April D. Ryan

OPENING REMARKS:

Mister Speaker, this Resolution addresses an issue of great importance to current and future members of this august body-the proper conduct of its members. Despite statements made by various leaders of the other party, this is not about partisan politics or ‘inappropriate comments.’ To the contrary, this is about the rules of this House and reprehensible conduct. I stand here as a former public school teacher and the proud father of a current public school teacher who teaches in the Congressional District represented by Congressman Wilson. My grandchildren attend public schools in that District.

But Mister Speaker, this Hall is the most prominent classroom in this great country, and all of us are teachers. We are bound by duty and the offices we hold to conduct ourselves as such. Classroom teachers and school children across the country and around the world looking in on our proceedings should see proper decorum and hear civil discourse. Our teachers are expected to teach and our students to learn proper behavior. All of us are expected to give appropriate support and deference to the institutions that help us develop and maintain a civil and orderly society.

Our three separate branches of government have defined roles to play in this process, and those of us who hold positions within these branches are expected and are duty bound to treat each other with proper dignity and respect. Whether we like it or not, teachers and students see us as role models.

But none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes and we sometimes fall short of expectations. But when we do, proper contrition is expected. When one of us, while seated in a formal Session, severely violates the rules of this Body, by shamelessly hurling accusations of mendacity towards the President of these United States, our Commander-in-chief, and refuses to formally express remorse, we-at a minimum-are duty bound to express our disapproval. Our teachers, students and constituents deserve no less.

DEBATE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I want to first of all say to my friend, the [Minority] Leader, that before coming to this Congress I spent 18 years running state agencies-a state agency in South Carolina. In those 18 years I worked for four governors, two Democrats and two Republicans.

Many of you remember one of those Republicans for whom I worked for eight years was Caroll Campbell, a former member of this body. We were good friends. We often consulted with each other in the evenings. But we always respected each other, even though we were polls apart politically.

 
This is not a partisan stunt. I do not participate in partisan stunts. And I think every member here knows that. This is about the proper decorum that should take place on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.

I’d like to say to the leader, and I think he knows that he has not represented the facts correctly. On October 23, 2007, a member of this body, Representative Stark, came to this floor and apologized for behavior, as I would read, “I want to apologize to first of all, my colleagues.” And then, “many of whom have been offended,” and then he went on to say “to the president, to his family, to the troops.” That took place on this floor in 2007, October 23.

I will remind the Leader on July 23, which incidentally, happens to be Carol Campbell’s birthday, on July 23, Chairman [Bill] Thomas came to this floor, and he offered an apology, “Because of my poor judgment, the stewardship of my party as the majority party in the House has been unfairly criticized…,” and he went on to apologize.

And so all we’ve ever asked is that this body, this House receives from Mr. Wilson a similar statement of contrition. It’s all about the decorum of this House.

 
I will reiterate, I have never stood on the floor of this House in my 17 years and participated in any kind of partisan stunt. And I think the other side knows that.

 
I reserve the balance of my time.

CLOSING REMARKS :
Mr. Speaker, the leader, the Republican leader earlier referenced the great preacher. His reference can be found in the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes who says there’s a time and a place for everything. I agree with that. I believe very seriously that there is going to be a time for us to discuss health care, a time for us to discuss energy policies and education and the economy.

 
But, Mr. Speaker, the rules of this House provide the vehicle by which we carry out those discussions. If the rules are not honored, if the rules of this House are not there to maintain order we can never get to these discussions and do so in a way that would make the people of our great country proud.

The gentle lady from Michigan indicated that this is a teachable moment. Yes, it is. This is a time for us to teach not just by precept but by example, that which we say to our children, that which we say to our constituents that there are certain things that you do and certain things that you don’t do. And when you do those things that you don’t do, the proper thing to do is to show proper contrition. Not the way you may think is proper but the accepted form of contrition. The accepted form of contrition when the rules of this body are violated is to come to this floor and to request the apology of these members. And until that is done, Mr. Speaker, proper contrition has not been made.

My father used to teach me all the time, son, he would say, the first sign of a good education is good manners. I took that to heart. And I would hope that this body today would demonstrate to all of those schoolchildren who are looking in on these proceedings that we are here to demonstrate what is proper decorum for you to follow in your classrooms. We must, here today, support our teachers and help them educate our children.

Silence gives consent. We cannot be silent in this matter because we do not consent to the conduct of Mr. Wilson. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Text of the resolution is attached and can be found here:

http://majorityleader.gov/docUploads/HoyerPrivelegedResolution091509.pdf