freshman class in the 103rd Congress (1993-94) had a record high membership of 110 Members,
Republicans only picked-up 10 seats over their total membership in the previous Congress.
Ironically, even though the 103rd Congress would be the run-up to the Republican
takeover of Congress in the 1994 elections, things were relatively quiet in terms of question of
privilege resolutions, with only 11 resolutions offered compared to 28 in the 102nd Congress. Of
the 11, seven were offered by majority party members and four by minority members. Five of the
11 were clean-up business from the post office scandal, two by the majority leader and two by the
minority leader, and one by Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.).
The only other resolution of note was one by Rep. Gerald B.H. Solomon, the ranking
Republican on the House Rules Committee. Solomon
=s question of privilege related to the
newly adopted House rule that gave the four House delegates and the resident commissioner of
Puerto Rico a vote in the Committee of the WholeBsomething Solomon contended was
unconstitutional because they did were not chosen by people of the several states. Solomon had
made an issue of the new voting privileges since the first day of the Congress and made a practice
of requiring separate votes in the House on every amendment adopted in the Committee of the
Whole to a bill. He also joined with the leadership in challenging the rule in the courtsBa
challenge they lost at the district court level because one provision of the rule allowed for an
immediate vote back in the House if a delegate
=s vote made the difference in the outcome of a
Committee of the Whole vote. The Speaker ruled that Solomon
=s question of privilege
resolution did not constitute a question of privilege because it attempted to change a House rule.
Solomon
=s appeal of the Speaker=s ruling was tabled on a party unity vote, 251-174.
The New Minority and Question of Privilege
The 104th Congress (1995-96) was in marked contrast to the 103rd Congress when it
came to questions of privilege, with Democrats lashing back with full fury at being ousted from
power. Of the 20 question of privilege resolutions offered, 14 originated with minority party
members. Interestingly, the Democrats were not particularly concerned that many of their
resolutions did not raises legitimate questions of privilege. Of the 14 Democratic resolutions
offered, eight were ruled out of order, and, in seven of those instances, the rulings were appealed
and led to party unity votes on majority motions to table the appeals.
The prime target of the legitimate minority question of privilege resolutions was the ethics
committee inquiry into charges lodged against Speaker Gingrich. Five of the six legitimate
Convention