Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.

#660 | HRES Congress #116

Last Action: UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST - Ms. Scanlon asked unanimous consent that Mr. Cole of Oklahoma be permitted to insert the text of the amendment he would have offered had the House rejected the previous question on H. Res. 660, along with extraneous material, into the Record immediately prior to the vote on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 660. Agreed to without objection. (10/31/2019)

Bill Text Source: Congress.gov

Summary and Impacts
Original Text
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 660 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 660

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      October 31, 2019.
    Resolved, That the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the 
Committees on Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Oversight and 
Reform, and Ways and Means, are directed to continue their ongoing 
investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into 
whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise 
its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United 
States of America.

SEC. 2. OPEN AND TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATIVE PROCEEDINGS BY THE PERMANENT SELECT 
              COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE.

    For the purpose of continuing the investigation described in the first 
section of this resolution, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
(referred to in this resolution as the ``Permanent Select Committee'') is 
authorized to conduct proceedings pursuant to this resolution as follows:
            (1) The chair of the Permanent Select Committee shall designate an 
        open hearing or hearings pursuant to this section.
            (2) Notwithstanding clause 2(j)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
        House of Representatives, upon recognition by the chair for such purpose 
        under this paragraph during any hearing designated pursuant to paragraph 
        (1), the chair and ranking minority member of the Permanent Select 
        Committee shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal specified 
        periods of longer than five minutes, as determined by the chair. The 
        time available for each period of questioning under this paragraph shall 
        be equal for the chair and the ranking minority member. The chair may 
        confer recognition for multiple periods of such questioning, but each 
        period of questioning shall not exceed 90 minutes in the aggregate. Only 
        the chair and ranking minority member, or a Permanent Select Committee 
        employee if yielded to by the chair or ranking minority member, may 
        question witnesses during such periods of questioning. At the conclusion 
        of questioning pursuant to this paragraph, the committee shall proceed 
        with questioning under the five-minute rule pursuant to clause 
        2(j)(2)(A) of rule XI.
            (3) To allow for full evaluation of minority witness requests, the 
        ranking minority member may submit to the chair, in writing, any 
        requests for witness testimony relevant to the investigation described 
        in the first section of this resolution within 72 hours after notice is 
        given for the first hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1). Any 
        such request shall be accompanied by a detailed written justification of 
        the relevance of the testimony of each requested witness to the 
        investigation described in the first section of this resolution.
            (4)(A) The ranking minority member of the Permanent Select Committee 
        is authorized, with the concurrence of the chair, to require, as deemed 
        necessary to the investigation--
                    (i) by subpoena or otherwise--
                            (I) the attendance and testimony of any person 
                        (including at a taking of a deposition); and
                            (II) the production of books, records, 
                        correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents; and
                    (ii) by interrogatory, the furnishing of information.
            (B) In the case that the chair declines to concur in a proposed 
        action of the ranking minority member pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 
        ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the committee 
        for decision the question whether such authority shall be so exercised 
        and the chair shall convene the committee promptly to render that 
        decision, subject to the notice procedures for a committee meeting under 
        clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI.
            (C) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be signed by the 
        ranking minority member, and may be served by any person designated by 
        the ranking minority member.
            (5) The chair is authorized to make publicly available in electronic 
        form the transcripts of depositions conducted by the Permanent Select 
        Committee in furtherance of the investigation described in the first 
        section of this resolution, with appropriate redactions for classified 
        and other sensitive information.
            (6) The Permanent Select Committee is directed to issue a report 
        setting forth its findings and any recommendations and appending any 
        information and materials the Permanent Select Committee may deem 
        appropriate with respect to the investigation described in the first 
        section of this resolution. The chair shall transmit such report and 
        appendices, along with any supplemental, minority, additional, or 
        dissenting views filed pursuant to clause 2(l) of rule XI, to the 
        Committee on the Judiciary and make such report publicly available in 
        electronic form, with appropriate redactions to protect classified and 
        other sensitive information. The report required by this paragraph shall 
        be prepared in consultation with the chairs of the Committee on Foreign 
        Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

SEC. 3. TRANSMISSION OF ADDITIONAL MATERIALS.

    The chair of the Permanent Select Committee or the chair of any other 
committee having custody of records or other materials relating to the inquiry 
referenced in the first section of this resolution is authorized, in 
consultation with the ranking minority member, to transfer such records or 
materials to the Committee on the Judiciary.

SEC. 4. IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY PROCEDURES IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY.

    (a) The House authorizes the Committee on the Judiciary to conduct 
proceedings relating to the impeachment inquiry referenced in the first section 
of this resolution pursuant to the procedures submitted for printing in the 
Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee on Rules, including such 
procedures as to allow for the participation of the President and his counsel.
    (b) The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to promulgate additional 
procedures as it deems necessary for the fair and efficient conduct of committee 
hearings held pursuant to this resolution, provided that the additional 
procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures referenced in subsection 
(a), the Rules of the Committee, and the Rules of the House.
    (c)(1) The ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary is 
authorized, with the concurrence of the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, 
to require, as deemed necessary to the investigation--
            (A) by subpoena or otherwise--
                    (i) the attendance and testimony of any person (including at 
                a taking of a deposition); and
                    (ii) the production of books, records, correspondence, 
                memoranda, papers, and documents; and
            (B) by interrogatory, the furnishing of information.
    (2) In the case that the chair declines to concur in a proposed action of 
the ranking minority member pursuant to paragraph (1), the ranking minority 
member shall have the right to refer to the committee for decision the question 
whether such authority shall be so exercised and the chair shall convene the 
committee promptly to render that decision, subject to the notice procedures for 
a committee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI.
    (3) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be signed by the ranking 
minority member, and may be served by any person designated by the ranking 
minority member.
    (d) The Committee on the Judiciary shall report to the House of 
Representatives such resolutions, articles of impeachment, or other 
recommendations as it deems proper.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.