Resolution Recommending That the House of Representatives Find Hector Roos in Contempt of Congress for Refusal to Comply with Subpoenas Duly Issued By the Committee on Ethics

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution holding Hector Roos in contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with duly authorized subpoenas issued by the Committee on Ethics.

The investigative subcommittee, in the matter of Sheila Cherfilus- McCormick, repeatedly sought documents and testimony from Mr. Roos, who was a key witness in the matter. Yet Mr. Roos failed to comply with voluntary requests for information and multiple subpoenas in the 118th and 119th Congresses.

While other witnesses did not fully cooperate with the committee's investigation, Mr. Roos' conduct went further. He simply ignored multiple subpoenas without asserting any valid legal privilege or basis for noncompliance.

Despite his later claims that he affirmatively reached out to the committee after he was contacted about his noncompliance, Mr. Roos never communicated to an email address belonging to any staff, and he failed to respond to numerous emails and phone calls at the points of contact where he claims to have been reachable.

The bipartisan subcommittee unanimously found, and the full committee agreed, that his conduct unnecessarily and significantly delayed the committee's investigation and was thus worthy of a referral for criminal contempt proceedings.

Compliance with the Ethics Committee subpoenas is not optional, as I have said before. This contempt resolution is meant to demonstrate to witnesses before the committee that obstructive conduct has consequences, and the committee will vigorously use all the tools at its disposal to thoroughly and swiftly investigate allegations of misconduct.

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