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Related to ongoing investigations. Thanks to the debate starting with massachusetts representative jim mcgovern. Mr. Speaker this is a dark time this, congress is being tested in this case not by a foreign adversary but you by our own president undertaking a campaign of obstruction and stone walling. We have never seen anything like this. Never before, mr. Speaker, is party sodent of either ignored congresss constitutional oversight ons rity and our nati separation of powers. You dont have to take my word for it. President trump declared, quote, ande fighting all subpoenas hes torney general refused to release the evidence reached ompromise was yesterday after the Judiciary Committee held him in contempt of congress. The attorney general went from, efense s lawyer to the d counsel for the president of the United States. These are documents Congress Needs to see, if they do not, and if the attorney general holds back information, then all be on the table in addition to the fact some we deserve to obtain could well fall outside of the agreement. The Mueller Report is the tip of the iceberg. Is using absolute immunity and legislative purpose, all to obstruct inquiries into matters that mpact americans daily lives, this includes those with onditions and family separation policy that as torn part families and his misappropriation of military funds and his decision to roll rights dmark civil protections. The sort of concentrated power the founders prevented through the creation of the three separate, but equal government. Each branch with unique ected tobilities and exp as though the law requires it. Ar, strategy here is cle tweet by tweet, quote by quote, hes laid it there for all to eem the question is whether ngress, this majority will not allow this president to urn a blind eye to the roll of law. I introduced this Congress Tries to we can make clear no one is en the he law not ev president of the United States. Lets do right by the american gentle lady from arizona is recognized. U, mr. Speaker. Thank you. Opposition of House Resolution 430. Its disappointing were debating a measure that will no impacts. Instead fixing pressing issues, the democrats continue their the 2020 nfluencing expense, at taxpayer democrats claimed the president the ded to interfere in 2016 president ial election. 22 months, 40 fbi agents are spending 35 million special concluded there is no collusion between President Trump and russia. Im with ot charge h obstruction. My colleagues continue to ermine the und president of the United States because all i can think of is that they havent accepted the he won the election. Its clear to me theyre trying to influence the election. Americans are real problems and tackling d should be instead. N may, the u. S. Border patrol apprehended aaugh dropping 133,000 people at our oern border, only people he caught. Yes. Were here debating subpoenas resident, the p probably because it will provide the testimonies free air time this, resolution should not be y. The floor toda its mef opinion done before in the history of the United States. The house is is only sued for documents twice before and both cases, the individuals in uestion were pound in contempt both economy earls including grand jury materials and asking attorney general barr to violate law. We tried to improve this, the democrats blocked us at every turn. I offered an amendment to let w e American People know ho taxpayers. Would cost fund this witch hunt, blocked everyone. A d one highlights the medi resolution. This republicans requiring to certify effort but od faith the democrats blocked that amendment, too. Has been ey general transparent. Nd department of justice attempted numerous accommodat n accommodations including agreeing to let unredacted an can hot opinion released. Unresidented remand to subpoena weeks. S resolution in not to view this as thinking but political. I reserve the balance of my time. Im happy to yield. Recognized. Thank you. S 430 to compel vide ney general bar to pro and compelling to vil w chairs to bring ci actions on behalf of their committees to enforce their thorized by theau Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group hres430 key to ensuring congress rcise e to efficiently exe its constitutional in a president that said, quote, were fighting subpoenas and i dont want people testifying. Who does he think he is . A dictator . Committees have requested information were entitled to and hat we have subpoenaed deutsche including of k including the accounts President Trump and family another dislay, i will continue to ensure our impeded. T is not lady from arizona is recognized. I yield seven minutes to representative are georgia. Mr. Collins. S today is a strong opposition ay authorizing a committee to in this or intervene authority. The house is putting the branch an unfortunate position. Proceeding in this manner is eakening to carry out our responsibility. Unique. E is attempting to report and are authorizing the the attorney official d any other is a media and democrat ident being pres quick to sue. That is what the majority is doing having pushed to contempt were pipasing that altogether court. Ing to angd eakened the house this is a problem. The majority can mess up oversight however they want to can rush to judgment and here is the problem. When rushing to this and taking that are not were found which earing its not legal in the getting documents on this is on and overgrown from these committees. Now, they hay want to screw it up now. Future. Want it in the tacherred by a rush to judgment. The house wont be standing as advertise inned to this form. Majority refused to engage that process. The g our market up, several admissions and stated its the beginning of a dialogue. Im not sure what first year loss unit will believe its the dialogue. Of a admitting to give clout in court. Part of but that not it. The goal has been to get to court. Terestedemocrats were in in these issues theyd have accepted offers to review the active Mueller Reports. The oversight powers its decline n yuis to information democrats claim to want. It shows democrats do not want the information you want to buy. And the chairman failed to for lish a valid purpose demands. Days passed and 464 days authorizingction is mcgan. Gainst don custodian of the documents the chairman demands, the white house is. In e traging him into court ffort to redo the mueller fashion. Have hef objected and the witness should be given a and e between compliance compliance. The report. This the chairman dave him a deadline of june 7th, this friday to and i think were seeing the pattern here, this is a when ling era that occurs youre pushing action through and seeding your power lieu the judicial ranch. And were pam bling with the colegal wrafrj. Do harm. Gentleman allowed another minute. To circumvent house ethics that is provided action concerns a matter of public nterest rather than impersonal in nature. This results when democrats aim to rush lieu the house outside of order. R. Speaker, the majority may wish to get to the finish line quicker and to circumvent everything in this house and weve seen a lot of it over five and a half months but i wish account they to may not be the majority forever, hopefully. If they less up, it n their hands. Thank you being mr. Speaker. L is that it tells people in the to testify and i would say to friends on the ve er side youre going to ha and i e to vote for this urge you to vote with us. Yield four minutes for the distinguished chairman. Cummings. Gentleman from maryland recognized. Ladies and gentlemen, its asians and extends iplerest white house to mult federal agencies of government. To operate parties and question congress to conduct object to rules paceless documents and hallenging the of oversight. Ity since then hes refused to work e priorities such infrastructure and he wants toing foro to help our constituents and his constituents. Arguments are baseless and correct and none is russia. This year the white house has document to the me. R sight o our request. Rico. Canes this puerto nd white house reduced nothing matter what this is. T are wes a question wha up . Ering and dministration delayed obstructed and challenged on lessons. This makes clear they may see actions. Law. Is above the to investigate waste and broad tive ss laws that are effec nd efficient on behalf of our constituents. Back. Thank you. I yield two minutes. You. Hank this includes grand jury materials and democrats know is area it th point in tarting negotiations. Ys own witnesses that appears to put the executive branch to a nearly mpossible task and cannot expect compliance and octobers that are prohibited were not sunt to subpoena. Enay didnt issue a new subpo or admit the subpoena. Amend st attempted to citation. Text its equate evidence deficient and the court may not be able to read the minds of our democrat colleagues and not such claire voiance from he attorney general and and iating in good faith see an agreement developed yesterday. And if i might have 15 more seconds. Speaker, i yield 15 seconds. The s overly brought in american history. Uage was unparliamentary and seems to be filled with projection. This resolution provides unique authority. Gentleman from massachusetts recognized recognized. I yield a minute to the speaker of the house nancy pelosi. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for inglding and thank him forgiv us this opportunity to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. Which is our oath of office. Et me salute the chairs of the committees who led us down this ath of respect for law, take ent and oath we waters, woman Maxine Elliott angle. Ave been battling back how to defend our constitution. To hold the attorney United States and in er white House Counsel contempt to apply with the ollow nas and we must f we do recognize the urgency tion we hreat of the na face today. A solid duty and the constitution that is the freedoms that ur s s this legislative butter here, branchs are vested and founder founders set an agenda and we r of the purse and write law thats all of us are president ncluding the of the United States and those who who surround him. Fundamental is oversight of the and over tight for to expose the truth he people who are the quote, only ledge legitimate fountain james er in the words of madison. Ongress is constitutionally on legally tigated and entitled to access. The president and administration showed a refusal to furnish congress with that information. President trump himself has said all subpoenas and i dont want people testifying, no do overs. His administration employed to y tool it can find obstruct blanket stone walling of privilege. The courts made clear the house uncover thority to facts to uncover the truth for the American People and power of nduct the o Co Investigation is inherent in a legislative process. And last all folks columbia trict of in Court Decisions that involves within the legislative sphere, end of quote. That same week a judge ruled the subpoenas nk case, investigative of purposes. Nisy endangers our testimo had the report made it clear the out attackged an all documents cracy and 11 instances from the white house as well. We take an oath at the administrations beyond the ends Mueller Report. And saying to the american we have the rest. For rolling back key civil rights protections for women, lgbtq americans and people of olor, and the list goes on and on. Theyre trying to defend their abuse of power that the constitution is very clear about. People of the country will be enumerated. Citizen to put a phrase in there to put a Chilling Effect on not getting an accurate count. The well being of the american are imperilled by this behavior. Struction for trying to up our proceedings. We have an honor to strengthen the institution we serve for the people. Have assured is is the truth known. Law. Ne is above the ll defend congresss role. I urge a strong bipartisan vote former bourning bar and in contempt. Ounsel i urge an aye vote and yield time. The balance of thank you. Two and a half years they peddled a lie that donald trump colluding with a hostile foreign government. Phony octed it with a n a fail add irst i tempt to interfere and then to nder mine the constitutionally lected president of the United States. Despite spending on this biassed assembled, which included infamous peter strock and page they can find no evidence to support the lie so now we hear cries of obstruction and cover up. Good luck with that. Ry compare that to hilla clintons willful destruction of 30,000 emails and youre going a double sense of standard involved here. Is a desperate hunt. Two governments interfered in our election. Is coming. And i yield back. Gentleman yields back. Massachusetts is recognized. Thank you. This is an opportunity to itself as equal branch and that is why we revolution. The men met to write our onstitution they made Congress Article one. Is a reason. Its representatives of the people to make the laws. Lly be the sed to rea the American People. This president thumbed his mows at the representatives of the with requests for testimony and oversight of the executive and laws necessary for betterment of the nation. This is about Time Congress did ss and im proud of congre for bringing in these bills and for not pposition to stand up for the rights of power it observes to do performance function was the best possible witnesses of and materials. I condemn parties that are going to thumb their noses at us. And theyre supposed to appear and testify aand if they object, they can object there, and then. St disorder the subpoenas lawful. Gentleman from arizona. Thank you. I yield two and a half minutes to representative woodall. Gentleman is recognized. Id like my friend on rules d ive ee for yielding an itn listening to this debate is a bad habit putting a Party Articles of oversight and our responsibilities here such declaring war. Youve not heard today why this hear is passage advantages us in any way. There is not one piece of information that our speaker sked for that were not today. Ed to request the passes, rather than ouse requesting this ll request one y at a time. Time or ne at a speaking for us all . I dont know the answer and in rules committee, we did not call us legal scholars to help and mrs. , iquestion tell you there is not a member of this institution on either side of the aisle that cares one and t article constitution than i do. There is perhaps someone who cares as much but no one who cares more. E e we disadvantaging th life . Tution for by taking this responsibility and putting it in the hands of chairmen . That is not what the bill does today. Ece of s not one pi information requested that we do ot have the authority to. Equest today you. K gentleman recognized. Speaker. You, mr. I recall in my end this is a members identification. Designation of on this card. As members of the congress, peoples representatives. Behalf ge colleagues on institution. E and mr. Speaker, testimonies won the id ority in this house, we d o on a promise to American People to hold the executive department responsible. What the committee has not opinion doing. Previous speaker said there is a right to ask any information. That is accurate. He did not say we have asked, refused. Ave been accountability. The uni its use is exercising responsibility to october all nd discovered truth on behalf of the American People. We represent about see the full and unredacted report by the special counsel, mr. Mueller. You can see entire pages blacked out. The attorney generals efforts to prejudge the conclusions of that report before its release, as he did, and his public mischaracterization of its , nclusions are, in my opinion evidence of the contempt with which he refuses to answer questions. And respond to subpoenas. It seems con temp white house as contemptuous as well of the basic checks and balances. The American People deserve to know the full extent of russias efforts to interfere in our elections and subvert our democracy. You didnt have to listen too closely to bob mueller to understand that he believed that there was much more to be found or to miss the fact that he said congress, do your duty. Make sure the American People now the facts. The American People deserve to know whether the president or anyone in his administration or inner circle of confidence were involved in trying to cover it up. Weve been accused of doing awful things, but i remember watching conventions where they. Id, lock her up, lock her up flynn, general flynn, who was the National Security advisor, said, lock her up. Well, the fact is they locked him up. , who ny others associated lied about their involvement with the russian government. And, yes, with other foreign countries. So there is reason for the congress to want to get to the invasion this serious of our election process. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up for our constitution and vote for this resolution. I thank the chairman of the rules committee, mr. Mcgovern. I thank chairman nadler. Chairman schiff. Chairman cummings. Chairman neil. Chairman engel neal. Chairman engel. Chairwoman waters. All who have jurisdiction over various facets of the information that is needed. And i thank the members of their committees for their hard work to conduct necessary oversight on behalf of the American People. Mr. Speaker, thats what this vote is about. I presented that card, it has no Party Designation on it. It just has a designation of us, each of us, as representatives of the people. Let us make sure that today we vote for the people. Stand up for our constitution and for this house and for the rule of law. And i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady from arizona is recognized. Mrs. Lesko thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield 2 1 2 minutes to the representative from ohio and my fellow Judiciary Committee member, mr. Chabot. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Chabot i thank the gentleman for yielding the gentlelady for yielding. Mr. Speaker, i rise in opposition to this resolution. It seeks to allow democrats on the Judiciary Committee to go to essentially whatever court they want to get a court order to get whatever documents they want, even grand jury documents and those that relate to our National Security, all because they dont want to or are afraid to, really, hold attorney general barr or former white House Counsel don mcgahn in contempt of congress. Just as theyre afraid to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Or accept the fact that the Mueller Investigation found that there was no collusion and attorney general barr found no obstruction. They just cant get it through their heads that thats the case. And they dont want to focus on the real issue threatening our democracy, which is that russia actually attempted to interfere in our National Elections back in 2016, while barack obama, not donald trump, barack obama was president and the Obama Administration did absolutely nothing about that. They dont want to they really dont seem too concerned that the russians or another foreign entity might attempt to do so again in 2020. Thats what they ought to be using their oversight powers, very powerful things, the power that the majority has, they ought to be using it about that, not this charade. How many documents have the democrats requested that relate to russian interference in our elections . None. How many hearings . Zip. How many Obama Administration officials and others connected to russias efforts have they subpoenaed to testify before the Judiciary Committee . Zero. By continuing with this fake impeachment, the democrats are doing the American Public a disservice. My democratic colleagues ought to be embarrassed. I yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern thank you, mr. Speaker. Let me just say to the gentleman from ohio, let me correct the record. The russians didnt attempt to interfere in our election. They did interfere in our election, and if my friends read the Mueller Report, they realized they interfered in the election to help donald trump get elected. Mr. Speaker, id like to yield three minutes to the gentleman rom new york, the chair of the committee on the judiciary, mr. Nadler. Mr. Nadler compliance is not option when issued a subpoena. We expect witnesses to testify when summoned. We expect the administration to comply with subpoenas and to provide us with the materials we require to do our jobs. Of course, there may be differences between the congress and the executive branch as to what information can be produced on a timely basis. When those differences arise, we are required to seek reasonable accommodation. We first requested access to the full Mueller Report and the underlying evidence on february 22. After refusing for almost four months, the department of justice in the last few days has finally agreed to permit us to view the special counsels most important files. We are hopeful this will provide us with key evidence regarding allegations of obstruction of justice and to other misconduct. Given this potential breakthrough, we will hold the criminal contempt process for in ney general barr abayans for now. But President Trump blocked other key witnesses from testifying before the Judiciary Committee, including his former white House Counsel don mcgahn whose account of the president s actions was featured in the Mueller Report. The president has invoked executive privilege to prevent us from seeing documents that stopped being privileged long ago, if they were ever privileged to begin with. And ordered same agencies not cooperate with our most basic oversight requests. This unprecedented stonewalling by the administration is unacceptable. The committees have a constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight, to make recommendations to the house, if necessary, and craft legislation that will curb the abuse of power on full display in the Trump Administration. This is why it is important that the Judiciary Committee be able to act in such matters using all of our article 1 powers as contemplated in this resolution and described in both the rules Committee Report and the house Judiciary Committees contempt report. I heard what the gentleman from georgia, mr. Woodall, said a few minutes ago and hes exactly right. This resolution gives Committee Chairs the power with the approval of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to go to court on behalf of the house to enforce our subpoenas. This has not been done before, but neither have we ever seen blanket stonewalling by the administration of all information requests by the house. We have never faced such blanket stonewalling. The president has said they will oppose all of our subpoenas. We must go to court to enforce the subpoenas without a separate floor vote each time if we are going to enforce our subpoenas and reject the arrogant assumption of power by the administration and denegation of the power of the house and of the congress. We cannot afford to waste all the floor time for every single time the administration rejects one of our subpoenas, which is every time we issue a subpoena. Thats why we must do this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution so we can get into court and break the stonewall without delay. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Mrs. Lesko thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to the representative from california, our republican leader, mr. Mccarthy. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california, the republican leader, is recognized. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the gentlelady for yielding. Mr. Speaker, special counsel mueller officially ended his investigation several weeks ago. Is office is closed. Because of attorney general barr, his report is public, and his findings are very clear. No collusion and no obstruction. This is the bottom line of the Mueller Report. But, mr. Speaker, democrats refuse to accept it. Mr. Speaker, even the chairman of the committee refuses to go read the portion that hes allowed to read, only six lines. He refuses to read it but he wants to come here today. They continue to believe their worst conspiracy theories about the president. Despite all the evidence to the contrary. Mr. Speaker, its even reported campaign rs, in the to become chairman of the judiciary, one said he campaigned for the position because he would be the best with impeachment. Mr. Speaker, even on this floor this house, there were more than 60 members of the house who voted for impeachment before the Mueller Report was presented to the public. 440 is re, house res. Just a desperate attempt to relitigate the Mueller Investigation. Thats why i urge colleagues oppose to oppose this resolution. It doesnt strengthen Congress Oversight powers, contrary to what you may hear from the other side, mr. Speaker. Fundamentally, its an impeachment effort in everything but name. Mr. Speaker, just look at the unnecessary contempt citation against attorney general barr. Less than a month after barr received the Mueller Report, mr. Speaker, chairman nadler issued a subpoena that would have required the attorney general of the United States of america to break the law. Thats not my opinion. Lets be very clear whose words those are. Jonathan turley. Mr. Speaker, probably everybody in this body not only knows who Jonathan Turley is, he has probably the utmost respect. Hes one of the most respected legal scholars in this country. Now, he told the committee, mr. Speaker, and i quote, you have to tie your request carefully to your authority to demand information. If bill barr are actually complied with the subpoena, as written, he would have violated federal law. If he would have complied, he would have violated federal law. Mr. Speaker, thats why were here. Not only, mr. Speaker, does the chairman of that committee ask the attorney general to break the law or hell try to hold him in contempt, he wont even go read the report. On may 8, only a few weeks after the first subpoena was issued, house judiciary democrats voted to hold a. G. Barr in contempt, the attorney general of the United States in contempt. Why would they vote to hold him in contempt . Because they were so angry that the attorney general wouldnt break the law. They wanted him to break the law. In a may 24 letter to the attorney general, chairman nadler offered for the first time to negotiate and narrow the scope of his subpoena request, but then you know what, he changed his mind. Yesterday, the department of justice reached an agreement with the Judiciary Committee to turn over documents related to the Mueller Report. Now, if the publics watching, this just looks so disorganized. You wonder from that committee, mr. Speaker, wouldnt they know better than to ask the attorney eneral to break the law . Mr. Speaker, wouldnt you know that when you get to this point in a career that you wouldnt be so upset that someone doesnt do exactly what you want and ask you to break the law, that youd vote to hold them in contempt and force your side of the aisle just to vote that way . Thats not how its happened in this body before. If the public wants to see a good example of congressional oversight, then, lets look at something thats comparable. The houses contempt vote against attorney general holder in 2012. The House Oversight committee took two important actions before suing in federal court. First, it negotiated with attorney general holder in good faith for 15 months. Not a few days. Never asked him to break the law either. Narrowing the scope of its original subpoena, only extensive back and forth negotiations failed did it vote to hold him in contempt. Second, it got the full house to vote on it and prove, you know what, a bipartisan contempt. W, im not sure why this committee of the judiciary, mr. Speaker, would not know this, but did i a little research, because i was here during that time. You know why they didnt realize it was the best way to do it and it was bipartisan . Because, mr. Speaker, a lot of them stormed outside of the chambers. Yep. You heard me right. Even though 17 democrats voted in favor of the criminal contempt resolution against holder, 21 voted to enforce civil citation, a number of them stormed outside and protested. Took their ball and ran home. Mr. Speaker, i guess the public looked at it just throwing another fit. And thats pretty significant. As many of you remember, it was contentious. I remember, mr. Speaker, watching then minority leader pelosi, minority whip hoyer and congressman nadler lead 100 democrats off the house floor to protest the vote. Mr. Speaker, you wont see that on our side. We believe in the rule of law. Mr. Speaker, we would have done the exact same thing the attorney general did that Jonathan Turley said you would have to break the law to try to ppease somebodys own personal vendetta. The idea that, mr. Speaker, that someone would run for a position to say theyd be best to impeach somebody and even vote to impeach without even having a report and then when you get a report and you could go down and read just those six lines that you want to complain about but you wont, the same person, mr. Speaker, that would run outside and say, i got elected to congress but im going to pout and im going to go outside. Mr. Speaker, that might be the same person that wants to bring this to the floor today. What is different about today than all the others . Well, were doing something weve never done before. Were doing something thats of g to take the power away every member in this body and give it to a select few. Mr. Speaker, if this vote passes today, members of this body are going to say, dont bring it here and let me represent my own people and vote about going to court, lets just give it, really, to three people. Lets give it to speaker nancy pelosi, majority leader whip hoyer i mean, majority leader hoyer, and to the majority whip, because thats what blag is. I know the courts are going to sit there and say, thats not what congress is supposed to do. Congress has never done that before. But you know what, if this new majority thinks all they want to do is make an attorney general break the law, i guess they could break every rule, every history, every point of representation there is with inside this body. We wonder if this would happen . Do we wonder why you wouldnt take months and come to a bipartisan conclusion . I think the plan was already written. I dont know if people can talk about the word patient because, mr. Speaker, i remember congressman hank johnson of the rules committee, this is the speakers committee, so everybody understands correctly, thats just appointed by the speaker on the majority side. And he said, mr. Speaker, donald trump will stand for reelection again in a very short period of time, and we dont have 400 days to wait. So dont care about the rule of law. Dont care about asking him to break the law. Just break every historical trend and try to take the power away from millions of americans of the members of congress who represent them here. I didnt know today would come. Mr. Speaker, i didnt know that someone would go this far. I didnt know just because someone, mr. Speaker, despieses somebody else, despices somebody else, that the election didnt turn out the way of the desire mr. Speaker, ive been on losing sides before, but i never think id break the law just because you lost an election. I would never think of asking somebody as high as office as the attorney general of the United States of america to not give due process, to come to the floor and strip the power of 430 members and put it in a select few. Mr. Speaker, i have to be honest. I dont put anything past what this new desires about. Mr. Speaker, democrats say were on a constitutional in a constitutional crisis, and theyre right, but not because of attorney general barr. The true constitutional crisis is this when democrats cant win, they change the rules. I just heard it on the floor, mr. Speaker, that, yes, from the other side of the aisle said, this has never been done before and, yes, this is nothing this house has ever desired to do, but its also no way to govern. The American People deserve a majority that is serious about coming up with solutions, not subpoenas. There are plenty important challenges that we can be working on to solve. Just yesterday, mr. Speaker, i opened the New York Times, its a paper i dont always agree with, but they had an editorial not for the first time but the second time and it was talking about the crisis on the border and as i read this editorial i saw myself agreeing with it greatly. It talked about the border, it talked about washington should stop dithering and do something about it. I looked to wonder what committee would be most responsible for this challenge. Lo and behold, it was the judiciary. So i turned it on in hopes that i would see a hearing, maybe even id see a markup. No, mr. Speaker. Who did i see . I saw john dean. John dean who pleaded guilty in watergate, the same individual that put more than 900 tweets out against the president , many before any Mueller Report came forth, he was the expert witness. The same individual who is paid by cnn, the same individual who said the presidency of george bush was worse than watergate. I guess this new majority will go to no end. It doesnt matter if the facts dont go where you want, just change the rules. I wonder, all these new freshmen democrats, mr. Speaker, when they swore in to uphold the constitution, does that mean trying to make the attorney general break the law . Does that mean giving your power way to a select few . There is a crisis on the border. The New York Times knows it. He country of mexico knows it. I think almost everybody in america knows it. Except, mr. Speaker, i guess this majority. The committee of responsibility is more concerned about bringing somebody in who pleaded guilty in watergate, who makes their money off, mr. Speaker, writing books claiming every republican president there is is worse than watergate. And then asking the attorney general to break the law. Thats not a legacy i would be proud of. Its not a legacy id want to be a part of. Mr. Speaker, i will stay on this floor. I will vote against taking the power away, even the power away from people on the other side of the aisle. I wont lead a protest and i wont go outside and wont take my ball and i wont run home. I believe in the rule of law. Mr. Speaker, i had the responsibility and the opportunity that i could go read the redacted portions of the Mueller Report. Just as some on the other side of the aisle could. Its just six lines. Not did i think it was just my responsibility, but as an elected official, i thought it was a responsibility. So i went. But, mr. Speaker, the people leading this today, they have not. They think they know better. I dont know if they know better, but one thing i do know, theyre changing the rules of the house. Simply because they cannot win. Thats not the american way. Those are the reasons why we stand up. Those are the things that america unites behind. The rule of law. This will not be a day thats proud. This will not be a day that when you look back in history, the individuals who vote for this will talk about. Its one when they get asked the question later in life, mr. Speaker, is there something they regret, theyll regret the emotion overtook them. Theyll regret their own personal dislike drove them. Im not sure if theyre proud of the day when they storm out of the building, even though theres a bipartisan vote here. But i guess that same emotion, the same, mr. Speaker, lack of ability to actually look at the rule of law and work towards something instead of just changing the rules because you cant have your way, thats what todays about. But the worst part of it all is removing the power of individual members and putting it in a select three. But then again, mr. Speaker, when you study history and forms of government, thats what socialism is all about. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the distinguished minority leader began by saying that the Mueller Report makes it clear that there was no collusion and no obstruction. Maybe thats what you would conclude if you just read the barr summary, which tried to cover up what the Mueller Report said. But i would urge the distinguished minority leader to read the report. Im happy to lend him my bifocals if he has trouble reading it. But the report doesnt say that. It says it doesnt clear it doesnt say no collusion. On the issue of obstruction of justice, it says, if we were convinced that he, the president , did not commit a crime, we would have said so. Thats what the report says. And i would remind my colleagues that obstruction of justice is a crime. At this point id like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. Lieu. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Lieu thank you, mr. Speaker. The issue today is very simple. Its simply about the right of the American People and congress to get information. Thats it. All this resolution does is it allows us to enforce congressional subpoenas. These are documents and witnesses we want. And it allows us to go to federal court to enforce it. Thats all this resolution does. And why are republicans so scared of this resolution . Because they know were going win in court. Weve won three times against the Trump Administration. But why do we even have to go to court to do this . Because the Trump Administration is engaging in unprecedented obstruction. Its not just about the Mueller Report. Its about all areas. So, for example, right now the Trump Administration is suing to eliminate Health Care Coverage for people with preexisting conditions. We want to know more about that. We cant get it. We want to know about a lot of areas that we cannot get. So we want to go to federal court to get this enforced. And what are republicans doing . Theyre making stuff up. Theyre saying somehow were asking attorney general to do things that would make him violate the law. That is wrong, wrong, wrong. And im going to end with this simple example. The attorney general of the United States gave the republican Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee the right to see the unredacted Mueller Report. Was that illegal . No. But i cant see it. That is wrong, theres no basis for that. Were going to litigate it, were going to win. All this resolution does is allow us to enforce congressional subpoenas in federal court. Its about not allowing the Trump Administration to cover things up. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady from arizona. Mrs. Lesko yes, mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the representative from texas, mr. Gohmert. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Gohmert thank you, mr. Speaker. This is about harassing the president. And its about delaying the inevitable. I would have hoped that my friends across the aisle, especially in the Judiciary Committee, that had concerns in 2005 and 2006 about the overreach that was possible , ough the fisa procedures would have seen that there was no collusion that the russians did collusion, that the russians did try, but nobody with the Trump Campaign bought. So were left with the fact that the real collusion here was between the clinton campaign, with fusion g. P. S. , hiring a foreign agent, christopher steele, who talked to people he now admits could well have been agents of Vladimir Putin who gave false information about trump, the candidate, that was used in a dossier that was used to manipulate the fisa court into giving a warrant to start spying on the Trump Campaign. Thats what this was about. And what people are calling obstruction of justice is exactly what you have when you have somebody falsely accused of colluding, conspiring with the russians, and he knows he didnt do that and he sees his family being harassed and everybody that worked with the campaign that can be pushed and shoved and blackmailed, as happened, and bankrupted. You want to bring it to an end. You want to see justice done. But instead of my friends in judiciary coming together with us that have been concerned about the abuses of the fisa system so that it doesnt happen to other americans, instead they come with this resolution to push the matter down the road a little further to the 2020 election. Its got to stop. Lets stop now. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, im delighted to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from texas, ms. Jackson lee, is recognized. Ms. Jackson lee i thank the gentleman. I think it is appropriate to correct a number of statements that have been made on the floor. First of all, this is not the end. Director mueller made in the beginning. When he concluded the report, he left a very large direction to the United States congress. He recognized that he could not follow up because of policies at the d. O. J. Regarding indictment in the process of the administration. And so the congress, in its due diligence, took the responsibility. Not to target anyone, but to simply uphold the rule of law. In upholding the rule of law, we had an empty seat by attorney general barr, an empty seat by mr. Mcgahn, an empty seat by ms. Hicks, ms. Donaldson, and we hope not an empty seat of the author of the report. So all this resolution does is authorizes the committee to seek Civil Enforcement of its subpoenas against attorney general attorney general barr, requiring him to provide congress with the key evidence underlined in the Mueller Report, as well as the unredacted report itself. And former white House Counsel donald f. Mcgahn, requiring him to provide documents and appear for testimony. Hes not covered by executive privilege. In fact, executive privilege does not cover his duty cover his duty is to the White House Office of the general counsel, the white House Counsels office, not to the individual office holder, the president. He has personal lawyers. And we didnt break the law. 6e, which is grand jury materials, our committee diligently said, lets work with the department of justice go to court and decide what we can see. We are simply following this little book that many have died for and that is the constitution of the United States. And those words in the declaration of independence that said we all are created equal, with certain rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The American People would not want a nation that did not hold mr. Mcgovern i yield the gentlelady an additional one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is allocated an additional minute. Ms. Jackson lee the American People would not want a congress that turned its back on, frankly, the rule of law. For those of us who had the special privilege of going to normandy this past week, you got a great sense of pride, of the courage of americans. The bravery of those young men. And all i could think of is how important it is for all of us to adhere to those wonderful principles. So again, there is no targeting here. This is not a way to do policy or legislation. We can fight that battle on the floor of the house. But if you read those volumes and end it in the last pages of volume 2, you know that director mueller asked us to finish the task of looking into elements that he did not or could not in the underlying issues. Let me also say, as we do that, we do it forthrightly. Because in 2020 we want to make sure that every american has the right to vote and every american is not undermined by a foreign operative interfering and taking the election away from you. I support the resolution. We must stand for the rule of law. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. The gentlelady from arizona. Mrs. Lesko thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield two minutes to the representative and fellow Judiciary Committee from virginia, mr. Cline. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Cline thank you mr. Speaker,. I thank the gentlelady for yield thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlelady for yielding time. I want to thank the gentlelady from texas for her remarks. As a fellow member of the Judiciary Committee, we all stand for the rule of law and too carry a constitution with me and the constitution explicitly creates a system that is representative of the people, where the people are elected by their constituents to come up here and represent their views in congress and vote for them. Its not to come here and to hand off control, to hand their vote to the majority leader, to the speaker, and to the majority whip. And to let them vote for them and for the people of their district, whether or not to go to court. The votes to and to enforce subpoenas, the votes to hold in contempt should be votes of the representatives of the people. Thats why this resolution today is such a travesty. Mr. Speaker, ive only been a member of this body for a few months and i was proud to be named a member of the Judiciary Committee. But unfortunately the circus that ive witnessed over the last few months is shocking. As the democratic majority tries to find some reason, any reason, to impeach this president , now that the Mueller Investigation has wrapped up with no crimes found. If they want to go back and repeat the last two years of the investigation, the millions of dollars, the hundreds of subpoenas, they are certainly entitled to do that but i would argue it would be a waste of time for the american taxpayer and the American People. You know, we had a hearing earlier today on the 9 11 Victims Compensation fund and the chairman did a masterful job of arguing in favor of that legislation, of which im a cosponsor. Its bipartisan legislation. Its going to be marked up tomorrow. Thats the way that this Judiciary Committee should operate. Instead we have hearings with empty chairs for the attorney general. We have a hearing with empty chairs for the white House Counsel. Finally, yesterday, we had a hearing with people in the seats but they were all msnbc and cnn commentators. Mr. Speaker, this is a travesty of justice. I urge colleagues to oppose this resolution. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern i reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from arizona. Mrs. Lesko thank you. The committee on the judiciarys one of the most ven herbal in the house of representatives venerable in the house of representatives and i was proud to be selected to join its ranks. Jurisdiction over election interference, during a time when we are concerned about russians interfering with our election. It has jurisdiction over immigration issues, during a time of an unprecedented security and humanitarian crisis on our southern border. I am disappointed to see how the democratic majority has chosen to waste this authority. I am disappointed to see that it has chosen to ignore its responsibilities to the American People in favor of sound bites and photo ops. Instead of legislating, the democratic majority prefers posing with buckets of Fried Chicken for the National Media in crude attempts to undermine our president and his administration. Really, its time to move on and tackle the real issues that Americans Care about. The American People elected us, they elected me to congress to get things done. Let us secure the border. Let us improve health care. Let us improve education. Let us stop this political theater that happens meeting and hearing after hearing in multiple committees and what i believe is a blatant attempt to influence the 2020 president ial election using taxpayer resources. Mr. Speaker, i reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves her time. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern i have no further speakers if the gentlelady is through, if she yields back her time. Mrs. Lesko thank you. I have an inquiry, how much time do i have left . The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady has one minute remaining. Mrs. Lesko well, thank you, mr. Speaker. I am going to use my one minute to talk about these to actually refute these blatant allegations and fantasies, i believe, by my fellow democrats. And thats how somehow the president and the department of justice has been stonewalling them. Let me go over the timelines real quick. On march 22, the attorney general immediately notified the chairman and the Ranking Members of the house and Senate Committees on judiciary that they had received the confidential report from the special counsel. The next day, the attorney general informed congress of the special counsels principal conclusions. Arch 29, you up he updated congress what redactions had to be made. April 18, less than a month after receiving it, the attorney general made the redacted confidential report available to congress, and the entire public. The same day, the attorney general released the confidential report and made the minimally redacted version of the confidential report available for review. I, mr. Speaker, i would urge a no vote on this resolution, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern i yield myself the remaining time, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side, you know, have responded to this legislation with the same old same old. The circling the wagons around this president and his team. They are deliberately turning a blind eye to the corruption, to ilyou eption, to the illegality. We all took an oath when we were sworn in to uphold and defend the constitution. Thats our job. None of us were sent here to play defense for the president of the United States. You know, there are some things that are more important than politics, and i hope that even in this day and age there are still some things that are more sacred than partisanship. Like the rule of law and the separation of powers. I mean, each of us took the same oath. We now have a choice whether or not to uphold it. The choice should be a simple one to stand up to President Trump and to defend the constitution. You know, i remember when many of my republican friends ran for office claiming to be constitutional conservatives. Well, this is your chance to back up your Campaign Slogan with your vote. You know, we have a president that publicly states, were fighting all subpoenas, and i dont want people to testify. Those are his you words. Those are the words of the president , not some mob boss. And as we heard from the chairman of the oversight and reform committee, chairman cummings, the white house hasnt turned over a single document, a single piece of paper that his committee has requested to do their oversight work. Not one piece of paper. You know,ty core of this resolution you know, at the core of this resolution is Congress Getting the appropriate documents so we can do the appropriate oversight. Thats part of the job. How can anybody, how can anybody be against that . To be against that is to be part of the coverup, is to be complicit with the obstruction that this white house demonstrates each and every day. I remind my colleagues that history will judge how we react to this moment. So i urge all of my colleagues, do not let this moment pass us by. Vote yes on this resolution and lets hold the president accountable. Nobody is above the law in the United States of america, not even the president of the United States. The house went on to adopt the resolution of a party like vote, authorizing the Judiciary Committees take action against william barr for not complying with subpoenas. The measure, which falls short of holding them in contempt of congress, also allows other committees to enforce future subpoenas without consideration by the full house. The house will be in order. For 40 years, cspan has been providing america with unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, supreme court, and Public Policy events from around the country so you can make up your mind

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