Nancy pelosi and representative jamie raskin of maryland unveiled legislation to create the commission on president ial capacity saying the commission is for future president s. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here. We are really honored to have jamie raskin to redistribute legislation which is so very important. I hope you will prepare yourself for a civics lesson, a presentation on the constitution of the United States. The 20 fifth amendment of the constitution was ratified in 1967 after the assassination of president kennedy with strong bipartisan support. Members of congress have a duty to take all necessary action to preserve continuity of government and protect the stability and integrity of our democracy for the future. That is why today again it is my honor to welcome congressman jamie raskin, a constitutional scholar as he introduces legislation to establish a commission on president ial capacity to discharge the duties, powers and duties of the office. This is not about donald trump. He will face the judgment of the voters but he shows the need for us to create a process for future president s. Throughout americas history our leaders have created and strengthened guardrails in the constitution to ensure stability, continuity of government in times of crisis. The 20 fifth amendment creates a path for preserving stability of our president suffers a crippling physical or mental problem and is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office and transfer his power. Specifically, section 4 of the amendment empowers congress to set up an independent body to confront such a crisis. Congress has a constitutional duty to layout the process by which a president , of any party, is determined. This bill honors the duty by creating a Standing Commission of top former executive officials and medical experts suggested in a bipartisan bicameral way. The president s fitness for office must be determined by science and facts. This legislation applies to future president s but we are reminded of the necessity of action by the health of the current president. For this bill to congress on a roof to support and defend the constitution and protect the American People and we uphold our responsibility to preserve our republic for generations to come. It is my honor to yield to the distinguish settlement from maryland, with constitutional authority, teaching it, honoring it and legislating to honor the constitution. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you very much. Will i am honored by your words, and thank you for inviting me to present to the press this legislation. In times of chaos we must hold fast to our constitution. The 20 fifth amendment is all about the stability of the presidency and continuity of the office. It is a tool that was adopted by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the house and in the senate in 1965, overwhelming bipartisan majority of the state legislatures, 3 quarters of whom passed it in 1967, the 20 fifth amendment is designed to guarantee the continuing peaceful transfer of power in our country, the principal authors of the amendment, robert f kennedy, manual they wanted to talk about the blue, continuity and succession in the office of the presidency. Section 1 established if the presidency is vacant the Vice President becomes the president and believe it or not that was ambiguous at the time. Section 2 establishes that if the vice presidency is vacant, the president nominates a Vice President , and by current majority vote of the house and senate that nominee becomes the Vice President. Section 3 established a process for the temporary transfer of power by a president who is incapacitated by transmitting to the president pro tem of the senate and the speaker of the house, the statement establishing a temporary disability and this is happened multiple times with various president s including president reagan who transferred power to Vice President bush when he underwent colorectal surgery. Section 4 deals with the problem of a president who becomes incapacitated but has made no provision to temporarily transfer powers meaning, in the words of senator burke by, the president is unable to make or communicate his decisions as to his own competency to execute the powers and duties of his office. In that case the Vice President and the majority of the cabinet or the Vice President and such other bodies that may be established by congress may determine that there is a president ial incapacity and notify the president pro tem and speaker of the house of that inability to conduct the powers and duties of office. In that case the powers would be transferred to the Vice President. If you read section 4 you will see that the president has the opportunity to object, he can conduct the powers despite what the Vice President and these bodies are saying and ultimately there would be a vote for the house and senate and requires 2 thirds to side with the Vice President so it is made procedurally difficult to make sure it is only for the most extreme situations where you have a president who cannot fulfill the functions of the office. It has never been necessary but the authors of the 20 fifth amendment thought it essential in the nuclear age to have a safety valve option. As they often said we have 535 members of congress but only one president. In the age of covid19 which has killed more than 210,000 americans and now ravage the white house staff the wisdom of the 20 fifth amendment is clear. What happens if a president , any president ends up in a coma or on a ventilator and has made no provisions for the temporary transfer of power under section 3, who has the powers of the presidency . Is at the chief of staff, is it the Vice President , the secretary of state . This situation demands action under section 4. I wish the congress had set up his permanent body 50 years ago. It did not do it but we do need to do this. Certainly in the next congress. The framers of the 20 fifth amendment knew that you cannot always count on the cabinet to act, congress has a role to play in that role must be totally bicameral and totally bipartisan and the legislation that i introduced today seeks to establish a 16 Member Commission that would act in the event of such an emergency and a seventeenth member chosen by 16 members themselves. Eight members were chosen, passed by Republican Leaders in half by Democratic Leaders from medical personnel, physicians and other medical authorities. The other eight members are drawn from the ranks of former highranking executive Branch Offices including former president s, Vice President s, attorney general, secretaries of defense, treasury, state and surgeon general. The commission is entirely bipartisan and the 20 fifth amendment connect only in concert with the Vice President who is the key actor under the 20 fifth amendment so the constitution is designed to give us the tools we need to deal with the many crises of Human Affairs that can affect the continuity of democratic selfgovernance. We are in the middle of the momentous election and as the speaker said, the people will decide that but when we get through this, the problem we are talking about, something serious we have to face and i am delighted to introduce this legislation and answer any questions you may have. Can you address the concern . Number one the idea that medical professionals on the commission would not have examined the president , there are ethical issues whether that is appropriate for them to or make a judgment on the president s help if theyve not done that and this is something in future congress that should be addressed and is not about this president , how can you present this at this time . I will mental the first question and the speaker take the second, the legislation sets up a process by which congress do concurrent votes in the house and senate could direct the commission to conduct a medical exam of the president and that would include whatever members of the commission think is necessary to determine whether or not there is an incapacity. Of the president refuses and the president would have a right to refuse that could be taken into account by the commission which would have to based on the other evidence that it has. Reporter this isnt about any judgment anybody has about somebodys behavior. This is about a diagnosis, professional medical diagnosis was let me back up for a second. When this happened after the assassination of president kennedy, you are not born yet but there was no Lyndon Johnson became president , there was no Vice President. If anything happens to president johnson and his health was not the greatest the speaker of the house would have become the president of the United States. This sets up how you would elect a Vice President chosen by the president but voted upon by the house and senate and that happened with gerald ford. After spear wagner and all that, was appointed the Vice President and very popular in the congress on both sides of the aisle, both sides of the cabinet. The story of how that happened, on his ninetieth birthday gerald ford came to the house, he was the minority leader, and i said im so honored to serve in the position that you served in. He said to me i served with your father, he started to tell me stories about that. When he died i was the incoming speaker and we had the honor of opening up the Speakers Office, had possession of the Speakers Office open to his family who at the time he was minority leader, that is where he presided and his children came and did their homework so we have a real personal connection to gerald ford, this spot is determined by the 20 fifth amendment to the constitution. We can do a couple things at once. We can engage in political activity for the public to make its verdict 25 days from now and at the same time honored our responsibilities to have something in place that does not apply to this president but certainly raises the issue if a president , not with bad intentions, if a president becomes incapacitated by whatever it happens to be would not have the ability as Ronald Reagan had, George Herbert walker bush had, george w. Bush had to make a judgment for this period of time of transfer of power so the sensible formula. Not for any of us to decide that, it is about a process to decide it and as the distinguished gentleman said without the Vice President , the Vice President is crucial to this and that would be the Vice President of the president s party. A few weeks ago you were toying with the idea of impeachment. I was doing what . Were toying i was not, it did not exist. Another question because that is based on a false i am curious about the timing, why introduce this legislation now, why not wait until the new session of congress, things may have changed and have a clearer view of the ark of the legislation in the congress, wouldnt it be easier when the decks are cleared to wait . It takes time and theres been a pulse, why not execute across the 20 fifth amendment, that is not what we are doing, we are saying that congress exert the powers of the constitution. Did you want to speak to me . It is interesting when the body has never been set up and the reason is there is never a really good time to do it because it always seems just in his local circumstances opposed to the need to have this institutionally. So i guess i would say the situation is focused on everybodys mind on the need for following through on this suggestion in the 20 fifth amendment that congress set up its own body and again in the age of covid19 where a lot of government actors have been afflicted by it we need to act. To my colleagues question this is a president who has been impeached, you made comments suggest using his mental state might be affected by the drugs he is on. What do you say to those who see what you are doing now, this is just another attempt to go around the public and try to get rid of this president . Let me first say what i said about the president of the drugs was there are those who believe that taking certain medications can affect your judgment. I dont know. But say what i actually said. I dont know. That is what i said. You may have gotten it through several times, there are those medical professionals who say certain medications can impair judgment, i dont know. I appreciate your question because this is really important. It is not about any of us making a judgment about the president s wellbeing, it is about this respected bipartisan, both aspects of it, the medical side and the dignitary states inside are selected equally by the speaker, the leader, the speaker, the leader, in a bipartisan way. And the Vice President is crucial to that. When we do legislation it is important to socialize so people understand why so that we would like to have it in place and it could be said for a future presidency if the president win this election it would apply to him. If he doesnt it will apply to the next president of the United States but this isnt about anything about the election. It is not about the election at all. And i thank the distinguished gentleman from maryland. We could have done this a while back. But the timing is for now because people want to know. We have to give comfort to peel the whole that there is a way to do this. Very respectful, not making a judgment on the basis of a comment or behavior that we dont like but based on a medical decision with the involvement of the Vice President of the United States. However he or she may be at the time. The president has not met the threshold for invoking the 20 fifth amendment . I dont understand the question. The president has not met the threshold for invoking the 20 fifth amendment . The whole point is we understand in politics people point fingers back and forth with the issues raised are of such gravity, in central importance to the nature of our government that weve got to think of this in constitutional terms. This is why we need to set up an institution composed on a bipartisan fashion, bicameral fashion that will be able to make judgments, whether it is 5 months from now, 50 years from now, whatever it might be. We are living in an age of a lot of chaos. I want to say i appreciate what the speaker has to go through on a daily basis dealing with the chaos of politics which has been made especially intense recently and i appreciate her seeing that we need to create some constitutional and Institutional Foundation for dealing with the chaos. Our forebears who wrote the 20 fifth amendment gave us the tools that we need to deal with these kinds of crisis. The constitution of the United States, it has always been gratifying for me to go around the country, no matter democrats or republicans, right or left or whatever that the constitution, the rules are what really do unify us. This is a comfort to people that it is not about i dont like the way he or she is acting. It is about a process that is bipartisan based on the constitution, giving congress the power to do this which congress hasnt done at a time when people understand there is a necessity for it. To your question it isnt about any of us making a decision whether the 20 fifth amendment should be invoked. That is not the point. That is not up to us. That is not up to us but i do go back to the point, put yourself in a situation, your responsibilities to your family, if you suffer a stroke or covid19 or go on ventilation and the rest of it and are not capable of making decisions for your family because it is unforeseen, accidental, whatever happens, wouldnt you in advance have liked to have a plan for your family even if it is temporary, god willing, even if it is temporary that would be in place so that is the visit. On a related note. One more. Donald trump in an altered state of mind, what are the indications of that . You commented on uk brexit policy. Do you think Boris Johnson is an example of somebody his ability to govern is reduced by coronavirus . I have no idea. Clearly he is under medication. Is an altered state. He bragged about the medication he has taken. By medical professionals say this could as i said earlier could have an impact on judgment. The idea of Boris Johnson, glad you brought up the subject because i think we have to be very careful about what happens in the uk. We have stringent rules in terms of the food and drug administration, the number of Clinical Trials and the rest, and with the Scientific Advisory committee that is safe and efficacious, would have the trust of the American People to take it. Vaccines are about trust and want people to take it. Pray that it is soon, the sooner the better, not one day later either. My concern is the uk system for that is not on par with ours in the United States so if johnson decides to improve a drug and the president embraces that, that is the concern i have about any similarity between the two, thank you very much. The president is campaigning tomorrow. The Senate Confirmation hearings for judge amy barrett begin monday at 9 am eastern with Opening Statements by Judiciary Committee members, introduction of the nominee followed by Opening Statements by judge barrett. Wash on cspan, listen live on the cspan radio apps. The Us Supreme Court began its new term hearing oral arguments via conference call. Into oral argument live on cspan. Org Supreme Court tuesday listen live to two cases. The consolidated cases followed by city of chicago. On wednesday the justices hear arguments in torres versus madrid followed by karina versus bar, listen to the argument live or on demand on cspan. Org Supreme Court. Find a full Television Schedule online