Steny Hoyer: “And I hope all Members are watching this because they need to consider this very strongly, that the gentleman cannot…”

“And I hope all Members are watching this because they need to consider this very strongly, that the gentleman cannot have it both ways. The gentleman wants a bipartisan process. The Speaker was bringing a bipartisan process, which means that in order to proceed to an investigative subcommittee you would have to have a majority vote, which would be bipartisan, a bipartisan vote to proceed to the investigative committee. What some partisans had found, that if there was no agreement and charges brought against a Member, the Member would be hung out to dry. There would be no action, or there could be automatic action without a majority vote of the committee. That is the problem. That is what allows people to use it for partisan politics is that if one side or the other decides to deadlock the ethics committee, then the Member that has been charged can be held out and held up for many days, if not months, before a resolution of that charge comes.”