LOTF: An American Political Roleplay (116th Congress)

[Sanabel]

---

John Logan Ruler (R-IA-4)
House Floor

---

"Congressman, is this a witch hunt against an honest administration to help protect members of Congress who may be involved in corruption?"

“No. This is a resolution designed to remind the Department of Justice that it has a responsibility to be transparent with this House and with the American people.”

[Sarenium]

Senate Floor

Senator Howard Frankston (R-TX): “Aye.”

Senator Deborah Feyrer (R-AL): “Aye.”

Senator Jillian Dayton (D-VA): “Aye.”

[Gordano and Lysandus]

The Acting President Pro Tempore of the Senate
[Republican - Somewhere]
{Acting President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate}

"With all votes tallied, the bill passes and will be sent to the House of Representatives. The floor is open for motions."

[Jovuistan]

Senator Richard Slater
[Republican - Arkansas]

"Mr. President, I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up An Act to Provide Emergency Tax Relief to Americans."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Senator Richard Slater
[Republican - Arkansas]

"Mr. President, I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up An Act to Provide Emergency Tax Relief to Americans."

Senator Rafael Navarro
[Democratic - State of California]

"Mr. President, I object to the motion from the Senator from Arkansas."

[Jovuistan]

Senator Richard Slater
[Republican - Arkansas]

"Mr. President, I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up An Act to Provide Emergency Tax Relief to Americans."

Slater grunted, "Excuse me, correction. I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up The End BDS Act."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Senator Richard Slater
[Republican - Arkansas]

"Mr. President, I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up An Act to Provide Emergency Tax Relief to Americans."

Slater grunted, "Excuse me, correction. I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up The End BDS Act."

Senator Rafael Navarro
[Democratic - State of California]

Raph coughs, before repeating himself.

"Mr. President, I object to the motion from the Senator from Arkansas."

[Sarenium]

Senate Floor

"Mr. President," called Jillian, "I move the Senate takes up the No More Silence Act."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Senate Floor

"Mr. President," called Jillian, "I move the Senate takes up the No More Silence Act."

Senator Rafael Navarro
[Democratic - State of California]

"Mr. President, I second the motion from the Senator from Virginia."

[Jovuistan]

Senate Floor

"Mr. President," called Jillian, "I move the Senate takes up the No More Silence Act."

Slater: "I object to the motion from the Senator from Virginia."

[Vaquas]

Senator Richard Slater
[Republican - Arkansas]

"Mr. President, I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up An Act to Provide Emergency Tax Relief to Americans."

Slater grunted, "Excuse me, correction. I move to suspend the necessary rules and take up The End BDS Act."

Senate Floor

Senator Greg Kost (R-FL): “I second the Senator from Arkansas’ motion.”

[Gordano and Lysandus]

The Acting President Pro Tempore of the Senate
[Republican - Somewhere]
{Acting President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate}

"With both a second and an objection, the Senate will now vote on whether to take up the No More Silence Act. The Clerk will call the roll."

[Jovuistan]

The Acting President Pro Tempore of the Senate
[Republican - Somewhere]
{Acting President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate}

"With both a second and an objection, the Senate will now vote on whether to take up the No More Silence Act. The Clerk will call the roll."

Slater: "Nay."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Senator Rafael Navarro
[Democratic - State of California]

"Aye."

Senator Augusta Merriam
[Republican - State of New Hampshire]

"Aye."

[Sarenium]

Senate Floor

Howard had left after the last vote to recuperate in his office before he was due to return to Texas for a week.

Senator Deborah Feyrer (R-AL): “Nay.”

Senator Jillian Dayton (D-VA): “Aye.”

[Bruke]

The Acting President Pro Tempore of the Senate
[Republican - Somewhere]
{Acting President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate}

"With both a second and an objection, the Senate will now vote on whether to take up the No More Silence Act. The Clerk will call the roll."

Volek: “Aye.”

[The Grand Duchy Of Nova Capile]

Senator Dwight Bunker
D|California

---

"Aye."

[Concerned American Workers]

---

Torrie Volker (R-MO)
Senate Floor

---

Torrie was confused at the sudden change in bill order but followed Feyrer's lead. "Nay."

---

Agatha Cragin (R-ME)
Senate Floor

---

"Nay."

---

Francine Sullivan (D-AK)
Senate Floor

---

"Aye."

[Kargintinia]

Senator Nickolai Dernilski (D-OH)

“Aye”

[Gordano and Lysandus]

The Acting President Pro Tempore of the Senate
[Republican - Somewhere]
{Acting President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate}

"With all votes counted, the motion passes and the Senate will take up the No More Silence Act. The Clerk will read the bill, and then the floor will be open for motions and debate."

Official Name: No More Silence Act
Nicknames: NMS Act, MMIW Act, MMIWG Act
Sponsor: Rep. Kathleen Nez (D-AZ-7)
House Co-Sponsors: Jay Joseph Dietrich (R-AK-At Large), Carrie Simone (D-NY-12), John Atang (D-NY-3), Fiona Lowell (D-WI-3), Kevin Villalobos (R-FL-4), Felix Holt (D-VA-10), Daniel Park (R-CA-42), Theodore Vohoffsky (R-CA-45), Davit Papazian (D-CA-28), John Logan Ruler (R-IA-4), Julia Piotrowska (D-IL-5), Jason Evander (R-SD-At Large), Diane Paulson (R-ME-2)
Senate Co-Sponsors: Francine Sullivan (D-AK), Clint Guerrera (R-CO), Gordon Callahan (D-AL), Augusta Merriam (R-NH), Erika Goldman (D-CT), Levi Murphy (D-MN), Jillian Dayton (D-VA)

Overview: American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have routinely faced economic, physical, and social violence within the United States. In modern times, a rather large and troubling sum of this violence takes place in the form of murder, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. These crimes, which are committed against Indigenous Americans, specifically Indigenous women, at much higher rates than other Americans when compared on race and gender, are frequently unreported and unprosecuted due to various reasons often stemming from the complicated legal and jurisdictional web American Indian and Alaska Native face as citizens of Federally Recognized Tribes as well as a lack of faith victims have in the system to give them the justice they so deserve given how the system has rarely worked in favor of Indigenous Americans throughout the history of the United States. What also adds to this problem is that no federal institution currently publishes statistics on murdered and missing Indigenous Americans, making it especially difficult for policymakers to understand just how pervasive this problem is. This bill seeks to increase cooperation between various levels of law enforcement as to make it simpler for Indigenous victims of epidemic violence to get justice, requires the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to regularly publish statistics on murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans, to fight against the epidemic violence many Indigenous Americans face, and to empower Federally Recognized Tribes to exercise jurisdiction of the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction.

Section 1: Definitions

A: For the purposes of this bill, "American Indian" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: A member of a Federally Recognized Tribe located in the continental United States.
B: For the purposes of this bill, "Alaska Native" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: A member of a Federally Recognized Tribe located in Alaska.
C: For the purposes of this bill, "Indian" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: Any member of a Federally Recognized Tribe.
C: For the purposes of this bill, "Native Hawaiian" is as defined under 20 U.S. Code § 7517 unless otherwise noted.
D: For the purposes of this bill, "Indigenous American" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: An American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian.
E: For the purposes of this bill, the "Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction" or "SDVCJ" is as defined under 25 U.S. Code § 1304 unless otherwise noted.
F: For the purposes of this bill, "Indian Country" is as defined under 18 U.S. Code § 1151 and 40 C.F.R. § 171.3 unless otherwise noted.
G: For the purposes of this bill, "Attorney General" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: The United States Attorney General.
H: For the purposes of this bill, "Secretary" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: The United States Secretary of the Interior.
I: For the purposes of this bill, "Committee" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: The Joint Advisory Committee on Epidemic Violence Against Indigenous Americans as established under Section 3 of this Act.
J: For the purposes of this bill, "Epidemic Violence" is defined as, unless otherwise noted: The violence Indigenous Americans have routinely faced since the beginning of colonization and continue to face in the modern-day.
K: For the purposes of this bill, "Native Hawaiian community-based organization" is as defined under 20 U.S. Code § 7517 unless otherwise noted.
L: For the purposes of this bill, "urban Indian organization" is as defined under 25 U.S. Code § 1603 unless otherwise noted.

Section 2: Findings

A: American Indian and Alaska Natives are more like become victims of violent crime over the course of their lives than average Americans.
B: Upwards of 90% of Indigenous American victims of violent crimes, regardless of gender, report being victimized by a non-Indigenous American.
C: Indigenous victims of sexual violence are 3 times more likely than Non-Indigenous victims to have been attacked by someone on non-Indigenous heritage.
E: Alaska Native women, who compromise 19% of the population of Alaska, compromise 47% of reported rape victims in Alaska.
F: Murder is the 3rd highest rate of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women.
G: In some areas of Indian Country, Indian women are murdered at a rate 10 times higher than the national murder rate.
H: Federally Recognized Tribes, when exercising jurisdiction over non-Indians via the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction have reported levels of success when it comes to giving victims justice. However great these successes are, less than 5% of all Federally Recognized Tribes currently exercise jurisdiction under the SDVCJ, leaving the vast majority of all Federally Recognized Tribes unable to hold offenders accountable on the limited crimes the SDVCJ grants Federally Recognized Tribes jurisdiction on.
I: According to a 2010 Government Accountability Office report, U.S. Attorneys declined to prosecute more than 50% of violent crimes that take place in Indian Country.
J: Investigation into cases of murdered and missing Indigenous Americans is made difficult for tribal law enforcement due to a lack of proper training, equipment, and funding as well as a present lack of cooperation between Tribal, Federal, and State law enforcement agencies.
K: The complicated inter-jurisdictional scheme the exists within Indian Country concerning violent crime has:

i: A significant negative impact on the ability to provide public safety to Indian and Alaska Native communities.
ii: Been increasingly exploited by criminals seeking to cause violence.
iii: And does require a high degree of cooperation between Tribal, Federal, and State law enforcement officials and agencies in order to hold those who create and cause violence accountable.

L: The U.S. Department of Justice considers combating human trafficking a priority, while at the same time, reliable statistics on murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans in both Indian Country and non-Indian Country continue to be unavailable.

Section 3: Establishment of the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior Joint Advisory Committee on Combating Epidemic Violence Against Indigenous Americans

A: No later than 120 days after the enactment of this Bill, The Attorney General and the Secretary shall establish and appoint all members of a Joint Advisory Committee on Epidemic Violence against Indigenous Americans.
B: Membership of the Committee shall be made up from members and leaders from the following diverse backgrounds and groups:

i: Tribal law enforcement; the office of Justice Services of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; State and Local law enforcement in close proximity to Indian Country with the recommendation of a local Tribal offical or Tribal law enforcement officer; the Department of Justice's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit; Federal public defenders within Indian Country with the recommendation of a local Tribal offical or Tribal law enforcement officer; Tribal, State, and Federal judges with experience in cases related to missing, murdered, and trafficked peoples; no fewer than 5 elected leaders of Federally Recognized Tribes, included atleast 2 elected leaders from a Federally Recognized Tribe located in Alaska; no fever than 1 Native Hawaiian leader respected by the Native Hawaiian community; Healthcare and Mental Healthcare professionals who have experience working with Indian survivors of trafficking and sexual assult, with recommendation from a Tribal offical; no fewer than 2 Indigenious American survivors of human trafficking; no fever than 2 family members of a missing Indigeniuous persons; no fever than 2 family members of murdered Indigenious persons; the Indian Health Service; Hawaii's Office of Hawaiian Affairs; members and leaders of Native Hawaiian community-based organizations; members and leaders of urban Indian organizations.

C: Members of the Committee shall be appointed for the life of the Committee, if a vacancy arises it shall be filled by the Attorney General and Secretary appointed a new member to the Committee
D: Committee members shall serve without compensation besides the provision of travel expenses and any per diem payment the Attorney General and Secretary feel appropriate.
E: Members of the Committee shall come from a diverse variety of political affiliations.

Section 4: Duties of the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior Joint Advisory Committee on Combating Epidemic Violence Against Indigenous Americans

A: No later than 240 days after the enactment of this bill, the Committee shall publish it's written recommendations to the Attorney General and the Secretary on various actions both their departments, as well as the U.S. Congress, can make to combat epidemic violence against Indigenous Americans and to increase corporation of Federal, State, Local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies. Their recommendations shall be published to the following:

i: The U.S. Attorney General
ii: The U.S. Secretary of the Interior
iii: The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
iv: The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
v: The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
vi: The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources

B: The Attorney General and the Secretary shall publish a written response on the recommendation to the following no later than 2 months after receiving the Committee's recommendation:

i: The Committee itself
ii: The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
iii: The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
iv: The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
v: The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources

C: No later than 2 years after the Committee publishes their recommendations, they shall publish another report on the effects any and all of their recommendations have caused on epidemic violence against Indigenous Americans as well as if they consider their recommendations to have been taken seriously and codified into law. This report shall be published to the following:

i: The U.S. Attorney General
ii: The U.S. Secretary of the Interior
iii: The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
iv: The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
v: The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
vi: The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources

D: No earlier than 5 years and no later than 5 years and 1 month after the Committee publishes their recommendations, they shall publish a second report on topics covered by Section 4C, published to the same groups covered by Section 4C(i-vi).
E: After publishing their second report, the Committee itself will decide if it will disband or continue publishing reports into the future at whatever frequencies it determines, as it will do after publishing any reports after the one prescribed in Section 4D.
F: The reports published under Section 4 shall be made easily accessible to the public as well.
G: The Committee shall routinely advise the Attorney General and the Secretary on matters relating to Epidemic Violence during the course of its lifetime.

Section 5: Tribal Use of Federal Criminal Information Databases

A: The Attorney General shall permit Tribal law enforcement agencies and Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement agencies to access, enter, and obtain information from the National Crime Information Center database, the Combined D.N.A. Index System, the Next Generation Identification System, and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
B: No later than 180 days after the enactment of this Bill, The Attorney General shall begin providing training to law enforcement agencies outlined in Section 5A in regards to the use of databases outlined in Section 5A.
C: No later than 180 days after the enactment of this bill, the Attorney General, the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, and the Director of the Indian Health Service shall begin outreach to Federally Recognized Tribes, State Recognized Tribes, urban Indian organizations, and Native Hawaiian community-based organizations regarding their abilities to publically enter information through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or other non-law enforcement sensitive portals regarding missing persons.

Section 6: Regarding the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction

A: $10,000,000 shall be appropriated for each fiscal year, 2020 through 2024, to be set aside into a grant which may be awarded by the Attorney General and the Secretary to Federally Recognized Tribes for the purposes of gaining and exercising proper jurisdiction under the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction, including but not limited too:

i: Law Enforcement
ii: Prosecution and Trial
iii: Detention, Correctional, and Alternative Rehabilitation Centers
iv: Probation and Parole
v: Appropriate Service and Assistance for victims of epidemic violence and their families
vi: Criminal Codes and Rules of Criminal Procedure
vii: Providing criminal defendants their rights under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution
viii: Construction of facilities related to any of the above

Section 7: Annual Murdered, Missing, and Trafficked Indigenous Reporting Requirements

A: Begining at the first fiscal year after the enactment of this bill, and for each fiscal year afterwards, the Attorney General and the Secretary shall jointly publish a report to all applicable committees listed under Section 4B(i-v) of this Act that includes the following statistics of murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans:

i: Age
ii: Gender
iii: Tribal Enrollment Information/Affiliation, if available
iv: Racial Demographics, if available
v: Current number of open cases per State, Territory, and Federal District
vi: Total number of closed cases per State, Territory, and Federal District for the most recent calendar year, as well as the most recent 10 calendar years
vii: Any other relevant information the Attorney General and/or the Secretary feel is appropriate

B: No information published in the report shall be information that can be used to identify, locate, or contact specific victims of the epidemic violence that is being reported on.
C: The report shall feature an explanation as to why the statistics gathered may or may not be considered comprehensive by the Attorney General and Secretary themselves, as well as any recommendations the Attorney General and/or the Secretary, have for improving data collection on missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous Americans.
D: The reports published under Section 7 shall be made easily accessible to the public as well.
E: $5,000,000 shall be appropriated for each fiscal year, 2020 through 2024, to be set aside into a grant which may be awarded by the Attorney General and the Secretary to Local and State law enforcement agencies for the express purpose of properly reporting and investing cases relating to murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans.

Section 8: On Inter-Jurisdictional Cooperation

A: No later than 120 days after the enactment of this bill, the Attorney General and the Secretary shall confer with and consult a number of Federally Recognized Tribes, urban Indian organizations, and Native Hawaiian community-based organization, as well as Tribal, Local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies in order to craft departmental policy on increasing cooperation between Tribal, Local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies on matters relating to murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans.
B: No later than 160 days after the confer and consult prescribed under Section 8A, the Attorney General and Secretary shall publish a report to all applicable committees listed under Section 4B(i-v) of this Act focusing on the following:

i: Any and all policy changes they intend to and will make within their departments seeking to aid inter-jurisdictional cooperation between Tribal, Local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies on matters of murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans.
ii: Any and all training programs they will seek the creation of in aiding inter-jurisdictional cooperation between Tribal, Local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies on matters of murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans.

C: The Committee shall advise the Attorney General and Secretary on any and all matter's discussed under the report prescribed by Section 8B.
D: The report published under Section 8 shall be made easily accessible to the public as well.

Section 9: On the Subject of the Grants Established in Section 6A and Section 7E

A: All grants accepted by Local, State, and Tribal law enforcement agencies are conditional on the promise that any law enforcement agency that accepts them will undergo any and all applicable training programs on increased inter-jurisdictional cooperation established after the confer and consult as prescribed under Section 8A of this Act.
B: Any and all State, Local, and Tribal law enforcement agency that accepts the grants shall be required to publish a report on how it spent the grant money to the Attorney General and Secretary who will then be required to send these reports to all applicable committees listed under Section 4B(i-v) of this Act in a responsible manner as well as any other federal agencies they're required to report monetary matters such as this to under federal law.

Section 10: Report on the Law Enforcement's Response to Reports of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Americans

A: No later than 1 year after the enactment of this bill and annually afterward, the Attorney General and Secretary shall submit a report to all applicable committees listed under Section 4B(i-v) of this Act that includes at a review of the following:

i: Each law enforcement agency, whether they be State, Federal, Tribal, or Local, that has jurisdiction over cases related to murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans as well as the basis for their jurisdiction on said cases both in and outside of Indian Country.
ii: The response procedures of any and all law enforcement agencies responsible for responding to and investigating a report of a missing, murdered, or trafficked Indigenous American.
iii: Interagency cooperation and notification policies/procedures related to cases relating to missing, murdered, or trafficked Indigenous Americans.
iv: Public notification requirements of said each level of law enforcement agency relating to missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous Americans.
v: Statistics on the percentage of cases related to murdered, missing, and trafficked Indigenous Americans that have opened, closed, and gone cold for the 10 most recent calendar years.
vi: Statistics on whether or not a report of a murdered, missing, or trafficked Indigneious Americans results in a case being opened by Federal, State, Local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies or not.
vii: Statistics on how often an Indigenous American who was found to be murdered or trafficked has had previous reports filed claiming they had gone missing that resulting in no missing person case opening.
viii: Any other relevant statistics the Attorney General and/or Secretary feel are relevant to the report.

B: The reports published under Section 10 shall be made easily accessible to the public as well.

Section 11: Additional and Added Powers to the SDVCJ

A: 25 U.S. Code § 1304 shall be amended to include the following under the jurisdictional powers of the SDVCJ:
B: Assult

i: The term "Assult" meaning any criminal violation of the law of a Federally Recognized Tribe that has jurisdiction over the area of Indian Country where a violation occurs involving the threatening of, attempting of, or actual the engagement of harmful or offensive touching against a citizen of said Federally Recognized Tribe.

C: Sexual Violence

i: The term "Sexual Violence" meaning any criminal violation of the law of a Federally Recognized Tribe that has jurisdiction over the area of Indian Country where a violation occurs involving non-consensual sexual activity or contact against a citizen of said Federally Recognized Tribe.

D: Stalking

i: The term "Stalking" meaning any criminal violation of the law of a Federally Recognized Tribe that has jurisdiction over the area of Indian Country where a violation occurs involving a course of conduct directed at a specific Indian that would cause said specific Indian to feel fear and/or paranoia involving a citizen of said Federally Recognized Tribe.

E: Human Trafficking

i: The term "Human Trafficking" meaning any criminal violation of the law of a Federally Recognized Tribe that has jurisdiction over the area of Indian Country where a violation occurs involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act from a citizen of said Federally Recognized Tribe.

F: Obstruction of Justice

i: The term "Obstruction of Justice" meaning any criminal violation of the law of a Federally Recognized Tribe that has jurisdiction over the area of Indian Country where a violation occurs involving the illegal interference of due process, administration of tribal law, a tribal criminal proceeding, or a tribal investigation of a crime against said Federally Recognized Tribe.

Section 12: Date Effective

A: This bill shall become effective immediately on the date it is signed into law.

This bill is then honorably presented to U.S. House of Representatives for consideration in order to fight against the epidemic violence Indigenous Americans often face to improve the United States Law and is backed by Kathleen Nez on July 26, 2019.

Do Not Remove: 1337

[Concerned American Workers]

---

Francine Sullivan (D-AK)
Senate Floor

---

"I move to vote on the Act."

---

Agatha Cragin (R-ME)
Senate Floor

---

"I second the motion."

[Gordano and Lysandus]

The Acting President Pro Tempore of the Senate
[Republican - Somewhere]
{Acting President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate}

"Hearing no objections, the Senate will proceed to vote on the No More Silence Act. The Clerk will call the roll."

[Concerned American Workers]

---

John Logan Ruler (R-IA-4)
House Floor

---

Ruler shook his head.

"Perhaps the House and Senate should be transparent first. This is what I think. I mean, this is what the Attorney General was investigating. So I see this contempt resolution as backlash to an honest man doing honest work to rid Congress of corruption. What are the Washington elite hiding? Cause to go after those you find the truth because we disagree with them is ridiculous wouldn't you agree? This is what we do now. I mean, Congressman, would you agree that Senator Karel Volek's vast and prolific insider trading that was revealed in a 2012 investigation or Congressman Daniel Ziegler's secretive non-disclosure contracts that his own staff's whistleblowers revealed were only able to come to light because honest people did not fear finding out the truth?"

He shook his head vigorously at the end.

[Vaquas]

---

John Logan Ruler (R-IA-4)
House Floor

---

Ruler shook his head.

"Perhaps the House and Senate should be transparent first. This is what I think. I mean, this is what the Attorney General was investigating. So I see this contempt resolution as backlash to an honest man doing honest work to rid Congress of corruption. What are the Washington elite hiding? Cause to go after those you find the truth because we disagree with them is ridiculous wouldn't you agree? This is what we do now. I mean, Congressman, would you agree that Senator Karel Volek's vast and prolific insider trading that was revealed in a 2012 investigation or Congressman Daniel Ziegler's secretive non-disclosure contracts that his own staff's whistleblowers revealed were only able to come to light because honest people did not fear finding out the truth?"

He shook his head vigorously at the end.

House Floor

Representative Ziegler ignored the remark from his seat and continued to play Angry Birds on his phone, sending a large triangular bird through the foundation of a wooden pyramid and taking out several pigs.

[Jovuistan]

---

John Logan Ruler (R-IA-4)
House Floor

---

Ruler shook his head.

"Perhaps the House and Senate should be transparent first. This is what I think. I mean, this is what the Attorney General was investigating. So I see this contempt resolution as backlash to an honest man doing honest work to rid Congress of corruption. What are the Washington elite hiding? Cause to go after those you find the truth because we disagree with them is ridiculous wouldn't you agree? This is what we do now. I mean, Congressman, would you agree that Senator Karel Volek's vast and prolific insider trading that was revealed in a 2012 investigation or Congressman Daniel Ziegler's secretive non-disclosure contracts that his own staff's whistleblowers revealed were only able to come to light because honest people did not fear finding out the truth?"

He shook his head vigorously at the end.

Representative Phillip Crawford
[Democratic - 12th District of Kentucky]
{Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives}

Crawford took a few seconds to consult the Clerk before he spoke up to address the Chamber.

"Upon consultation with the Clerk, I will have to rule that the question from the gentleman from Iowa is irrelevant to the question being presented before the House and is thus out of order!"