Ousted Freshmen Seek Answers

December 7, 2012

Ousted Freshmen Seek Answers

(WASHINGTON) – Congressman Tim Huelskamp, Congressman Justin Amash, and Congressman David Schweikert released a letter that they sent to Speaker John Boehner asking that they be provided with a written explanation of the reasons why they were kicked off their preferred committees, including the scorecard used to judge their votes. They requested an answer by close of business Monday, December 10.

"Two days ago I asked House GOP Leadership to explain why we were taken off key committees, but my questions have gone unanswered," Congressman Huelskamp said. "Not only do I deserve answers, but the people of Kansas deserve to know as well. And, my colleagues who have been safe so far should know to how they can avoid retribution in the future. After all, the entire GOP conference was warned last week that leadership is watching their votes as well."

The full text of the letter:

Dear Speaker Boehner,

We write to request a full and complete written explanation of the rationale for removing us from our current committee assignments, including any "scorecards" presented to the Steering Committee to justify our removals.

On Monday, we learned that we had been removed from our committee assignments. Some of us learned of this news from a member of the Steering Committee; others never were officially informed and heard of the action from press accounts citing anonymous leadership staffers. To this date, no formal explanation has been given for the removal.

After learning of our removal, it came to our attention that a scorecard was presented to the Steering Committee to make the case for our removal from those committees. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Huelskamp stood before the House Republican Conference and asked to see a copy of the scorecard used to remove us.

Through this past term, we were not aware that any such scorecard existed, nor that the scores would cause us to be removed from committee assignments. We believe this would be valuable information for the entire Republican Conference to know, so that each Member can make a full and complete decision when casting votes in the future. It would also allow us to communicate to our constituents which votes caused us to be removed.

Please provide a full and complete written explanation for our removal, including a copy of the scorecard presented to the Steering Committee meeting, by close of business Monday, December 10th.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

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