommittee, and have designated as additional members Representative Judy Biggert and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
Please click here for Chairman Hastings' and Ranking Member Berman's statement.