WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) strongly backed Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) after he announced his intent to file a privileged resolution in response to the threats by senior Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) on the House floor today. The resolution, set to be introduced by Rogers on Monday, will force the full House to vote on whether to reprimand Murtha for his conduct. Boehner issued the following statement:
“The resolution offered by Congressman Rogers outlines a blatant abuse of power stemming from a Republican-authored proposal to cut wasteful earmark spending from legislation pending before the House. This egregious action is not only beneath the dignity of this institution, it constitutes a violation of House rules, which preclude Members from conditioning earmarks on another Member’s vote, and the House should reprimand Murtha for his conduct.
“Mike Rogers knows public corruption and he knows about threats and intimidation. For five years as an FBI Special Agent, it was Rogers’ job to go after those who abused the public’s trust and to stare down mobsters. No Member of Congress should be threatened or intimidated because of his or her efforts to crack down on wasteful spending and protect the interests of taxpayers.
“This is yet another example of the Democrats abusing the rules of the House and breaking the commitments they made to the American people. In fact, over the last four months they have not led at all, nor have they delivered anything remotely close to an open, deliberative, and results-oriented House.”
NOTE: Last Friday, Rogers offered a GOP motion-to-recommit to the FY 2008 Intelligence Act that would have taken funding away from an illegitimate, wasteful earmark tucked into the bill to benefit Murtha in order to restore funding for human intelligence programs. The Murtha earmark would authorize tens of millions for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), a government agency based in Murtha’s district that the House Government Reform Committee has deemed “an expensive and duplicative use of scarce federal drug enforcement resources,” according to an article in the May 8 edition of The Hill.
Today, on the House floor, Murtha violated House rules by telling Rogers “I hope you don’t have any earmarks in the appropriations bills because they are gone and you will not get any earmarks now and forever.”
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