Got my response today. He skirts around most of the original questions, but at least he comes clean and tells me he how he voted. Mental note, only ask one question per letter.
Thank you for contacting me with your opinions regarding a recent administrative rule change in the U.S. House of Representatives Republican caucus.
As you may know, previously, internal House Republican caucus rules required that any party leader or committee chairman indicted for an alleged felony had to step aside until the case was resolved. Unfortunately, this rule opens up leaders to politically motivated and not-fact-based criminal investigations. For this reason, the caucus voted to change the rule, leaving it up to the caucus to decide if an indicted leader should step down. In addition, the new rule will require removal of a member of the leadership, a committee chairman or a subcommittee chairman upon conviction of a felony offense.
During the vote, which was taken by voice vote, I supported the rule change because I believe that the party should be responsible for selecting its leadership - and deciding when they should step aside - not a local prosecutor who has previously brought charges against Republican candidates only to drop after an election. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was targeted in this manner prior to winning her special-election Senate bid in 1993.
Again, thank you for contacting me on this issue. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.
Sincerely, Wally Herger
