Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. House Articles Of Impeachment Debate 20240713

N is recognized for one minute. Leages, this ar is a moment you will reard about in your history books. Today, i will vote to impeach the president of the United States, and i want you to know why. He broke our laws. He threatened our security. He abused the highest, most Sacred Office in our land. I want you to know that it does not feel good. I cant stop thinking about the cost to our country. Not just the impeachable offenses but the Collateral Damage of a president who uses power like a weapon against his own people. It erodes our decency, degrades our dignity. I dont yet know how they will tell the story of this era, but i want to tell you the story of this day. Let the record show that today justice won, that we did our job, that we kept our word, that we stood our sacred ground. Let the record show that we did not let you down. I love you. Listen to mom. Ill be home soon. The speaker pro tempore the day. My colleagues, this morning and every morning when we come together, members rise and pledge allegiance to the flag. Every day, all across america, children in schools, members of the military, officials and those civically engaged also pledge allegiance to the flag. Let us recall what that pledge says. I pledge allegiance to the flag f the United States of america and to the republican and to the republic for which it stands indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The republic for which it stands is what we are here to talk about today. A republic, if we can keep it. We gather today under the dome of this temple of democracy to exercise one of the most solemn powers that this body can take the impeachment of the president of the United States. No member, regardless of party or politics, comes to congress to impeach a president , but every one of us, as our first act as a member of congress, stood on this Historic House floor before our beautiful American Flag and raised our hands in this sacred oath, i do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me god. For 230 years, members have taken that sacred oath which makes us custodians of the constitution. When our founders declared independence, established our new nation, they crafted a system of government unlike anyone has ever seen before. A republic, starting with the sacred words, we the people. For centuries, americans have fought and died to defend democracy for the people. But very sadly now, our founders vision of a republic is under threat from actions from the white house. That is why today, as speaker of the house, i solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the president of the United States. If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. It is tragic that the president s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice. What we are discussing today is the established fact that the president violated the constitution. It is a matter of fact that the president is an ongoing threat to our National Security and the integrity of our elections, the basis of our democracy. Hundreds of historians, legal scholars, and formal prosecutors, regardless of party, have stated that the president committed impeachable offenses. Since today is a National Civics lesson, though a sad one, i submit these documents for the record and commend them for students to study. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. The speaker thank you, madam speaker. What we are discussing today is established fact that the president , again, violated the constitution. It is a matter of fact that the president is, again, an ongoing threat to our National Security. And the testimony of decorated war heroes, distinguished diplomats and patriotic career people over the past weeks have told us this. The president used the power of his Public Office to obtain an improper personal political benefit at the expense of americas National Security. When the president weakens a democratic ally that is advancing American Security interests by fighting an american adversary, the president weakens america. This abuse of power also jeopardizes the integrity of our elections. All americans agree that American Voters should choose our president , not some Foreign Government. The founders understood that it is profoundly corrosive for our democracy for a president to invite interference in our elections. As george washington, our nations patriot under whose gaze we stand today warned, history and experience proves that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. George washington. Sadly, the American People have witnessed further wrongs of the president which necessitate the second article of impeachment, obstruction of congress. When the president s wrongdoing was revealed, he launched an unprecedented, indiscriminate and categorycal campaign of defiance and obstruction. Never before in the history of our nation have we seen a president declare and act as if hes above the law. The president goes even so far as to say and act of this absurdity when he says article 2 says i can do whatever i want. No, it doesnt. That recklessness is a profound violation of the constitution and our republic, which endured because of our system of separation of power, three coequal branches, each a check and balance on the other, a republic, again, if we can keep it. The founders great fear of a rogue or corrupt president is the very reason why they enshrined impeachment in the constitution. As one founder, William Davey of north carolina, warned, unless the constitution contained an impeachment provision, a president might spare no efforts or means, whatever, to get himself reelected. Another founder, george mason, insisted that the president who procured his appointment in the first instance through improper and corrupt acts might repeat his guilt and return to power. We in Congress Must stand up and make clear to the American People and to all people that this body still stands by the principles enshrined in the constitution and defended by generations of americans. Last week in observance of the 75th anniversary of the battle of the bulge, members traveled to that Hallowed Ground to express our gratitude to the heroes of freedom who sacrificed everything to secure victory of freedom over tyranny, not just for america, but for the world. The veterans of that battle who were there, in their 90s, told us how after the war was won, the europeans to whom they liberated would ask, why did you risk us . You dont know us . And give your lives lives to save us, were not americans. And our men would say, we came here to fight for you, not because you are americans, but because we are americans. As our beloved chairman, elijah cummings, and Oversight Committee chair, said when annoyancing support for this action, quote, when the history books are written about this tumultuous era, i want them to show that i was among those in the house of representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny. He also said, almost prophetically, when we are dancing with the angels, the question will be, did we what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy in tact . Elijah, as you know, has since passed on. Now hes dancing with the angels. And i know that he and all of us here are very proud of the moral courage of members, want to honor the vision of our founders for a republic, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend it, and the aspirations of our children to live freely within it. Today we are here to defend democracy for the people. May god bless america. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Collins thank you, madam speaker. And we are here today to enter into a debate, this should surprise no one. This is not this has not been a surprise and its not even something that we would not have thought about. From the very moment that the Majority Party in this house won the, the inevitability that we would be here today was only a matter of what date they would schedule it. Nothing else. In fact, how it even began to look even further was on september 24, the speaker announced an impeachment inquiry before even seeing the call transcript that were going to hear so much about today. You know, its not about what this body can do in its constitutional oath. And theres been a lot of constitutional and founders thrown around and will be all day today. But theres one thing that i will mention all along and that is also the founders were very concerned about a partisan impeachment in which politics or the majority who have their strength can do what they want to do irregardless of any facts. In fact, ive said it before and i will say it again. I do not believe, no matter what was said today and what has been said, this is not a solemn occasion. When you go looking for something for three years, and especially this year since january, you ought to be excited when you found it. But they cant. Because i know what has now happened. It took me last night but i was thinking about it. Why do we keep calling this a solemn occasion when youve been wanting to do this ever since the gentleman was elected . Mr. President came forward and did what he saw fit for the American People, but yet they wanted to impeach him. Now i know. The reason they wanted to is now they realize, when i told them and have been telling them for the last few weeks that the clock and the calendar are terrible masters. The clock and the calendar are terrible masters. They do not care about anything except getting the time done and the calendar fixed. They do not care about facts. They do not care about time. And one day the clock and the calendar will hang along this body in a very detrimental way. How do i know this . Because one of our members said on the night she was worn in, were going to impeach. Well, you know the rest. In may of 2019, al green said, im concerned if we dont impeach this president , he will get reelected. Thats probably the most prescient thing said by the majority in the last year. They said, we cant beat him if we dont impeach him. Theres a reason behind this impeachment. Even Speaker Pelosi said it would be dangerous to leave it to voters to determine whether President Trump stays in office. Really . After we just said the pledge of allegiance, we go back to the speakers own words and said it would be dangerous to leave it to the voters . I will tell you right now, madam speaker, we on the republican side have no problem taking our case to the majority and to the people of this country, because they elected donald trump and it is a matter matter for the vote rts, not this house, not in voters, not this house, not in this way and not in the way this is being done. It has trampled everything this house believes in. I said it yesterday and i believe it to be this true today. I will fight this on process which has been deplorable, to use a word of the majority. It has been awful. The calendar and the clock make it impress thave we actually do it quickly impressive that we actually do it quickly. We dont care about rules and minority days, we dont care about giving opportunity for witnesses to call, because the chairman gets to determine what is relevant. Wow, thats pretty good. Let the accuser determine what is relevant to the one being accused. The people of america see through this. The people of america understand due process and they understand when it is being trampled in the peoples house. You see, its also not a matter of process which will be discussed today, its a matter of actual facts. I will fight the facts all day long. Because what we found here today is a at is a president who did not do as being charged. They had to go to abuse of power, this amorphous term that youre going to hear many arguments about how that abuse of power except for one thing, the call itself, the two parties say no pressure. Nothing was ever done to get the money. In fact, they didnt even know the money was held. But there is something that very much bothers me about the facts. There were five meetings, well hear about those today. In which it was never a linkage there was never a linkage made. There was one witness that is depended on over 600 times in the majoritys report. That in the end, after questions, had to say, that was not presumption of what was happening. You see, this is an impeachment based on presumption. This is an impeachment basically a polltested impeachment on what sells to the American People. Todays going to be a lot of things. What it is not is fair. What it is not is about the truth. What is true today, and i just heard it just a moment ago in the articles themselves where it said, and the speaker i believe talked about this, is, well, if the president weakened a foreign leader. You know what the truth of the matter is, madam speaker . The most interesting and deplorable thing that ive heard over the last few weeks . Is the actual attack by the majority on president zelensky. Because they realize the whole crux of their case is if he was not pressured, their house of cards falls and by the way its already fell. But if we cant pressure, show pressure, then we either have to call him a liar, a world leader, or we have to make up names to call him. And thats exactly what happened in Judiciary Committee when a member of the majority actually said, hes acting or they compared him to a battered wife. Thats below the dignity of this body. To take a world leader and when he doesnt make the case for you, to belittle him. As will be often said by the majority, that theyre in the middle of a hot war with russia. You see, President Trump actually did give them offensive weapons. President trump did not did nothing wrong. Were going to talk about that all day long today. We went on process and we went on facts. Why . Because the American People will see through this. Before i close this first part, i will have to recognize that even the senate, the minority leader in the senate, recognizes that the house did not do their job. Because he cant make the case to his own members, so hes having to ask for witnesses. Ask for more time. You see, even yesterday, it was sort of funny, i found it hilarious that the minority leader in the senate went out and did a press conference and said, they did not my witnesses, they they denied my witnesses, theydy inside my pro they denied my process. Welcome to the club. Thats whats happened here for the last three months. Were going to talk a lot about impeachment and the president and two articles of impeachment today. Abuse of power, because they cant actually pin anything of factual basis on him. The president did nothing wrong in this issue. And then theyre going to talk about obstruction of congress. You know, obstruction of congress, as ive before, is like pet lent children saying, we didnt get our way when we didnt ask the right way and we didnt try to go after and make a case. You know why, madam speaker, the clock and the calendar are terrible masters and the majority will own that problem today. Because to the clock and the calendar, facts dont matter. The promises to the base matter. And today is a promise kept for the majority. Not a surprise. With that, mr. Nadler madam speaker, the house of representatives must now consider two articles of impeachment against President Trump. The first article charges that the president used his Public Office to coerce a Foreign Government into attacking his political rival. The second article charges that the president took extreme and unprecedented steps to obstruct our investigation into his conduct. Taken together, the two articles charge that President Trump placed his private political interests above our National Security, above our elections and above our system of checks and balances. After months of investigation, there can be no serious debate about the evidence at hand. On july 25, when he spoke to president zelensky of ukraine, President Trump had the upperhand. The president , through his agents, had already demanded that ukraine announce an investigation of his political opponents. Ukraine needed our help, both military aid, which had been appropriated by congress because of our security interests, and the noble office meeting, to show the world that oval office meeting, to show the world that the United States continues to stand with ukraine against russian aggression. President trump should have been focused on the interests of the American People on that call. Instead he prioritized his private political interests. President trump asked president zelensky for a favor. He wanted ukraine to announce two bogus investigations. One into former Vice President biden, then his leading opponent in the 2020 election, and another, to advance a Conspiracy Theory that ukraine, not russia, attacked our elections in 2016. Neither request was premised on any legitimate National Security or Foreign Policy interests. One was intended to help President Trump conceal the truth about the 2016 election. The other was intended to help him gain an advantage in the 2020 election. After the call, President Trump ratcheted up the pressure. He deployed his private attorney and other agency agents, some acting far outside the regular channels of diplomacy, to make his desires clear. There would be no aid and no meeting until ukraine announced the sham investigations. To our founding generation, abuse of power was a specific welldefined offense. A president may not misuse the powers of the presidency to obtain an improper personal benefit. The evidence shows that President Trump did exactly that. For this alone he should be impeached. But the first article also identifies two aggravating factors. When President Trump conditioned military aid on a personal favor, he harmed americas National Security. And when he demanded that a Foreign Government target his domestic political rival, he took steps to corrupt our next election. To the founders, these offenses clearly merited removal from office. The president faces a second article of impeachment for his efforts to obstruct our investigation of his misconduct. The constitution grants the sole power of impeachment to the house of representatives. Within our system of checks and balances, the president may not decide for himself what constitutes a valid impeachment inquiry. Nor may he ignore lawful subpoenas or direct others to do so. Many president s, including President Trump, have asserted privileges and other observations to specific subpoenas. But objections to specific subpoenas. But only President Trump hats ordered the categorical defines has ordered the categorical defyance of a congressional investigation. The president is not above the law and he should be impeached for them as for this as well. Congress cannot wait for the next election to address this misconduct. President trump has this is not the first time hes solicited a foreign interference in an election, has been exposed and has attempted to obstruct the resulting investigation. We cannot rely on the next election as a remedy for president ial misconduct, when the president threatens the very integrity of that election. He has shown us he will continue to put his selfish interests above the good of the country. We must act without delay. By his actions, President Trump has broken his oath of office. His conduct continues to undermine our constitution and threaten our next election. His actions warrant his impeachment and demand his removal from office. I urge my colleagues to support these articles and i reserve the balance of my time. Ank you, mad speaker. As youall know i serve on both the Judiciary Committee and rules committee and i have literally spent hours, hours poring over testimony, looking at documents, sitting in hearings. You know the conclusion i got from all of that . This impeachment is a total joke and a total sham. Let me tell you one of the reasons why i think that. All of those witnesses, the 17 witnesses that the democrats brought forward, not one single one of them was able to establish that President Trump committed bribery, treason, high crimes, or misdemeanors. Which is required in the u. S. Constitution. Of 24 in, 17 out Democrat Members on Judiciary Committee voted on this floor to move forward articles of impeachment before the phone call. And five out of nine Rule Committee Democrat Members did the same thing. So if the main part of your impeachment is the call, why did you vote for impeachment prior to the call . I also want to remind the American Public and others that for two years adam schiff claimed he had proof, proof that President Trump had colluded with russia. That turned out to be false. And then overnight it was obstruction of justice. Then quid pro quo. Then bribery. Then extortion. And the list goes on. Yet not one of those is listed in the articles of impeachment. To my democrat colleagues, madam chair, i say please stop tearing the country apart. Stop this sham. I yield back. Ept secret. Before you take this historic vote today, one week before christmas, i want you to keep this in mind. When jesus was falsely accuse of treason, Pontius Pilate gave jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, pontius mylat afforded more rights to jesus than the democrats have afforded this president and this process. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york. Mr. Nadler the president was given the opportunity to come and testify before the Judiciary Committee, to send his counsel, to question witnesses, he declined to do so. Armstrong i hurd. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hurd we have not heard evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of bribery or extortion. Allegations of these two crimes arent even mentioned in the articles of impeachment being debated today. But today, we have seen a rushed process divide our country. Today, accusations have been hurled at each other, questioning one anothers integrity. Today, a dangerous precedent will be set. Impeachment becoming a weaponized political tool. We know how this partisan process will end this evening, but what happens tomorrow . Can this chamber put down our swords and get back to work for the American People . This institution has a fabled history of changing legislation that has not only chaunged our country but has inspired the world. This feat has been possible because this experiment we call america has one perpetual goal, make a more perfect union. We can contribute to this history if we recognize the simple fact that way more unites our country than divides us. Tomorrow, can we start focusing in 1998, senator schumer said, and i quote, this impeachment will be used as a routine tool to fight political battles. We thought it was a prediction. It was a promise, and now its playing out. Its exactly whats being done here. And for those that say we dont defend the fact, here you go. The impeachment serves two purposes. Number one, stop the investigation by the u. S. Department of justice and ukraine into the corruption of ukraines interference into the u. S. Election in 2016. You said this was about oh, this terrible russia collusion. Oh, that fell through. It was about emoluments. It was about bribery, it was about extortion. One thing that hasnt changed which is the intention to impeach this president. Its always been there. But lets be honest. The president , turning his back on ukraine, that happened in 2009, because in 2008, ukraine invaded georgia. What happened . Bush put sanctions on russia to teach them a lesson. What happened after that . Well in march, 2009, Hillary Clinton was sent over to russia with a reset button to say, bush overreacted. Were ok that you invaded georgia. It was a green light to russia to invade ukraine. And what do you do . Oh, yeah, you send blankets and m. R. E. s. They can be eat and warm while the russians are killing them. That is what the Obama Administration did. This is a travesty, and were in big trouble, because schumer was right. Now its lowered the bar. It will be used for political battles, and this countrys end is now in sight. I hope i dont live to see it. This is an outrage. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york. Mr. Nadler madam speaker, i am deeply concerned that any member of the house would spout russian propaganda on the floor of the house. I now yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. Higgins. Mr. Gohmert if the gentleman will yield . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Gohmert if the gentleman will yield . The speaker pro tempore the ouse will come toured. Mr. Gohmert russia propaganda the speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. The house will come to order. The gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. Than colleague, chairman nadler. I thank him for the extraordinary job that he has done as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and throughout these difficult proceedings. Madam speaker, my colleagues, my fellow americans, i rise to support the impeachment of president donald j. Trump. When a man unprincipleled a private unprincipled in private life, desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits, despotic in his ordinary demeanor, known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty when, such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity to join in the cry of danger to liberty, to take every opportunity of embarrassing the government, the general government and bringing it under suspicion, to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day, it may justly be suspected his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ride the storm and direct the whirlwind. These are the words of Alexander Hamilton written in 1792. Could we find a more prescription of the present danger emanating from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. The framers crafted a constitution that contemplated free and Fair Elections for the highest office in the land. But also afforded the congress with the power to remove a president who abused the powers of his office for personal gain. Who compromised the public trust by betraying our nations security. Or who sought to undermine our democratic system by seeking foreign intervention in the conduct of our elections. I would say that the founders could have little imagined that a single president might have done all of these things except that the evidence has sadly proved this is exactly what this president has done. Hamilton, among others, seems to have predicted the rise of donald trump with a staggers preshence. Having won freedom from a king, the drafters of our constitution designed a government in which ambition was made to check ambition. In which no branch of government would predominate over another, and no man would be allowed to be above the law, including the president , especially the president , since with whom would the danger be greater than with the officer charged with being our commander in chief. Eefer the course of the last three months over the course of the last three months we have found incontrovertable evidence that President Trump abused his power by pressuring the newly elected president of ukraine to announce an investigation into President Trumps political rival, joe biden. With the hopes of defeating mr. Biden in the 2020 president ial election and enhancing his own prospects for reelection. He didnt even need the investigation to be undertaken. Just simply announce to the public. The smear of his opponent, to smear of his opponent would be enough. To effectuate this scheme, President Trump withheld two official acts of vital importance to a nation at war with our adversary, Vladimir Putins russia. The president withheld a white house meeting that ukraine desperately sought to bolster its standing on the world stage. Even more perniciously President Trump suspended hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid approved by this congress to coerce ukraine into doing his electoral dirty work. The president of the United States was willing to sacrifice our National Security by withholding support for a critical strategy part Strategic Partner at war in order to improve his reelection prospects. But for the courage of someone willing to blow the whistle, he would have gotten away with it. Instead, he got caught. He tried to cheat and he got caught. This wasnt the first time. As a candidate in 2016 donald trump invited russian interference in his president ial campaign, saying at a campaign rally, russia, if you are listening, i hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. A clear invitation to hack Hillary Clintons emails. Just five hours later, russian government hackers tried to do exactly that. What followed was an immense russian hacking and dumping operation and social Media Disinformation Campaign designed to help elect donald trump. Not only did candidate trump welcome that effort, but he made full use of it. Building it into his campaign plan, his messaging strategy, and then he sought to cover it up. This russian effort to interfere in our elections didnt deter donald trump. It empowered him. The day after special counsel bob mueller testified before congress about russias sweeping and systemic effort to influence the outcome of our last election, the day after President Trump believed that the investigation into his first electoral misconduct had come to an end, the president was back on the phone urging yet another country, this time ukraine, to help him cheat in another election. Three consecutive days in july tells so much of the story. Three consecutive days in july of 2019. July 24, the day that special counsel mueller testified before congress, and President Trump thought he was finally in the clear, july 25, the day that President Trump got on the phone with ukrainian president and in the context of a discussion about military support for that embattled nation, that the president has recently frozen said, i would like you to do us a favor, though. And asked ukraine to do two investigations to help his reelection efforts in 2020. That was july 25. And then we come to july 26. The day Gordon Sondland called President Trump on his cell phone from a restaurant in ukraine. Gordon sondland, not some anonymous never trumper but a Million Dollar donor to the president s inauguration and handpicked ambassador to the european union, what does President Trump ask sondland, the day after this call . What does President Trump ask . What does the president want to know . Did he ask about ukraines efforts to battle corruption . Of course not. Did he ask how the war with russia was going . Not a chance. On the phone his voice loud enough for others to hear President Trump asked sondland, so hes going to do the investigation, and the answer was clear. Sondland assured trump that the ukrainian president was going to do it. And that he would do anything you asked him to. If that wasnt telling enough, my colleagues in a conversation that followed, an american diplomat dining with sondland asked if it was true that President Trump didnt give a blank about ukraine. Sondland agreed, saying, the president cared only about big stuff. The diplomat noted that there was big stuff in ukraine like a war with russia. And sondland replied that the president cared only about big stuff that benefits him personally. Like the biden investigation that mr. Giuliani was pushing. In that short conversation, we learned everything we need to know about the 45th president of the United States. He doesnt care about ukraine. Or the impact on our National Security caused by with holding military aid to that country fighting for its democratic life. All that matters to this president is what affects him personally, an investigation into his political rival and a chance to cheat in the next election. As professor gear hart testified before the committee two weeks ago if what were talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable. Even as this body uncovered the facts of this ukraine scheme, even as we opened an impeachment inquiry, even as we gathered evidence, President Trump continued his efforts to seek foreign help in the next election. I would think, he said from the white house lawn on october 3, that if theyre being honest about it, theyd start a Major Investigation into the binds. Its a very simple answer. He said. And he made it clear its an open invitation to other nations as well, saying, china should start an investigation into the bidens too. President trump sent his chief of staff to the white house podium and he told the world that of course they had linked aid to investigations. And that we should just get over it. And even as these articles have made their way to this house floor the president s personal attorney has continued pursuing these sham investigations on behalf of his client, the president. The president and his men plot on. The danger persists. The risk is real. Our democracy is at peril. But we are not without a remedy, prescribed by the founders for just these circumstances. Impeachment. The only question is, will we use it . Or have we fallen prey to another evil hat founders forewarned, the excess of factionalism, the elevation of party over country. Many of my colleagues appear to have made their choice to protect the president , to enable him to be above the law, to empower this president to cheat again, as long as it is in the service of their party and their power. Theyve made their choice. Despite this president and the white house stonewalling every subpoena, every request for witnesses, and testimony from branch qual, coequal of government. They have made their choice. Knowing that to allow this president to obstruct congress will empower him and any other president that follows to be as corrupt, as negligent, or as abusive of the power of the presidency as they choose. They have made their choice. And i believe they will rue the day that they did. When donald j. Trump was sworn in on january 20, 2017, he repeated these words. I do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of the president of the United States. And will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. Has he lived up to that sacred obligation . Has he honored his oath of office . Has he preserved, protected and defended the constitution of the United States, the uncontested evidence provides the simple yet tragic answer, he has not. In america, no one is above the law. Donald j. Trump sacrificed our National Security in an effort to cheat in the next election. And for that, and his continued efforts to seek foreign interference in our elections, he must be impeached. I reserve the balance of my madam speaker, i want to thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam speaker, i rise with a heavy heart to support this resolution. I came to washington in 1961 to go on the freedom rides, we chose that day. When we came here on august 28, 1963, for the march on washington, it was joyful. We met with a young president , president John Fitzgerald kennedy. When we came here on august 6, 1965 for the signing of the Voting Rights act, we were excited, hopeful. We met president lyndon johnson. But today, this day, we didnt ask for this. This is a sad day. T is not a day of joy. Our nation is founded on the principle that we do not have kings. We have president s. And the constitution is our compass. When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to Say Something, to do something. Our children and their children will ask us what did you do . Say . Id you for some this vote may be hard. But we have a mission and a mandate to be on the right side of history. I yield back the balance of my time. Minutes. Mr. Amash thank you, madam speaker. I rise today in support of these articles of impeachment. I come to this floor not as a democrat, not as a republican, but as an american. Who cares deeply about the constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of the people. Under our system of government, impeachment is not about policy disagreements or ineffective governance. Nor is it about criminality based on statutes that did not exist at the time our constitution was written. Impeachment is about maintaining the integrity of the office of the presidency. And ensuring that executive power is directed toward proper ends in accordance with the law. The constitution grants the house the sole power of impeachment and the senate the sole power to try all impeachments. We in the house are empowered to charge impeachable conduct. The constitution describes such conduct as high crimes and misdemeanors because it pertains to high office and relating to relates to the misuse of that office. We need not rely on any other branch or body to endorse our determinations. We have the sole power of impeachment. In federalist number 65, Alexander Hamilton wrote, the high crimes and misdemeanors, quote are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men or in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. Theyre of a nature which may, with 3e kuhliar propriety, be denominated political as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. End quote. President trump donald j. Trump has abused and violated the public trust by using his high office to solicit the aid of a foreign power, not for the benefit of the United States of america, but instead for his personal and political gain. His actions reflect precis precisely the type of conduct the frames of the constitution intended to remedy through the power of impeach and impeachment is an embarrassment for house democrats. On the substance, dems claim that their case is uncontested, relying on presumptions, hearsay and 3 of the story, trying to connect doths that arent actually connected dots that arent actually connected. President zelensky didnt know there was a hold on aid until august 29. The aid gets released shortly thereafter and ukraine didnt have to do anything to get that aid released. President zelensky says no demand, no quid pro quo, no pressure. But democrats want the public to ignore the other 97 of this story. See it it doesnt work like that. Senate democrats want new witnesses to show why there was a hold on aid. Odd request if you think youve already proven your case. At the heart of this debate, two investigations are being discussed between countries. Democrats and media allies want the public to believe its all just debunk that ukrainians interfered in the 2016 election. They want you to ignore comments that chalupa worked with ukrainian embassy, origins of the steele dossier, the blackledger and more. The problem with all of this is that the American Public are smarter than democrats are giving them credit for. Next, the democrats claim republicans are arguing that it as ukraine and not russia that wanted to interfere and was interfering in the 2016 election. No, that is not what republicans are saying. Of course we have the issue of a corrupt Ukrainian Energy company run by a corrupt ukrainian hunter biden with no experience solely because he is v. P. Bidens son. Now, the company wanted to hire hunter biden because they wanted to curry favor. There was this ongoing corruption investigation. Enter joe biden. He gets that prosecutor fired. Should be lieve it immune from scrutiny. I disagree. Our governments should be working together to get to the bottom of all of this. This has also been a total disaster on the process. From getting a federal worker to file a whistleblower complaint, to schiffs version made up of the july 25 call. In closeddoor interview, schiff was prosecutor, judge, jury and witness coach. Every day he loved getting america drunk on his favorite cocktail. Three ingredients, cherry picking leaks, withholding key facts, and misstating evidence. In a deposition and in the public hearings, the president s counsel was not invited to attend, present evidence or crossexamining witnesses. Republicans werent allowed to call witnesses like hunter biden, joe biden and many others. Then there was the house judiciary debacle where schiff couldnt even show up to present his report. This impeachment is ripping our country in half. Its fatally flawed on a process, the substance, the intentions and the consequences. Its a total schiff show. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote no. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california. Mr. Schiff i thank the speaker. We continue to reserve the balance of our time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from georgia. Mr. Collins madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. Meadows. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Meadows thank you, madam speaker. You know, today, as we sit here debating impeachment, you know, they all want to talk about its the constitution, its Alexander Hamilton. You know, the last 30 days ive heard more about hamilton from my democrat colleagues, and until then the closest they had they came to hamilton was a 10 bill. All of a sudden what we have is these strict constitutionalists on the other side of the aisle. Listen, this has nothing to do with the constitution, it has nothing to do with anything but raw politics. Theres only one person on the other side of the aisle who got seven by folk yows for not telling the truth. No one on this side got that during this impeachment process. The American People need to understand two key facts. The democrats in control set their own rules of evidence. They said what we need to do for impeachment is to have compelling evidence and bipartisan support. They dont have either of those two things. They failed the rules that they made up themselves. Weve got president zelensky of ukraine saying there was no pressure. Weve got the number two guy in ukraine saying there was no pressure. Weve got the number three guy in ukraine, no pressure. These are the supposed victims of this alleged crime. And yet here we are, supposedly having this compelling evidence and facts when the best witness they have, the very best witness they had, had to change his testimony twice. They mentioned him 611 times. And ultimately, ultimately, he said i presumed that thats what the president meant. You sew you know, i can tell you, theres not facts here to support it but whats more important than that, madam speaker is this. Because here we are today, we have bipartisan opposition to impeachment. Not bipartisan support. You know, my colleagues opposite want the American People to think that this is a sad and somber day. This is a sad day, its a sad day for this institution because we lowered the bar to impeach a president that continues to give us an economy that not only is growing, but growing at levels that we have never seen in the history of our country. When we look at unemployment at a level that is truly remarkable, they want to impeach. But its another sad day because now what theyre doing is theyre telling the American People that 233 democrats deserve to decide who the president of the United States should be and disenfranchise 63 million voters. When all is said and done, when the history of this impeachment is written, it will be said that my washington Democrat Friends couldnt bring themselves to work with donald trump so they consoled themselves instead by silencing the will of those who did, the American People. Yield back. Mr. Nunes the democrats attempt to remove the president began on inauguration day. When the democrats semiofficial mouthpiece, the washington post, declared the campaign to impeach President Trump has begun. For years the democrats tried to expel the president with the preposterous accusation that he was a russian agent. As detailed by i. G. Horowitz, dishonest intelligence officials used fake allegations, spread by the democrats, to gain approval of a spying operation against the Trump Campaign. As they falsely accused the Trump Campaign of colluding with russians, the democrats themselves colluded with russians. To manufacture these allegations in the infamous steele dossier. They even tried to get nude pictures of trump from russian pranksters. With the russian collusion hoax, the democrats had everything going for them. Federal investigations run by trump haters and Endless Supply of media cheerleaders, and a galaxy of leftwing Interest Groups amplifying their ridiculous message. And yet even with all those weapons at their disposal, the russia Conspiracy Theory collapsed. So they quickly concocted plan b. The ukraine hoax was based on a supposed whistleblower who colluded beforehand with the democrats. The democrats then prevented congress from intervening interviewing the whistleblower while conducting bizarre, secret depositions and selectively leaking testimony to discredited media hacks. The democrats showcased the most useful witnesses in public hearings, that somehow reduced support for impeachment. Its not easy to make a coup attempt boring, but the democrats found a way. As it turns out, the American People dont think a routine phone call with a foreign leader is a good basis for ousting a u. S. President. The democrats also put forth everchanging accusations against the president , including Campaign Finance violations, quid pro quos, election interference, bribery, extortion. Eventually they ended up with the ridiculous charges we consider today. Abuse of power and, abuse of power, an utterly meaningless term, obstruction of congress. One democrat said the president was guilty because he wouldnt cooperate with third plan to railroad him. The only thing president clinton is guilty of is beat President Trump is guilty of is beating Hillary Clinton. The democrats indicate theyll continue their impeachment efforts even after this one fails in the u. S. Senate. Madam speaker, after all their deceit, phony investigations, innedup crises and ginnedup crises and manufactured outrage, they need a long period of rehabilitation them must learn how to do something productive for the rehabilitation. They must learn how to do something productive for the American People instead of ripping the country apart in their lust for power. With that, i yield back the balanc and, madam speaker, i rise today on the floor of this magnificent chamber, the very heart of our democratic republic, and i would imagine, madam speaker, that every one of us in this chamber, regardless of party, understands, shares a common view, that being citizens of this Great Republic is among lifes most tremendous blessings. We all know no force on earth is more powerful than the force of freedom. It is our miraculous constitutional system, madam speaker, defended by our men and women in uniform that has safeguarded that freedom for 230 years. Each one of us in this chamber bears a sacred duty. Passed down to us through generations and afimmed in our oath of office to preserve and protect our constitution. Madam speaker, our nations framers recognized that this republic is fragile. And that extreme partisanship can be among the most severe threats to its survival. That is why in federalist 65 Alexander Hamilton wrote, quote, there will always be the greatest danger that impeachment, that impeachment decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. Here, madam speaker, our democratic colleagues have been working to remove this president since the day he was elected. Searching for an offense on which they could impeach. Failing to find one, madam speaker, they have decided to assume one. Rather than attempting to enforce their subpoenas in court, they have also decided to declare it a high crime and misdemeanor when the president of the United States asserts his constitutional privileges. The democrats are asking members of this body to impeach despite the fact that they have presented no direct evidence of any impeachable offense. Let me say it one more time, madam speaker. They have presented no direct evidence of any impeachable offense. If anyone in this Chamber Still believes the democrats have proven their case, i would urge those members to ask the chairman of the intelligence committee, mr. Schiff, why he failed to appear to answer questions about his report. Before members vote for impeachment, they might want to know why the author of the impeachment report will not defend it under questioning. If the house impeaches here, madam speaker, it will create exactly the type of risk the framers cautioned us to avoid. It will mean that divided government can imperil a democratically elected president based on unproven allegations and innuendo in the absence of direct testimony. Despite all the rhetoric you have heard today, madam speaker, passage of these articles of impeachment may permanently damage our republic. From this day forward a hyper partisan, fair majority can cite this president precedent i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, madam speaker, think of our republic, think of the constitution, think of the oath that we all swore to protect and defend that constitution and vote wednesday these partisan, reckless, and dangerous articles of impeachmentcalise. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Scalise thank you, madam speaker. Impeaching a president of the United States. This isnt about some solemn duty tonight. Lets talk about what this is really about. This has been about a political vendetta. A political vendetta that didnt just start with the zelensky call. It started long before that. Just listen to some of the quotes from democrats in this chamber. Speaker pelosi, quote, its been going on for 22 months. 2 1 2 years, actually. We cannot accept a second term for donald trump. Whats more serious is that he cant win. This isnt about some crime that was committed. Its about fear that he might win reelection. Thats not why you impeach a president. Al green, quote, im concerned if we dont impeach this president he will get reelected. The list goes on, madam speaker. In fact, there are some quotes that i cant even read on this house floor that some of our colleagues made. Keep in mind, more than 100 democrats on this house floor voted to impeach this president before the zelensky phone call. Just look at some of these articles of impeachment they voted for two years ago. 58 democrats voted to impeach the president over comments he made about nfl players kneeling for the pledge of allegiance. Impeaching the president over 50 democrats voted to impeach him for that. Just this summer over 90 democrats voted to impeach the president for comments he made about the squad. So he makes comments about some other members of congress who make a lot of comments about him, and 95 members vote to impeach the president of the United States. This is a political vendetta. It has nothing to do with the crime committed. There was no crime. Why dont we listen to some of the witnesss . We werent able to call of the witnesses we wanted, but there were witnesses. Gordon sondland, european ambassador to the european union, hes mentioned over 600 times in the schiff report. He was their star witness. And what did he say when asked . Quote, did President Trump ever tell you personally about any preconditions for anything . His answer, no. Any preconditions for the aid to be released . No. Any preconditions for a white house meeting . Under oath he testified no. Abuse of power, lets talk about that article of impeachment. George washington law professor turley, who admitted under oath that he voted against trump, spoke to this claim of abuse of power. In fact, he said, quote, if you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power, its your abuse of power. You are doing precisely what you are criticizing the president of doing. Abuse of power. Theres a house rule, madam speaker, that requires, not allows, but requires that the minority get a day of hearing, which we asked for multiple times. They broke this rule. They didnt allow us to have a minority day of hearing. They didnt want to hear the facts about this case. Because it was never about the facts. Because there was no crime. It is about a personal political vendetta. Now lets talk about obstruction of congress. As they make up these terms to impeach a president. Because they didnt find a crime and they were looking. Its been an impeachment in search of a crime. But they talk about obstruction of congress. Saying the president defied subpoenas. Subpoena after subpoena. Lets go through the departments. The department of state they subpoenaed. Do you know that literally just four days after the subpoena, the secretary of state himself responded to your subpoena . The department of defense, a week later responded to the subpoena. The department of energy responded to the subpoena. We can go on and on with all of these agencies. Thats an abuse of power, thats an obstruction of congress . Responding to your subpoena . Thats what they did. They responded. You might not have liked the answer, but thats not the way this works. You dont impeach a president because you dont like his Foreign Policy. As so many of those Foreign Policy experts came and testified. But this isnt just about donald trump. They dont just hate donald trump, madam speaker. They hate the 63 million americans who voted for this president. The forgotten men and women of this country who have been left behind. Dam speaker the speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The gentleman may proceed. Mr. Scalise thank you, madam speaker. Its those forgotten men and women of this country that washington had left behind. Thats what president doing for them . Hes delivering for them. 600 jobs in pennsylvania. 1,000 jobs, workers in mingo junk, ohio. 750 million junction, ohio. 750 750 Million Investment for jobs across this country. Detroit news, chrysler, 6,500 new jobs. Thats what this president is doing to deliver for those men and women of this country who have been left behind. Its about time who had been left behind. Its about time someone stood up for them and President Trump did. It is a political vendetta. It theyre going to go through with this, madam speaker, impeachment will not just be a stain on this democrat majority, impeachment will be their legacy. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. The gentleman from california. Mr. Schiff madam speaker, i rise ms. Kuster from New Hampshire for unanimous consent request for a unanimous consent request. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Cust cust madam speaker, i request ms. Kuster madam speaker, i request the consent, unanimous consent, for entering my statement into the record regarding the 75th anniversary of the battle of the bulge in favor of articles of impeachment. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Schiff madam speaker, it is now my pleasure to recognize the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader of the house of representatives, mr. Hoyer, for one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hoyer my colleagues the speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. He house will come to order. The gentlemans recognized. Mr. Hoyer madam speaker, i have had the honor of serving in this house for over 38 years. Ive served during six presidencies. Ive been here through moments tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. I have seen periods of rank partisanship and patriotic bipartisanship. Ive seen our twoparty system work. And ive seen it break down. Never, in all my years of serving in this Great Institution that i love, and the people of my district, did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a resident of the United States. Nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalization of president ial actions. Which have put our National Security at risk, undermined the integrity of our elections, and defied the Constitutional Authority of the congress to conduct oversight. Weve heard from republicans that this impeachment really has do with policy differences, or how we feel personally about the president. About his temperament. Or that we simply dislike him. Throughout the trump presidency, democrats have resisted pursuing impeachment even as we watched with dismay and disgust at a pattern of wrongdoing. Ordering n included federal agencies to lie to the public. Firing the f. B. I. Director for refusing to end investigations of his campaign. Siding with Vladimir Putin against our intelligence agencies. Taking funding away from the military to put towards an ineffective border wall. And setting policies that have led the separation of families nd caging of children. Deep e to be sure disagreements with the policies and actions taken by this president. Theres been a lot of talk about the 63 Million People who voted for mr. Trump. Little talk about the 65 Million People who voted for Hillary Clinton. Or those difference votes, this president was lected legitimately. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. The house will stay in order. The gentleman deserves to be heard. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hoyer because we have an electoral college. But none of these are reasons to pursue what chairman schiff has called a wrenching process for the nation. Thatct, democrats rejected process emphatically in three specific votes. In december of 2017 democrats overwhelmingly voted against pursuing articles of impeachment. Including the speaker and myself. We did so again in 2018 with over 60 of the democrats rejecting pursuing articles of impeachment. And again just months ago in july of 2019, 60 of the democrats said no to pursuing articles of impeachment. Just days before the infamous july 25 telephone call. We did the same with 60 of democrats voting not to proceed. Credible witnesses, many of whom were appointed to office by President Trump, have corroborated the details. And timeline of his abuse of president ial power. Which forms the basis of the first article of impeachment in this resolution. I will not recount all of the witnesses or abuses that have occurred. I congratulate my colleagues and mr. Nadler and his committee and mr. Schiff and his committee for. Etting forth a compelling case theyve been laid out fully in the articles before us and by colleagues in their remarks. What i will do is remind americans that the house provided President Trump every opportunity to prove his innocence. But the witnesses were precluded from coming forth. The witnesses who had personal knowledge did not come. Either at the president s request, in which he refused to show up because he thought it was a sham, as so many of you. Ave said, or to the committees instead he ignored congressional subpoenas for documents and for testimony by white house officials and ordered his subordinates not to cooperate. Perhaps they could have exonerated him. This itself, i suggest to you, is unprecedented. When president nixon and clinton were asked to hand over documents and allow officials to testify, ultimately both complied. Because it is the law. Such actions of the president can be taken as further evidence of his obstruction and abuse of power. It is in and of itself impeachable conduct. The subject of the second rticle of impeachment. These two articles before us concern two very profound constitutional issues. About the abuse of power in our issues about the abuse of power in our republic. First, whether it is acceptable for the president of the United States, any president , to solicit foreign interference in our elections. There is a difference as to whether hes done that and the place to try that is in the United States senate. But we believe strongly there is probable cause to conclude that. To undermine our National Security, the integrity of our elections, and the integrity of our democracy. And secondly, whether it is permissible for the president to obstruct congress and act as if is above the law and immune from constitutional oversight. On december 4, the Judiciary Committee heard the testimony of constitutional law experts who eighed in on these points. Some 1,500 historians have said the same thing. As professor noah feldman said. If we cannot impeach a president who abuses his office for personal advantage, we no longer live in a democracy. We live in a monarchy or we live under a dictatorship. The votes we are about to take concern the rule of law and our democracy itself. Let us not forget the words of john lock, so influential to the founders of our republic. John lock a millennia ago said is, wherever law ends, turny begins tierney begins. This impeachment asks whether we are still a republic of laws as our founders intended, or whether we will accept that one person can be above the law. In america, as we have said over nd over again, no one is above the law. But only as long as we hold every person accountable for breaking the law, even a president , will that be true. If the house does not act, if we wait and delay, we run the risk of allowing the president s misconduct. If we believe it to be so, to be repeated at the expense of integrity of our elections, our National Security, and our constitutional system of separation of powers. Democrats did not choose this impeachment. E did not wish for it. We voted against it. We voted against it once. We voted against it twice. We voted against it three times as recently as july. E did not want this. However President Trumps misconduct has forced our Constitutional Republic to rotect itself. These votes that we are about to take and the process that will follow in the senate are not only an assessment of the president s commitment to the constitution or to his oath of as well a test of our own. Damming evidence of the president s high crimes damning evidence of the president s high crimes has emerged. Nevertheless republican members of this house and senate have continued to defend the president whose actions seem to many of us to be indefensible. All of us feel a sense of loyalty to party. Its what makes our two party system function. Its what helps hold president s and majorities accountable. But Party Loyalty must have its limits, and as evidence of the president s impeachable offenses have mounted daily as the witnesses testified, it has become increasingly clear that the limits of partisanship have been reached and passed. Now democrats and republicans together face a test before our constituents, our countrymen, and our creator. The New York Times on october 18 summarized the question now posed to house and senate. Republicans and democrats, compromise by compromise, donald trump has hammered away t what republicans once saw as foundational virtues. Decency, honesty, responsibility, and, yes, even ivility. Wept on to say will they commit themselves and their party wholly to wholly to mr. Trump, embracing his actions, or take the first tep towards separating themselves from him and restoring confidence in the rule of law. Madam speaker, we have seen republican courage throughout our history. From the civil war to the cold war it. In 1950 Margaret Chase smith, the senator from maine, a republican, spoke bravely against the cancer of mccarthyism in her party. Leading six of her republican colleagues in a declaration of conscience. Against their own leadership. We are republicans, they declared, but we are Americans First. In 1974, one congressman took the brave and principleled step of becoming the first republican on the Judiciary Committee to support impeaching president nixon. He said to his colleagues, and to the country, and i quote, it isnt easy for me to align myself against the president to whom i gave my enthusiastic support, on whose side i stood in many legislative battles, whose accomplishments in foreign and Domestic Affairs i have consistently applauded, but it is impossible, he went on to say, for me to condone or ignore the long train of abuses to which he has subjected the presidency antipeople of this country. The constitution and my own oath of office, he said, demand that i bear true faith and allegiance to the principles of law and justice upon which this nation was founded. And he concluded, and i cannot in good conscience turn away from the evidence of evil that is to me so clear and compelling. My colleagues, that congressmans name was larry hogan sr. He represented the Fifth District of maryland, which i now represent. His son is presently the second term republican governor of our state. When larry hogan senior died in 2017, every obituary led with praise for his act of political courage. Who among us many years from now will receive such praise as a man or woman of courage . Who will regret not having earned it . We talked a lot about partisan differences. There is one person who has spoken today who is neither a member of the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party t his name is justin amash who represents a republican district. He left the Republican Party and in doing so he admonished his colleagues that, quote, this president will only be in power for a short time, but excusing his behavior will forever tarnish your name. He spoke on this floor in support of the two articles that we will consider this evening. Neither a democrat nor a republican. Representative amash is the only member of this house who has no allegiance to either party. Party, but to his country. He is supporting, as i have said, both articles. We need not ask who will be the first to show courage by standing up to President Trump. The question we must now ask is, who will be the last to find it . The pages of our history are filled with americans who had the courage to choose country over party or personality. But as president kennedy wrote, the stories of past courage can each t. They can offer hope teach. They can offer hope. They can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this, president kennedy said, each man, each woman must ook into their own soul. I urge my fellow colleagues in the house and, yes, in the senate to look into your soul. Summon the courage to vote for our constitution and our democracy. I understand we will all not see the same conclusion, but to do less betrays our oath and that of our founders who pledged their lives, their ortune, and their sacred honor. Let us neither turn away from the evidence which, to me, seems so clear, nor from our good conscience which compels us to do what in our hearts we know to be right. Let us not allow the rule of law to end or for tyranny to find its toehold. With our votes today we can bear true faith and allegiance to the vision of our founders and we can show future neration what it truly means. O be Americans First vote yes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. He gentleman from georgia. Mr. Collins madam speaker, a few weeks ago just off of this floor i said that dark cloud was deskending upon this body. Today because of the clock and the calendar it is closing. It is amazing to me what i just heard from the majority leader. That mr. Schiff and mr. Nadler presented a compelling case for impeachment. If this is a compelling case for impeachment, im not sure why we are here. Right now. It is not anywhere close to compelling. But you know what is interesting is what i have heard today. The majority leader just spoke and said that if the president was given every opportunity to come prove his incense innocence. I tell you what, madam speaker, let me have just a few minutes and let me go around to the press corps and everybody here and im going to accuse you of something. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. Now prove us wrong. You did it. Guess what . You dont want to because deep down you know that thats turning the entire jurisprudence of this country upsidedown. You are guilt are you not guilty until you are proven. You are innocent. Today from this floor we have heard the majority leader say this president is guilty and not the other way around. He is innocent and these come nowhere close to proving t but what is left of this body . Lets have an honest conversation, madam speaker, what we have found over the past few weeks is that it is ok for the majority to tear down a foreign leader because they cant make their case. They called him a liar, a weak, or worse, or called in the committee, even looked like a battered wife. It is below the dignity of this body and this majority to tear down a foreign leader because they cant make their case gainst this one. We have broken rules in this house, even to this moment, chairman schiff and the others have broken House Resolution 660 by not turning over the things that they should be turning over. I still have not got a transcript. We still dont know what got in the white house. Still has not got their stuff. I guess those dont matter, either. You see there is a problem here because we are going to vote this tonight while breaking the rules. What a shameful incident. But we also found a creative interpretation of minority rights. We saw the rise of the partisanship because of things that have been done further. We have seen members smeared in reports by drive by political hacks when they match numbers of the Ranking Member and the members of the press. That ought to concern every one of you as much as it concerns every one of us. Nothing but a drive by hit. You know something, this majority leader also said, wherever law ends tyranny begins. I will say this, in this house wherever the rules are disregarded, chaos and mob rule actually began and the majority has taken that to a new level. It has been said today wheres bravey. Ill tell you where bravey is found and courage is found, its found in this minority who has lived through the last year of nothing but rules being broken, people being put down, questions not being answered, and this majority saying be dammed with anything else we are going to be to impeach and do what we want to do. Why . Because we won an election. I guarantee you one day youll be back in the minority and it aint going to be that fun. When you look at it, when you actually trash the rules of this house, you want to really look at what did you gain at the end by trashing the institution you claim to love. Thats the things we found out so far. But you know they are careful saying you want to deal in process. As i said last night in the rules committee where they didnt want to listen, i win on process and i will win on facts because we have the truth on our side. Let me remind you that hearings what the process actually says. There was no pressure. Look at the call. President zelensky, President Trump, no pressure. There was no conditionality. There was nothing done to get the aid. And the aid came. There were five meetings. When you look at it right now, none of which matter because right now the dark cloud is descending upon this house and im fearful, madam speaker, when i look out in that abyss, i dont know what i see. Ill tell you what i do see. I see coming off a president who will put his head down through this sham impeachment and he will do his job. He will put the American People first. He will tell them that i care about you. He will still put the economy first. And he will make sure this country stands strong. Thats what i see in this abyss. Thats where we are going. And, madam speaker, it is with that hope in the future that i recognize right now that i yield one minute to the republican leader of this house, the republican from california, mr. Mccarthy. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Mccarthy madam speaker, i must warn you, im about to Say Something my democratic colleagues hate to hear. Donald j. Trump is president of the United States. He is president today. Hell be president tomorrow. And he will be president when his impeachment is over. Madam speaker, when they accept that, maybe this house can get back to work for the American People. Tonight i rise not as the leader of the opposition to this impeachment, or as the elected representative from the Central Valley of california. I rise as kevin mccarthy, citizen. 435etter, no worse than the representatives that are in this chamber. Or the 330 million americans watching this institution make what i believe is to be one of the worst decisions we have ever made. It doesnt matter whether youre a democrat or a republican, whether youre liberal or conservative, whether youre the first generation or the 10th, at our core we are all americans. All of us. We choose our future. We choose what kind of nation we want to be. Heres our choice tonight. Will we let impeachment become an exercise of raw political power, regardless if it damages our country . Or will we protect the proper grounds and process for impeachment now and in the future . For months democrats and many in the media have attempted to normalize the impeachment process that would remove a duly elected president from office. After three years of breathless nd baseless outrage, this is their last attempt to stop the trump presidency. Madam speaker, Speaker Pelosi even recently admitted that democrats have been working on this impeachment for 2 1 2 years. Those were her words, they were not mine. Because they lost to him in 2016 , theyll do anything or say anything to stop him in 2020. Thats not america. Thats not how democratic republics behave. Elections matter. Voters matter. And in 11 months, the peoples voice will be heard again. Impeachment is the most consequential decision congress can make other than sending our men and women into war. Yet 85 days ago, Speaker Pelosi chose to impeach the president of the United States. She wrote the script and created an artificial timeline to make the details fit. Why else are we doing this just hours before christmas . If thats all it was, a rush to judgment, she could be forgiven. But before the speaker saw one word or one shred of evidence, he moved to impeach. In the path, in this body, such a step demanded a vote from all of us from the start. But not only did she move to impeach before she gave this house and the hundreds of millions of people we represent a say in whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry, she threw out the bipartisan standards this house gave president nixon and clinton. That is why i immediately sent Speaker Pelosi a letter, asking her to follow the rules of history, of tradition, and follow those standards that have served america well. What did she say . She rejected it. She rejected it because democrats knew a fair process would crumble their case. A fair process would have exposed to the American Public what many already knew. Democrats have wanted to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected. And nothing was going to get in their way, certainly not the truth. Madam speaker, chairman schiff said he had evidence, more than circle, of collusion. That was false. In january, where we all stood in this body, we stood up, we raised our hands, we swore that uphold the constitution and a few mere hours after that, congresswoman tlaib said she was oing to impeach the motherf er. Ose are not my words a year before taking the majority chairman nadler campaigned to the democrats that he wanted to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee where impeachment is. New york times writes, madam speaker, because he is the strongest member to lead a potential impeachment. And congressman raskin, a leading democrat on the Judiciary Committee, one that the democrats had represent in the rules committee, for these articles just yesterday, told a crowd he would impeach President Trump two days before he was ever sworn into office. What weve seen is a rigged process that has led to the most partisan and least credible impeachment in the history of america. That is this legacy. Any prosecutor in this country would be disbarred for such blatant bias, especially if that prosecutor was the fact witness, he judge and the jury. Madam speaker, democrats havent just failed on process, theyve also failed failed on evidence. I heard a lot of debate on this floor today, but i havent heard one member of this body dispute this simple fact President Trump provided lethal aid to ukraine. It came before the call, it came after the call, and it continues to this day. President trump provided ukraine tankbusting bombs, the previous administration, they gave blankets. This is the truth. Meanwhile, the democrats case is based on secondhand opinions and hearsay. Simply put, there are no grounds for impeachment. As constitutional scholar jonathan turley, and i would challenge to say hes probably the most respected and we all know it, a democrat who did not vote for the president said under oath, there was no bribery, there was no extortion, no obstruction of justice and no abuse of power. Based on the facts, based on the truth, based on the lack of evidence turley called in the fastest, thinnest and weakest impeachment in the u. S. History. Such a definitive answer should be the end of all of this. But Speaker Pelosi is still moving forward with this impeachment. Without evidence of facts or truth or public support. The speaker says it is out of allegiance to our founders. On this i agree. I agree with the speaker, we should listen to the founders. And if one does, its very clear that this impeachment is unfounded and improper. And the in the federalist papers, Alexander Hamilton wrote , there will always there would always be the greatest danger, that impeachment would be driven by partisan animosity instead of real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. That impeachment would be driven by partisan animosity instead of real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. James madison, another author of the federalist papers, wrote, the danger of legislative abuse must lead to the same tyranny as is threatened by executive abuse. The founders did not want impeachment to be used for political or partisan battles. If my colleagues do not want to follow the constitutional high standards for undoing a national election, perhaps you could have followed Speaker Pelosis standard, at least the one she promised to follow back in march. It was a very sensible standard. She says, impeachment is so divisive that the evidence must be overwhelming, compelling and bipartisan. Not one of those criterias have been met today. Based on the facts, based on the evidence, based on the truth, this impeachment even fails that pelosi test. Those now who say removing President Trump would protect the integrity of our democracy have it backwards. By removing a duly elected president on empty articles of impeachment, congress will erode the public trust in our system of government. I understand you dislike the president. His beliefs, the way he governs, and even the people who voted for him. How do i know this . Because you say so day in and day out. In 2016 they even dismissed his supporters. Remember calling us deplorables . Now they are trying to disqualify our voice before the 2020 election. They want to undo the results of the last election, to influence the next one. As ive said, President Trump will still be president when this is all over. But congress will have wasted months of time and taxpayer dollars on impeachment rather than doing what the American People want us to do. It didnt have to be this way. Is this why we came here to serve . To trample on Due Process Rights . To issue more subpoenas than laws . To appease the new democrat ocialist base . That is not leadership. That is raw political politics and you know it. By refusing to acknowledge the truth or follow the facts, by substituting partisan animosity for real demonstration of innocence or guilt, and by continuing a threeyear effort to undermine the president , this impeachment has divided this nation without any concern for the repercussions. Moreover, politicizing this process has discredited the United States house of representatives. And could forever weaken the remedy of impeachment. To again quote professor turley, it is the democrats rush to impeachment on these grounds with unfair procedures that is an abuse of power. History will write that. Madam speaker, as i said at the beginning, we face a choice. Do you trust the wisdom of the people . Or do you deny them a say in their government . Fortunately the people will have the opportunity to speak up and render their verdict in 11 months, to my fellow americans. To my fellow americans, if you prove of the approve of the way this house has conducted its business, if you want to see your tax dollars go forward end toless investigations, support this impeachment. To endless investigations, support this impeachment. But if you want to restore a working Congress Like the Previous Congress that listened to you and worked to bring the best economy in this country and ountry has ever seen one that once again will work with the president to get things done for you and your family, then join with us in rejecting this baseless impeachment. Thats whats wonderful about this system of ours. We are a government of, by, and for the people. Always remember, we work for you, not the other way around. Now i will say this stronger and with more conviction than i have ever said it before. In this time of great trial and triplelation and tribulation, may god bless america. Yield back. Mr. Collins i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized. The house will be in order. The gentleman from california. Mr. Schiff i recognize myself for the remainder of our time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Schiff madam speaker, my colleagues, after eight hours, let us return to where we began with the articles themselves. Article one charges the president of the United States with abusing the power of his office by coercing an ally into cheating in a u. S. Election on his behalf. It charges the president of the United States it charges the the speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The gentleman has the right to be heard. Mr. Schiff it charges the speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. The gentleman may resume. Mr. Schiff it charges the president of the United States with abusing his power by with holding official acts, by with holding a white house meeting that the president of ukraine desperately sought, to establish the support of his most important benefactor, the United States, by with Holding Hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to a nation at war in order to get that nation to intervene in our election by smearing his opponent. That is thegraph men of the he gravamen of the charge. I have listened carefully to my colleagues for the last eight hours and its been hard for me to follow. But it amounts, i think, when you cut through it all, when you cut through all the sound and fury, signifying nothing, what it really amounts to is this. Why should we care . Why should we care what the president did to ukraine . First of all, we should care about our allies. We should care about ukraine. We should care about a country struggling to be free and a democracy. We used to care about democracy. We used to care about our allies. We used to stand up to putin and russia. We used to. I know the party of Ronald Reagan used to. Why should we care about ukraine . Of course its about more than ukraine. Its about us. Its abour National Security. Their fight sour fight. Their defense is our defense. When russia remakes the map of europe for the First Time Since world war ii by dint of military force and ukraine strikes back, it is our fight too. And when the president sacrifices our interests, our National Security, for his election, he is sacrificing our country for his personal gain. That is the gravamen of article 1. Article 2. Article 2 charges the president of the United States with obstructing congress, with denying the congress any witness, any document, by telling all of his administration people, you will not appear. You willig forea coequal branch of government. What is the defense to this from my colleagues . Again, it is why should we care . He is the president of our party, why should we care if he ignore this is congress. I remind my friends that he will not be the last president. There will be another president. And you may be one day, although you do not act like it, you may one day be in the majority. And you will want to hold a president accountable. And what will you say when that president says, you are a paper tiger, you have no oversight irk can ignore your subpoenas, what will you say . What will you argue . No, no, that was different. Then, then we were in the minority. Then it was a republican president. Will that be your argument . Is that how little faith you have in our democracy and our constitution . Is that how poorly you defend and uphold that constitution . But finally, let me ask this question. That overrides it all. Why should we care about any of this . And i will bring you to one conversation that came to light. Because its not the most important conversation but in many ways it is the most revealing. It took place on september 14 in ukraine when ambassador volker mok, the with andre yar top advisor to president zelensky. He supported the rule of law. He said, you should not investigate the last president. President por sean coe. For political reasons. You should not engage in political investigations. And you know what he said . Like you want us to do with the bidens and clintons . And in that abrupt, brutal retort, we see why we should care. Because what he was saying is, you, america, have forgotten what it means to uphold the rule of law. You have forgotten what it means to say that no one is above the law. We are a struggling democracy, but even we know better than hat. , what is atisk here risk here is the very idea of america. That idea holds that we are a nation of laws, not of men. We are a nation that believes in the rule of law. When we say we uphold the constitution, we are not talking about a piece of parchment, were tuck we are talking about a beautiful architecture in which ambition is set against ambition, in which no branch of government can dominate another that is what it means to uphold the constitution. If you ignore it if you say the president may refuse to comply, may refuse lawful process, may coerce an ally, may cheat in an election, because hes the president of our party, you do not uphold our constitution. You do not uphold your oath of office. I will tell you this. I will uphold mine. I will vote to impeach donald trump. I yield back. The vote on article two was 229198. Democratic president ial candidate Tulsi Gabbard voted present on both articles. The entire house floor debate along with hearings and other impeachment related events are on our website, cspan. Org