I said, who is this guy . Hes the governor of iowa. He just said dont say bad about china, so i had to rip up about half of my speech, right . I said, why . We do a lot of business. Ive been dealing with china for 35 years with corn and all of the different things. He told me a story that was amazing. He said, you know, 35 years ago when i started, i met a man named xi. He wasnt president then, he was a young man. The governor came back and told his wife 35 years ago, its documented, he said, i just met the future president of china. And nobody thought much about it. You know what, 28 years later, you turned out to be right. You have been an incredible ambassador, and they like each other so much. So when it came time to picking the important position of ambassador, i said, havent you had enough after 24 years being governor of iowa . He said, if you want me to do that, and youve been a great help, thank you very much, ambassador, i appreciate it. Done a great job. [ applause ] nobody could have done that job better. A man, i think i can go on the opposite side of the spectrum perhaps from the governor, his attitude is a little different, our traded a visor, peter navarro, right, peter . Hes a little different. We have all types. All types. A deputy chief of staff, Chris Liddell has been with us a long time and hes done a fantastic job, had a great business career, commerce secretary, legend on wall street, wilbur ross, wheres wilbur . [ applause ] wilbur, thank you. A man who knows agricultural as well as anybody in the world, we were looking for an agricultural person and we wanted to go political, and we were looking for somebody that would fit perfectly and sonny came in and it was over. I learned more in that half hour about agricultural, right, than i could have ever learned possibly. Sonny perdue has been incredible and were taking care of our farmers. Sonny, thank you very much. Great job. Thank you, sonny. [ applause ] and a woman, transportation is going very well, shes done an incredible job. Were getting approvals down from 21 years to 2 years. It may get rejected for environmental or other reasons, lindsey, we have it down to two years, a highway that would have taken 18 years for approval and we have it down to 2. We will say, build it but you wont wait 22 years to find out you cant build a highway. She has been fantastic, secretary of transportation, elaine chow. Thank you, elaine. [ applause ] so, we have tremendous numbers of people here, and im saying, do i introduce them . I think i sort of should. This is a big celebration. Some of the congressman may have a vote, its on the impeachment hoax. If you want, you can go out and vote. Its not going to matter because its going very well. Id rather have you voting than sitting and listening to me introduce you. They have a hoax going on over there, lets take care of it. If any of you want to leave we will not be with kevin mccarthy, the great kevin mccarthy. Can i be honest . Im glad. I like it much better that way. The house folks, 1950, and we have three democrats, and one of them actually left the democratic party, came over republican. What a job youve done. I want to thank you all. Really tough. I love that. We have incredible people in the audience. Id like to introduce a few, very good friend of mine, two very good friends of mine, sheldon adelson, miriam adelson, thank you very much. Theyve been tremendous supporters of us, and the republican party. A man who always liked me because hes smart, so smart, the great lou dobbs. You know, at first he said, hes the best since reagan. Then, he got to know me more and more and he said, hes even better than reagan. Then, a few weeks ago, somebody told me, i watch all the time, somebody who has a very important show actually, tremendous audience and everybody in this room watches, lou dobbs, said, hes the greatest of them all. I said, does that include washington and lincoln . And he said, yes. Now, i dont know if he was for real, but thats okay, but the great he is, the great lou dobbs. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] great show, lou. A man who everybody knows, knows probably more than anybody in this room put together, hes seen it all. He made a statement to jared. He said, you know, Henry Kissinger told me, how did the president ever pull this off . I said, can i quote henry on that . Henry is outstanding. When henry is impressed with something, im impressed. Henry, thank you very much for being here. Thank you. [ applause ] michael pillsbury, thank you very much and susan pillsbury, thank you very much. Youve been saying fantastic things about china and about us. We have a good partnership. This is something that will be very special. We will talk about it in a second. A friend of mine, steve shoresman is here. I know you have nothing to do with this deal at all, surprised youre not sitting on the ledge of the stage. He has done a good job and Good Relationship with china and us. Nelson, a good friend of mine here. Hi, nelson. What are you doing sitting all the way back there, nelson . Hows General Electric doing . Hell straighten it out. He came in nice and late. Hank greenberg is here. Hank, if they took care of hank they wouldnt have had the problems that they had. Wheres hank . Hank greenberg. [ applause ] hank. Hank stayed there like he should have you wouldnt have had the problem you ended up having with our economy. Great to have you, hank. This thank you very much. We have tremendous senators here and really incredible people. I want to just say the ones here, if i miss your name, stand up and i will promise to say it. A lot of people wanted to be here. A senator who has been new to the game, and he took it up so quickly and so easily. He ran a race undoable. The person he ran against was unbeatable. Nice woman, heidi, but unbeatable. But then kevin cramer said, i can beat her. I think you only won by about 12 points, right . They said hes the only man in north dakota that can win. I said, go do it. I had him in my office three times and i said you have to do it. He said, hes doing it and turned me downand thistimehe calls me back, not going to do it. In all fairness, i will call you back. I never give up, do i . Instead of being a congressman, hes a senator, hes been great, thank you very much, kevin. [ applause ] mike crapo. These are all warriors, thank you very much, mike, for all you do. Mike goes unsung. Behind the scenes, nobody sharper and smarter, rewe specific you, every one of these people. Steve, same thing i can say for my friend, steve, a hell of a football team. How did they do this year . Theyre going to be back . They won it again . They have a good team. You have ethanol, so you cant be complaining, right . Steve, thats good for you, too. Joni ertz. She would call me and steve, all they want to know is ethanol. We got it done. Deb fischer, same boat, right, deb . You want that ethanol from nebraska. A friend of mine, lendsy graham become a friend of mine, outstanding man, loves our country he really does love our country. Lindsey graham. Do you do anything other than politics . He likes golf, too, much better golfer than people would understand. You get it done, great guy, brings people together. Chuck grassley. Wheres chuck . Will you stand up for a second. This guy is the toughest guy. He can Say Something in a nice manner and everybody is afraid, right . He may call me choke during the hearing. He said, did you leak anything to the press . Call me choke like a dog. And he was being nice when he said it. Chuck is outstanding. Unbeatable, between you and the governor, those are two pretty good ones, right . Unbeatable under any circumstance. He makes the rounds like virtually every night. I think you still have never missed a vote. Have you ever missed a vote . 1993. 93. He was in my office a month ago i thought it was very rude. Sir, im sorry, i have to leave. Why . Were right in the middle of a meeting. I said, why . He said, because i have to vote and ive never missed a vote or something. I said, how many years . 1993. I said, thats a long time. Thats a good record to keep because hes a solid reliable, unbelievable person and a friend of mine. Thank you very much, chuck. Let them know also about that et no ethanol, chuck. Jerry, they were not nice about the ethanol, i want to say that. Were working very closely together with the vets. Its incredible whats happened with what we approved on choice. Made a whole big difference. You dont hear complaints about the v. A. Anymore, you notice . They go out, see a doctor. If they have to wait two months or two days, they go see a doctor. Jerry moran, folks, he did a fantastic job. [ applause ] rob portman, great friend of ours from ohio. Fantastic job. I just left ohio. They love you. They love you there and youve done a fantastic job and you are my friend. Rob portman. [ applause ] thanks, rob. Pat roberts, a man from kansas, whos going to be leaving us. I cannot believe youre not running again. You have at least another 12 good solid years in the senate if you wanted them. You have to do it . Youre sure, right . Okay. Hes made that decision. Pat, thank you very much. This is very important to pat and to mike rounds because whats happened here, if you look, its so much about everything you stand for, especially the farmers. The farmers will be so happy. Where is mike rounds . Mike, stand up, mike. Hes another one. He was brutal to me, i have to get this done. Thank you very much, mike. Fantastic job. Dan sullivan from the great state of alaska. I stop there every time i can. I won by a lot. They like me in alaska, right . Im from washington. We wont break you away but the house is now in session preparing to debate a resolution that would officially name the house impeachment managers and officially transsubmit the articles to the senate. The team of seven submitted by nancy pelosi this morning. I will let our voters know. Back to the signing ceremony at the white house, the president with the phase one and thanking people and we will get back when they have the key moments. Thank you very much, vern. Great job youve done. Mike conaway, thanks, mike. Thank you, mike. By the way, christie, thank you for being here. I didnt know you would be here. Stand up. We will do a big fireworks display, right, mt. Rushmore . Were going over, i think i will try to be there july 4th. The governor called. She ran a tough race. A tough competitor you had, a big star but she was the bigger star it turns out, lindsay. She said, do you think we can get fireworks back at mt. Rushmore . Why . They havent been there for 20 years. Why . Environmental reasons. I said, you mean you cant have fireworks because of the virlt . Environmental reasons. What can burn . Its stone. Nobody knew why. They just said environmental reasonses, i called up our people and in 15 minutes got it approved and we will have the first fireworks display at mt. Rushmore, and i will try and get out there if i can, right . [ applause ] that will be great. Thank you very much for being here. Thanks. Mike kelley, thank you very much. What a friend. Drew ferguson, what a friend. Great people. Darren lahood, thank you very much, darren, great job. Michael mccaul. You did a phenomenal job three or four days ago with your speech on the floor, very inspiring. Patrick mckenzie, number one a great guy and the best name in politics. If i had had that name i would have won 20 years ago. Patrick mchenry, a man who has such courage, honestly he deserves a medal. He will probably get one. We still have to win to get medals, right . We cant get medals if we dont win. This guy has never lost in his life, he is so tough and so smart. Devin nunes, stand up. Everybody knows him. What they put him through, what these phony people, what these dirty cops and all of the others put you through, man, you survived it better than ever and everyone respekccts you, and ev meadows respects you and respects very few people. Great job. Adrian smith, thank you very much. Dont feel, ive introduced you, all set, not much more for you, but you will hear great things about china and you will hear also great things because we have a whos who of the world of business with us today. David abney of u. P. S. David, where are you, david . You can stand up. Anybody wants to. If your company is not doing well you may not want to stand up. U. P. S. Is doing well. There will be a couple that will sort of shrink back into their chair and pretend theyre not here. Thank you, david, great job you have done. Darius adam check of honeywell. Great equipment you make, i have a lot of it and use a lot of it and the country uses a lot of it. A. J. Benga, mastercard. Thank you. Josh bolten, business round table, thank you, josh. Great job. David calhoun. He has a very easy company to run. He just took over boeing. Wheres david . Wheres david . Stand up, david. See, he didnt want to stand. Its not your fault. You just got there. Youll straighten it out quickly, please . We will. I have no doubt. A great company. Les daniels ustractpn. Okay. Weve been fighting steel things for 20 years together, dan, id like to say 30 but i dont want to do that. Right . Weve been fighting together a lot longer than 20 years and were winning. Now, were winning. Took 25, 30 years. Took a little change at the top, didnt it . Youre a warrior for getting taken advantage of as a country and youve been a warrior, i appreciate it from the beginning. It was the fight of two people against the world. Tom donohue, u. S. Chamber of commerce. Wheres tom. Thank you, tom. Great job. Brian duperalt of aig. Know that company . The president is in the white house. He is celebrating. Theyre about to sign socalled phase one of the trade deal. You see them on the left of the screen. The president has been speaking some time going around introducing congress and corporate representatives and clearly in a good mood and views this as a big achievement. It could well be. I want to go to christine romans. We will go back when they get to the substance of the signing. This is a big deal and it is only phase one. We need to see the print. The white house told us this does great things for the American Economy and American Farmers but we have not seen the text yet. The text has been secret, part of it because they didnt want it to leak into the Chinese Media and like the u. S. Was getting one over on the chinese. This is something the president said he would never do, not take one little piece on promises and commitments buying farm goods and other products and call that a win. He wanted a big course correction. That is not what this is. It has been rebranded as a promise kept for the Election Year, no question. Farm goods is very important to watch. Chinese, according to what were hearing and fact sheets from the u. S. Trade representative, theyre promising to buy more farm goods. When you even it all out, what theyre promising over the next two years, net, net, its flat. Not sure how much it will be. Financial for road services, great for the president s contingent there. Some of the china hawks must be pretty disappointed. The u. S. Representative said this is a massively good first step. Are we in a good spot, no. As we do this, were watching the president going around the room. Lets have a conversation with the president in washington and share the reporting and insight, carl from the New York Times and dana bash and henderson and parliamentarian. Were watching in the white house also a very important debate we are starting in the beginning of the early stages on the floor of the house of representatives. One of the reasons the president is talking for 30 minutes and in a mood to celebrate, trying to counter the programming you see there. The house will officially pass a resolution naming seven house managers, all democrats, the entrance mitt t entrance then, submit the articles to the senate. The president trying to do like bill clinton did, focusing on the economy and saying, im doing my job and even saying to the house members there, i know you have to leave because theres a vote on what he calls a hoax. You can almost hear the sigh of relief across the river in virginia from the campaign headquarters, finally, he is taking time to talk about things we believe will really help him in his reelection campaign, something he campaigned on, in a really aggressive way. This is one of the things he has genuinely cared about for years and years and years back when he was a businessman focusing on trade imbalance with china. That is obviously whats driving this. The basic, this is a win for him. He is crowing as much as he can. Exactly, as you said, the motion of him understanding how to counter programs, we have to underscore that, highlight and circle it. Thats whats happening. That is whats happening. As the president signs this accomplishment today, we will have some skepticism, not that its not a good first step. The president said he was all in, wanted a big deal or no deal. Some would say, he blinked or others say, he took a reasonable approach, get something and get back to the bargaining table, dont disrupt both economies. You watch the president in this setting, he watches this morning on twitter when nancy was naming the seven house managers. He has a legal team. We know who will lead it. Now, he knows the seven House Democrats, who job number one, is to persuade a handful of republican senators, by doing so, persuade the American People to put pressure on the american senators to allow for witnesses. Any president , always a complicated job, here he is having to have an achievement but he has to get to pretty soon for his own not political survival, dont see the senate votes changing but a big decision to make. Yes. And well we see Rudy Guilliani on the senate floor, probably not. We should caveat all this conversation the next few weeks with who knows. We likely know the outcome but we do not know whats happening between now and then . Will there be witnesses we dont know . The president is consumed by this the fact hes introducing virtually everyone today, he truly is trying to counter this. There is a very serious matter going on here and all republicans are bracing for it and some uncomfortable what it means for them politically. Say what you want about the president he knows politics and being gracious and looks magnanimous to those in the room and get the American People to say, why are we impeaching this guy . Bill clinton followed that strategy. And the speaker is very good getting under his skin, no matter what happens in the senate, this president will forever be impeached. She uses the words, youve been impeached. The president will get another trade wind this weaker with the passage of the mca. Thats a good thing for him. Hes trying to build on that. Opposed to clinton who really ignored it, he made a couple comments today that it is a hoax and you can go vote on the hoax. I thought the impeachment rolled out by the democrats, very diverse and picked for the country and their experience, very different from the impeachment managers during the clinton trial the republicans sent over. I think the senate is bracing for this. Kind of a tale of two chambers going on. In the house, they want to make as much of this today as they can and the senate, Mitch Mcconnell trying to minimize it as much as he can. So there is a clash between the two, like when they will bring over the articles of impeachment. Seems like when you get halfway across the rotunda, there will be a different vibe. The complexity and unpredictability of the moment is something that cannot be overstated. You have a president carl is right about to sign phase one with china. I wont go into the details but a significant accomplishment to sign the trade deal with china maybe as soon as this week. He has record low unemployment. There was a jobs report showing it continues its 11th year of expansion yet early in this Election Year the senate will have an impeachment trial as we bump up against state of the union and early voting in iowa caucuses. The enormousness of these events is important. And he wants to continue programming it, right . Early on the wanted a show trial in the senate, asking for witnesses, and we will see. I dont think theyre the witnesses he necessarily wants, people like joe biden and hunter biden. Thats the big debate so far. You saw some of the vote and swing state moderate senators seem to be open to the idea of having folks testify, so we will see where that goes. The uncertainty is the big thing. Some of those senators who have to cast those votes sitting there getting into the details of what he feels he accomplished during this trade agreement. The military also important. Thats probably the biggest reason. In june of 2016 in the great state of pennsylvania, i promised i would use everything i could to protect america against unfair trade practices. Unlike those before me i kept my promise. They didnt promise too hard but they didnt do anything. [ applause ] i actually think i more than kept my promise and the efforts will bring benefits to both countries. We have a great relationship with china and the leadership of china. China fully understands there has to be a certain reciprocity. It cannot continue like this. It would be dangerous to continue like it was. The agreement we sign today includes Ground Breaking things for the United States, intellectual property. The deal you see today is a much bigger deal we have very much guarded. I will take you from the white house to the house of representatives, jerry nadler, one of the impeachment managers. Miss lofgren, mr. Jeffries, miss demings and garcia of texas are the managers to the impeachment trial of donald j. Trump and the manager so appointed me in connection with the preparation and conduct of the trial exhibit the articles of impeachment to the senate and take all other actions necessary, which may include the following. Ask one, including legal, clerical and other assistance and expenses to pay the amounts available to the committee in the judiciary under the resolutions and applicable accounts of the house of representatives. Two, sending for persons and papers and filing with the secretary of the senate on the part of the house of representatives any pleadings in conjunction with or subsequent to the exhibition of the articles of impeachment that the managers consider necessary. Pursuant to House Resolution 767, the resolution is debatable for 10 minutes equally divided if controlled by the chair and ranking minority member on the committee of the judiciary. The gentleman from new york, mr. Nadler and the gentleman from georgia, mr. Collins each will control five minutes. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from new york. Madam speaker, i give myself two minutes. The gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Appointing prosecutors to represent the house in the trial of President Trump. It is necessary when the president strong armed a Foreign Government to strange arm investigations into the investigation of a political rival. He betrayed our country when he used the powers of his office including withholding military assistance to pressure that government to help him win reelection. He invited foreign inference into our elections. Again, he jeopardize our national security. He did all of this for his personal political gain, and then he violated the constitution by stonewalling congresss efforts to investigate, ordering an absolute blockade of evidence. Despite that, the house was able to uncover powerful evidence that demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt the betrayal of the constitution. We still have not heard the whole truth because the president has refused to allow a single document to be turned over to the house in response to our impeachment subpoenas and prevented us from hearing key witnesses as well. This is unprecedented. Our speaker led our fight to a fair trial in the senate. Above all, a fair trial must include additional documents and all relevant. Witnesses. The American People have common sense and know not allowing all witnesses not a trial, a coverup. The speakers assistance on this opponent has gotten results. Just yesterday the president s former associate, to go after his political opponents. New testimony has occurred as well including john boltons announcement he would honor a senate subpoena. They have Broad Authority to submit additional evidence the house may acquire on its own and we will do so. The senate is on trial. We will see whether they conduct a fair trial and allow witnesses or conduct a coverup. Todays resolution is the next step in this constitutional process. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the resolution. Gentleman from georgia. Thank you, madam speaker. This impeachment process has been flawed from the outset. It resem blsz not congressional action but a dr. Suess book not knowing where it goes. The house was conducting an impeachment inquiry. To the contrary to the speakers decree we were sud lin an impeachment inquiry, the house did not authorize the impeachment inquiry until october 31st by adopting hr 660. It was said a few moments ago the speaker was leading a fair trial in the senate. I wish the speaker had been leading for a fair hearing in the house instead of trashing our rules. For those 71 out of 78 days, from the time it was announced at the press conference to the time we finished, the president was not permitted to participate in these meetings. 71 days out of 78 we actually did something on impeachment. Not presented the ability to present fact witnesses or arguments, no due process at all in those 71 days. When presented with the opportunity when it came to the Judiciary Committee and instead of the Judiciary Committee stepping up acting like the Judiciary Committee of impeachment, we punted. We had a couple of law professors who already had their basic talking points. He could have crossexamined them. That would have done a lot of good. Then staffers who testified. Again, a lot of good. Where were the fact witnesses instead of the rubber stamp we were warned 20 years ago by the current chairman we were rubber stamp. The rules written in rule 660. They used inflammatory rhetoric haunting them. One said i called for impeachment today because its one heck of an emergency. Another said we have a crime in progress and our National Election is going on right now. My favorite in december is a crime spree in progress. Oh, the hyperbole wreaks in this room. If it was a 911 call, why did we hold this almost a month . Weve been told its to help us in a fair trial. Be damned the house process here. Lets make sure the facts are here. They still havent changed, a phone call no pressure was applied. There was no conditionality to do that. There was also nothing give by the ukraines to actually get this money that was released, by the way, before it was a statutory deadline of september 31st. They did nothing, they got the money anyway. The problem is they want the senate to do their job for them. Thats not how it works. You see the speaker today, give me one minute, madam speaker, this was all they wanted. It was a political impeachment. They said, he is impeached for life. This shows the true motivation, i believe, of the other side, it is their dislike for this president and the good work he is doing. So, madam speaker, before i reserve for a moment, this has always been a political impeachment. Even today on the floor the talk of the president being forever impeached always being a stain, forget the senate trial, i hope this ends the impeachment and we never see it again. I reserve. Yields to the gentleman of the new york. I yield to the gentleman of california. For one minute. I speak strong in support of the resolution. The task before us is a grave one but one demanded by our oath. The impeachment inquiry undertaken by the house of representatives found president donald j. Trump abused his power and sought to cover it up with Unprecedented Campaign of obstruction. He revealed hundreds of u. S. Military dollars of aid to ukraine. And white house meeting critical to ukrainian leaders legitimacy until ukraine would commit to help President Trump cheat, cheat in the next election. President trump put his own personal interests above the national interests, above our national security. If not stopped, he will do it again. For that reason, he was impeached. For that reason, the house managers will take the case to the senate and to the American People, because the appropriate remedy, indeed the only remedy is the conviction and removal from office of president donald trump. I yield back. Chairman from georgia . Thank you, madam speaker. I yield to the gentleman from california, mr. Mccarthy. The gentleman is recognized. Thank you, madam speaker. Back when this National Nightmare began, Speaker Pelosi laid bare her intentions and purely partisan agenda. She told her caucus they needed to strike while the iron is hot. This was always an exercise in raw partisan politics. Contrary to the warnings of our founders, and over the last month we saw the justification for running the fastest, thinnest and weakest impeachment in American History crumble. Instead of sending the articles of impeachment to trial, Speaker Pelosi held them hostage in a failed play to gain leverage she did not and would never have. In terms of concession, she got nothing. No control, no moral victories, in other words, another failed strategy. After a month of counterproductive and harmful delays, i have three questions for my friends on the other side of the aisle, the democrats. What happened to impeachment being urgent . What happened to congress being on the clock . What happened to saying the house would be derelict in our duty if we did not act immediately . These were all the assertions democrats made over the past several months. I guess it turns out none of them are true. These delay tactics were selfserving, hypocritical and discrediting. They made an important admission, some might even call it a concession. You proved a very big point, democrats do not even believe their case was robust enough to win in a trial. Even the speakers allies admit the delays undermine their case. Some have gone as far as describing it as a failed strategy. These are those closest to her. Senator feinstein, the senior democrat from our state of california and the hometown senator of the speaker said, the longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes. Chairman adam smith, a confidante of the speaker said it was time to transmit the articles to the senate. Before these statements were made last week, before the Senate Speaker relented, they are significant and public and they were honest. Im disappointed these did not have the courage to stand by their initial comments. If impeachment was truly as urgent as democrats claimed, the majority should not have waited for the speaker to choose a political convenient time. Anyone could have recognized this ploy would not work. The house and the senate are different institutions. At this point in time, controlled by different parties. As James Madison wrote in the federalist papers, the purpose of bicameralism is to guard against the dangers of encroachment and stop toxic resolutions from taking effect. We saw separation of powers prevail against an abuse of power, just as the constitution intends. The idea of withholding a sloppy impeachment case to force the senate to change its rules is constitutionally politically unheard of. Frankly, its just ridiculous. In article i section 5, the constitution clearly states each house may determine the roles of its proceeding. It doesnt say the house may determine the roles of the proceedings in the senate. If anything, the speakers actions have only further persuaded members of the senate the evidence of impeachment was neither thorough nor satisfactory. You know what, lets be honest, this was never about persuasion. It was never about the rule of law. It was what Alexander Hamilton warned us, that one party would get control, and just because of the animosity, would demean the process of impeachment. By selecting these particular batch of managers, the speaker has further proven shes not interested in winning the minds, the hearts or even following the constitution. Lets take a look at the first three names Speaker Pelosi announced earlier today. Chairman schiff, a man who has already taken on the role of judge, jury, and fact witness throughout the entire house impeachment process. Chairman nadler, someone who campaigned for the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee responsible for impeachment beginning as far back as december 2017. Before you were even in the majority, on the notion he would be the best person to lead the charge of potential impeachment against the president. You get a chairmanship by your conference voting for you. He campaigned for it. You put your best ideas out there why you should be the chairman. In 2017, that was the campaign. Congressman akeem jeffries, a member who almost two years to this date, voted ensuppoin supp impeachment. That was more than a year before the ukraine call even took place. Those are just some of the managers. You think about the members, theres people who were on the day they were sworn in to this body, until thotold those supported him the greatest they were going to impeach him. I said in this past, there is an issue with fairness. Instead of looking to the senate, Speaker Pelosi should be looking to her own caucus. From the beginning this was marred by selective leaks to the media, a completely predetermined process. Yes, weve been through impeachment before but it was much different. We believed in the rule of law back then, that we would phase our accuser, that you could crossexamine, that the minority could actually ask for witnesses. The day that impeachment was asked to come forward i sent a letter to the speaker laying out 10 items, none that were made up. You know what they were . The fair process weve always used in the past. The answer was no, because theyve been working on this 2 1 2 years. They could not let fairness determine the outcome. Any other prosecutor would be disbarred for such blatant bias, especially if that prosecutor was a fact witness in the case. The reason for this impeachment is the same reason thats taken democrats 30 days to send the articles to the senate, just spite. They wanted to stain the president s record without giving him a fair chance to clear his name. Last year, we saw House Democrats invert the burden of proof during their fair investigation. For every american watching, think for instance if this was your government, if you switched the burden of proof on you. We have a congressman, max rose, characterized it charges way, this new freshman of the majority, the president says hes innocent, so all were saying is prove it. God forbid government accuses you of something as an average american and say you have to prove it. We just switched a fundamental belief as an american, but only in this house do we do that. This guilty and proven innocent mentality was an admission impeachment was not about upholding justice or protecting the rule of law. Now, democrats have invented and even more destructive standard. Youre guilty because they say so. Our founders fear this day. Alexander hamilton warned us of this day. Id hope this day would not come. I would hope those who uphold the constitution would believe in the rule of law instead of the spite of a dislike of an individual, like the kangaroo courts on college campuses, an accusation is enough for a conviction. Even as early as just last sunday in an interview, Speaker Pelosi made that point very clear to all of us. Asked what a Senate Acquittal would mean, she said it didnt matter, the president is impeached forever. Is that what this is all about . Just a personality, just an abuse of power you have within a house, that we all fear this country would never do. You can almost feel the speaker smile as she spoke about this new standard, how incredibly solemn she was. Madam speaker when americans look back on this sad gag they will see a rigged process sad saga, they will see a rigged process that will forever damage it. The American People got worse than nothing, they got stuck with a bill for a costly neverending investigation. The old saying you get what you pay for does not apply here. Congress wasted time and millions of dollars on partisan impeachment. In return, taxpayers get nothing. Democrats misaligned priorities have cost the People Solutions that could have improved the quality of their lives. Theres no greater contrast than what we are doing right here today than what is happening at pennsylvania avenue. The president sitting down with another country of a leader and signing a trade agreement, something people said we could never get done, to make this country stronger, make america the next century ours. But what are we doing here . We are doing what this majority has worked their entire time for, before theyre even sworn in, the campaign for the position of chairman, for this moment, for this time, for the millions of dollars that are spent, so they can say the president is impeached. Thats a lofty history. Those are lofty goals that you now have authored more subpoenas than you created laws. Thank god we have a president in the white house that does not sit back. Yes. He got the United States, mexico, canada trade agreement, our top two traders. Hes sitting with a trade agreement with china today. Think about how much stronger his hand would have been had that agreement taken place earlier when he got it. No, it was held. Why . Because we were impeaching. Thats an amazing agenda, but you promised people you would do it. This is not a moment this body should be proud of. As Speaker Pelosi likes to say, if impeachment is a national viv sicviv civics lesson, lets use this blunder as a teachable moment. The day will come that the majority will switch. We will uphold the constitution, we will listen to the words of Alexander Hamilton, and just because somebody else is in an office that we may not like, we will not change the rule of law, will not accuse them of breaking it and say they have to prove it. We believe americas more than a country. That america is an idea, an idea of its greatness that would make students in iran rise up for the freedom of what they know america to be. That the rule of law was so powerful, this is a moment in a civic lesson that we should learn. This is a moment that well teach our grandchildren, yes, more than 200 years ago, the founders crafted an amazing country but they warned us what abuse of power would look like. The sad part is were witnessing it. What a contrast in a day in time. Moving forward, we must not redo these same mistakes in congress. My promise to you, if power was to change, the rule of law would come back. Wed have an agenda focused on people, not on politics. Wed have a voice that youre innocent until proven guilty. We would not abuse our power, just for the sheer shake of politics. Say youre impeached forever because i dislike you. Were better than this. Its sad day. The great thing about america, it will all change because the people have the voice. I yield back. Members are once again reminded to address their remarks to the chair. Gentleman from new york. Maam speaker, i yield myself one minute. Two points. First my colleagues would rather talk about anything than deny what the president did because they can. There is overwhelming evidence the president pressured the Ukrainian Government to help our election on his behalf and covered it up. These are high crimes and misdemeanors and we will prove that in the senate. Second, our minority colleagues dont like our ongoing fight for a fair trial because it got results. New documents and additional witnesses have emerged that unmistakenbly point to the president s guilt and have exposed some in the senate to put on a sham trial. The American People understand that a trial without evidence or witness is know trial at all but a coverup. That will not stand. We must protect the constitution and integrity of our elections. That is what this is about. We must remove this president to protect our country. I reserve the balance of my time. Gentleman from georgia . Reserve p. D. The gentleman from georgia has 30 seconds remaining. The gentleman from new york has one minute remaining and the gentleman from new york has the right to close. The gentleman from georgia has the right to close. I appreciate that. Is the gentleman from new york ready to close . Theres no other speakers. Our closing is know other speakers. I have one more speaker i reserve. No, no. No. The gentleman is incorrect. The gentleman from new york has one remaining speaker who will close. The gentleman from georgia is recognized for 30 seconds. I will take it back. Give me the time one more time, madam speaker. The gentleman from georgia has 30 seconds remaining and the gentleman from new york has one minute remaining. Two facts came out. Undoubtedly the mikes are not working on the other side. We talked about the facts. Theres no overwhelming evidence. We discussed it until we are blue in the face. It doesnt matter because this is a political impeachment. We have shown there is nothing done wrong. That does not matter. When the train is on the tracks, impeachment matters, the only real emergency here is there is a 2020 election in which the democrats cant stand to see the fact this president is going to run again. They cant stand the fact who they have running. What do we do . They impeachment, as they said, for life. I now yield one minute to the distinguished speaker of the house, gentlelady from california. The gentlelady is recognized for one minute. Thank you very much, madam speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding and his exceptional custodianship of the United States. For 13 years the top democrat on the constitution and Civil Liberties subcommittee and Judiciary Committee. They for your leadership in protecting and defending the constitution, the oath that we take as members of congress. As i enter into the conversation, i do want to thank the distinguished gentleman from georgia for his apology, for his ridiculous remarks about me and House Democrats. Thank you. We accept your apology, mr. Collins. Now, i want to go to the purpose of why were on the floor today. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we are here today to cross a very important threshold in American History. On december 18th, the house of representatives passed articles of impeachment of donald trump. Articles of impeachment for abuse of power an obstruction of congress. By his own admission, the president stated that, yes, he had had that conversation with the president of ukraine, but he didnt see anything wrong with it. Well, we dont agree with that assessment. Yes, it is a fact, when someone is impeached, they are always impeached. It cannot be erased. I stand by that comment although i know you dont like hearing it. I stand by this american flag, picture of the american flag, as i did the day that we introduced the articles of impeachment onto the floor. Bus everyday, all over america, in classrooms as well as courtrooms, and in this congress of the United States, when we meet, we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, and to the republic for which it stands. That is what our nation is. That is the genius, the beautiful exquisite genius of the constitution that we are a republic. That was a decision of our founders. They didnt want a monarchy, they wanted a republic. When Benjamin Franklin came out of Independence Hall and asked, what do we have, mr. Franklin . A monarchy or republic . He said, a republic, if we can keep it. I often wondered why he said that, why that would be in doubt. We see why it is in doubt right now when the president of the United States says, article 2, says, i can do what we want, it is not what we pledge our allegiance to every single day. Here we are today, the articles of impeachment about to be transmitted to the United States senate. I was thinking this morning and mentioned in the previous public event, Midnight Rider paul revere, listen my children and you will hear the Midnight Ride of paul revere. Listen to my children and you will hear about an assault of the constitution of the United States undermining the republic for which our flag stands by the president of the United States. The president of the United States, in using appropriate funds, enacted in a bipartisan way by this congress, funds that were meant to help the ukraines fight the russians. The president considered that his private atm machine, i guess and he could say to the president he could make, do me a favor. Do me a favor, you paint houses, too . What is this, do me a favor . So we have a situation that is very sad. Dont talk to me about my timing. For a long time i resisted the calls from across the country for impeachment of the president for obvious violations of the constitution they submitted. Recognizing the divisiveness of impeachment, i held back, frankly, i said, this president isnt worth it. When he acted the way he did, in relationship to withholding funds from ukraine, in return for a benefit to him that was personal and political, he crossed a threshold. He gave us no choice. He gave us no choice. To children, our constitution is the vision of our founders. They were so brave, they declared independence. They did in a time frame when in the course of human events it becomes necessary. They declared independence, they fought a war of independence and bravely succeeded. They wrote our founding documents of the constitution. Thank god they made it amendable so we could ever be expanding freedom in our country. That, my children, is what you pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic contained in that constitution of the United States. So we take that oath. With members of congress and other oaths of office, we take that oath for the United States and the president of the United States takes an oath to defend the constitution of the United States, an oath he has blatantly violated. And for this reason, he was impeached by the house of representatives. For this reason, we thought it would be helpful to have not only the strong case for impeachment and removal that was put forth in this house, but to know that more was to come. We didnt make it come because we said we are going to wait until after christmas to send this over