Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically the bribery of a senator or representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Congress has generally applied to the refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by a Congressional committee or subcommittee — usually seeking to compel either testimony or the production of documents.
Read more about Contempt Of Congress: History, Subpoenas, Procedures, Partial List of Those Held in Contempt Since 1975, Other Legislatures in The U.S.
Famous quotes containing the words contempt of, contempt and/or congress:
“Ignorance, forgetfulness, or contempt of the rights of man are the only causes of public misfortunes and of the corruption of governments.”
—French National Assembly. Declaration of the Rights of Man (drafted and discussed Aug. 1789, published Sept. 1791)
“Allusion has been made to [Proust’s] contempt for the literature that “describes,” for the realists and naturalists worshipping the offal of experience, prostrate before the epidermis and the swift epilepsy, and content to transcribe the surface, the façade, behind which the Idea is prisoner.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Any officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)