Powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a Foreign Government, ukraine, in the 2020 United States president ial election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that soliciting the government of ukraine, dont harm the election prospects of a political opponent. President trump also sought to pressure the government of ukraine to take the steps by conditioning a conditional United States government acts of significant value to ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President trump engaged in this scheme for corrupt purposes and pursuit of personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the National Security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the nation. President trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means. One, President Trump acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States governments corruptly solicited the government of ukraine to publicly announce investigations into a political opponent, former Vice President Joseph R Biden jr. And a discredited theory promoted by Russia Alleging that ukraine rather than russia interfered in the 2016 president ial election. With the same motives, President Trump acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States government conditioned to coofficial acts, the release of 391 million of United States taxpayer funds that congress had appropriated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of providing final military and Security Assistance to ukraine to oppose russian aggression in which President Trump had ordered suspended, and b, a Head Of State meeting at the white house, which the president of ukraine sought to demonstrate continued United States support for the government of ukraine in the face of russian aggression. Three, faced with the public revelation of his actions, President Trump ultimately released the military and Security Assistance to the government of ukraine but has persisted in openly and corruptly urging and soliciting ukraine to undertake investigations or his personal political benefit. These actions were consistent with President Trumps previous invitations of foreign interference in United States elections. In all of this, President Trump abused the powers of the presidency by ignoring and injuring National Security and other Vital National interests to obtain an improper personal political benefit. He has also betrayed the nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power and corrupting democratic elections. President trump by such conduct has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to National Security and The Constitution if allowed to remain in office and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with selfgovernance and the rule of law. President trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. Article two, Obstruction Of Congress. The constitution provides that the House Of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment and that the President Shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other High Crimes And Misdemeanors. In his conduct of the office of president of the United States and in violation of his constitutional oath, faithfully to execute the office of president of the United States, and to the best of his ability preserve, protect, and defend The Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, donald j. Trump has directed the unprecedented categorical indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House Of Representatives pursuant to its sole power of impeachment. President trump has abused the powers of the presidency in a manner offensive to, and Subversive Of, The Constitution and that the House Of Representatives has engaged in an Impeachment Inquiry focused on President Trumps corrupt solicitation of the government of ukraine to interfere in the 2020 United States president ial election. As part of this Impeachment Inquiry, the committee is undertaking the investigation, serve Subpoena Seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various executive Branch Agencies and offices in current and former officials. In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed executive Branch Agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President trump thus interposed the power of the presidency against the Lawful Subpoenas of the House Of Representatives. Functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the sole power of impeachment vested by The Constitution and the House Of Representatives. President trump abused to the powers of his high office through the following means. One, directing the white house to defy all lawful subpoena by withholding the production of documents sought therein by the committees. Two, directing other executive Branch Agencies and offices to defy Lawful Subpoenas and withhold the production of documents and records from the committees in response to which the department of state, office of management and budget, Department Of Energy and Department Of Defense refused to produce a single document or record. Three, directing current and former executive Branch Officials not to cooperate with the committees in response to which Nine Administration officials denied subpoenas for testimony, namely john michael mcleod mulvaney, robert blair, don eisenberg, michael ellis, russell vote, michael duffy, Brian Mccormick and brett buell. These actions were consistent with President Trumps previous efforts to undermine United States government investigations into foreign interference in United States elections. Through these actions, President Trump sought to arrogate to himself the right to determine the propriety of scope. In nature of Impeachment Inquiry into his own conduct to deny any and all information to the House Of Representatives. And the exercise of its sole power of impeachment. In the history of the republic, no president is ever order the complete defiance of an Impeachment Inquiry or sought to obstruct and impeach so comprehensively the ability of the House Of Representatives to investigate High Crimes And Misdemeanors. This abuse of office serves to cover up the president s own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House Of Representatives. In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and Subversive Of Constitutional Government to the great prejudice of the cause of Law And Justice into the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore President Trump by such conduct has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to The Constitution if allowed to remain in office and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with selfgovernance and the rule of law. President trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. Pursuant to House Resolution 767, the amended and the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on judiciarys adoption, the resolution shall be debatable for six hours, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking matter of the committee on the judiciary. The gentleman from new york, mr. Nadler, and The Gentleman from georgia, mr. Collins each will control three hours. The chair now recognizes The Gentleman from new york, mr. Nadler. Madame speaker, i ask unanimous consent, all members may have five legislative days to revise their remarks. That objection so ordered. Madame speaker, i now yield one minute to the distinguished speaker of the house. Speaker is recognized for one minute. I think The Gentleman for yielding, for his tremendous leadership in helping us honor The Constitution of the United States. I also extend my gratitude to Chairman Schiff who will be presiding later in the day. My colleagues this morning and every morning, members arise and Pledge Allegiance to the flag. Every day, all across america, children in school, members of the military, those specifically engaged also pledged allegiance to the flag. Let us recall what that pledge said. I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic, to the republic for which it stands. One nation, under god, 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 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 independent and established a new nation, they crafted our system of government unlike one 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 had solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the president of the United States. If we do not act now, we will 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. This today is a National Civics lesson, though a sad one. I submit these documents for the record and commend them for students to study. That objection is so ordered. Thank you, Madame Speaker. What we are discussing today is the established fact that the president , again, violated The Constitution. A matter of fact that the president is an ongoing threat to our National Security and the testimony of decorated war heros, distinguished diplomats and patriotic career public servants, some of the president s own appointees over the past week have told us this. The president use the power of his Public Office to obtain an improper personal political benefit at the extent expense of americas National Security. 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 arc democracy for a president to invite interference in our elections. As george washington, our nations patriarch whose gaze we stand today warned history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful flows of republican government. George washington. Sadly, the American People have witnessed further wrong from the president which necessitates the second article of impeachment. Obstruction of congress. When the president s wrongdoing was revealed, he launched an unprecedented, indiscriminate and categorical campaign of defiance and obstruction. Never before in the history of our nation have we seen a president declare and act as if he is Above The Law. The president goes even so far as to say and act on this absurdity when he says article two 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 devi of North Carolina warned, unless The Constitution contained an Impeachment Provision, a president might spare no effort or means whatever to get himself reelected. Another founder, george mason, insisted that the president who secured his appointment in the first instance through improper and corrupt acts might repeat his guilt and return to power. We in congress, article one, the legislative branch 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 defend generations of americans. Last week, in observance of the 75th Anniversary of the battle of the bulge, members traveled to those hallowed grounds to express our gratitude to the heroes who sacrificed everything to secure freedom over tierney, not just for america about for the world. The veterans of that battle were there in their 90s and told us how after the war was won, the europeans asked, why did you risk us, you dont know us, and give your lives to save us . We are 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, Oversight Committee chair, our star said in announcing his support for this action, 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, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact . Elijah, as you know, has since passed on. Now he is dancing with the angels and i know that he and all of us here are very proud of the moral courage of members who 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. [applause] gentleman from georgia. Thank you, Madame Speaker. We are here to day enter into a debate that should surprise no one. This has not been a surprise and its not even something we would have not thought about. From the very moment that the Majority Party in this house won 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 on september 24, the speaker announced and in peak Impeachment Inquiry before even seeing the Call Transcript we are going to hear so much about today. Its not about what this body can do in its constitutional oath, theres been a lot of constitutional and founders thrown around and will be all day today but theres one thing i will mention all along is the founders were very concerned about a partisan impeachment in which politics of the Majority View of their strength can do what they want to do regardless 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 has been said, this is not a solemn occasion. When you go looking for something three years and especially this year, you want to be excited when he found it because they cant. 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 since The Gentleman was elected . He came forward and did what he saw fit for the American People but yet they wanted to impeach him. And it hit me, now i know. The reason they wanted to is now they are realizing what i told them and have been telling them for the last few weeks, the clock and the calendar are terrible masters. They do not care about anything except getting the time done and that calendar fixed, they do not care about facts, they do not care about time and one day the clock and calendar will hang along this body in a very detrimental way. How do i know this . Because one of our members said on that night she was sworn in, we are going to impeach. You know the rest. In may of 2019, al green set im concerned if we dont impeach as president , he will get reelected. Probably the most pressing thing said by the majority in the last year, we cant beat him if we dont impeachment. Theres a reason behind this impeachment and even Speaker Pelosi said it would be dangerous to leave it to voters whether President Trump stays in office. Really, after we just said the pledge of allegiance, we go back to the speakers own words . I will tell you right now, we on the republican side have no problem taking our case to majority and to the people of this country because they elected donald trump and it is a matter for the voters, not this house, not in this way, 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 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 clock make it impressive that we do it quickly, we dont care about rules, we dont care about minority hearing days, we dont care about the opportunity for witnesses to be called because the chairman gets to determine what is relevant. 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 and the peoples house. You see, its also not a matter of process, its a matter of actual facts. I will fight the facts all day long because what we found here today is a president who did not do as being charge, they had to go to abuse of power, this amorphous term you will hear many arguments about that abuse of power except for one thing, the call itself, the two party say no pressure, nothing was ever done to get the money, they didnt even know the money was held but there is something that very much bothers me about the facts. There were five meetings, we will hear about those today, in which there was never a leakage made. There was one witness that has depended on over 600 times in the majoritys report that in the end after question had to say well that was my presumption of what was happening. You see, this is an impeachment based on presumption. Today is 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 in a moment ago in the article themselves where it said, the speaker i believe talked about this, that the president weekend a foreign leader. You know what the truth of the matter is . Of the most and deplorable thing in the last few weeks, the attack on president zelensky. They realize if their whole cases, if he was not pressure of their house cards falls. If we cant show pressure 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 when a member of the majority actually said they are complaining to battered, that is below the dignity of this body. To take a world leader and belittle him. Especially when they are in the middle of a hot war with russia. You see, President Trump did give them offensive weapons, President Trump did nothing wrong. We will talk about that all day long today. We went on process and we went on facts because the American People see through this. Before i close this first part, i 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 always having to ask for witnesses, ask for more time. Even yesterday, i thought it hilarious, the Minority Leader in the senate went out and did a Press Conference and they denied my witnesses, they denied my request. Welcome to the club, mr. Schumer, thats exactly whats happened over here for the last three months. So today we are going to talk a lot about impeachment, we are going to talk a lot about our president and talk about two articles of impeachment. Abuse of power because they can actually pin anything of factual basis on him. The president did nothing wrong in this issue, and they are going to talk about Obstruction Of Congress. Obstruction of congress, as ive said before, is like petulant children saying we didnt get our way when we didnt go after it and try to make a case. You know why, Madame Speaker . The clock in the calendar are terrible masters and the majority will not problem today because to the clock and the calendar, facts dont matter. Their promises to the base matter and to date there is a promise cap for the majority. Not a surprise, a fact. And with that, i reserve. Gentleman from new york. Madame speaker, i yield as much time as i may consume. Madame speaker, the House Of Representatives has now consider two articles of impeachment against President Trump. The first article charges that the president used his Public Office to coerce our 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 charged 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 25th, when he spoke to president zelensky of ukraine, President Trump had the upper hand. The president , through his agents, had already demanded that ukraine announced 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 an 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 interest 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 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 agents, some acting far outside their regular channels of diplomacy, to make his desires clear. There would be no aid and no meeting until ukraine announced their sham investigations. It was a specific, welldefined offense. The 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. The first article also identifies two aggravating factors. When President Trump condition 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 conduct. The constitution grants the sole power of impeachment to the House Of Representatives. 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 assorted privileges and other objections to specific a subpoenas but only President Trump has ordered that a categorical defiance of a congressional investigation, The Automatic rejection of all subpoenas. The president is not Above The Law and he should be impeached for this as well. Congress cannot wait for the next election to address this misconduct. President trump has demonstrated a clear pattern of wrongdoing. This is not the first time he has solicited 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 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. Gentleman from georgia. Thank you, Madame Speaker, it is my pleasure at this time to yield 3 minutes to The Gentleman from wisconsin. The gentleman is recognized for 3 minutes. Madame speaker, The Constitution says that any civil officer, including the president , may be impeached for treason, bribery, or other High Crimes And Misdemeanors. Unlike the nixon and clinton cases, there are no allegations that the president has committed a crime. We have had almost three years of nonstop investigations. Weve had the Mueller Report, the sheriff investigation, the nadler investigation. At no time is there any evidence that indicates that donald j. Trump violated any criminal statute of the United States, so why are we here . We are here because the majority caucus, the Democratic Caucus has been hijacked by the radical left. They wanted to reverse the course of the 2016 election and ever since donald j. Trump won that election. So lets look at these two phony articles of impeachment. First of all, abuse of power. Our country has been through a lot, i want you to do us favor. Not me of favor, us a favor. There he was referring to our country, the United States of america, not a personal political gain. He was not afraid to let this transcript go public and he released the transcript almost immediately after the call. The second article of impeachment, Obstruction Of Congress basically says that unless the president gives us everything we want when we want it, that he has committed an impeachable offense. Thats a bunch of bunk. The president has certain individual and privileges by virtue of his office. Whenever there has been a dispute between the executive and legislative branches here before, theyve gone to court. The Supreme Court a couple weeks ago said they would take jurisdiction over deciding whether the president had to comply with one subpoena relating to his tax returns. Now here the democrats have been bent to impeach the president of the United States before the Court Decides this. And this means that there is a rush job to do this. And why is there a . Because they want to influence the 2020 elections. Theyve spent three years doing it, theyve spent millions of taxpayers dollars including the Mueller Report putting together this impeachment and they also have had this congress wrapped around impeachment and not doing their jobs until the dam broke this week. Stop this charade, i yield back. Speak of The Gentleman from new york. Mr. Speaker, The Gentleman from wisconsin knows full well the present president asserted no privileges here, he simply ordered complete defiance of the Impeachment Inquiry. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentle lady from pennsylvania. The gentle lady is recognized. Thank you, speaker, and thank you chairman nadler for your leadership as we navigate this challenging time, not just for our committee and congress but for our country. Its with profound sadness that i stand here today in support of these articles of impeachment. President trumps behavior is exactly what our founders feared most. They knew that with the awesome power of the presidency came the risk of a president abusing that power for personal gain. They were particularly concerned about any executive who became entangled with Foreign Governments, corrupted our elections, or sought to avoid consequences for his own misconduct in office. That is why they included impeachment in The Constitution, to protect our republic. Our colleagues across the aisle have claimed we are impeaching a president because we dont like him. Because this moment is about more than disagreement with the president s policies or personality, those issues belong in the voting booth. Our task here is not to judge the president himself. Instead we must judge his conduct and whether his actions have undermined our constitution. The president has committed the highest of high crimes under our constitution. He used the highest office in our government and taxpayer dollars to pressure a foreign country to interfere in our elections. He undermined our National Security. And when he got caught he tried to cover it up, obstructing our investigation and refusing to produce the documents and witnesses. The government of a president who abused his power is not of the people. A government with the president pressure is a foreign country to undermine our election is not by the people in a government where the present dam puts his own interest before the country is not for the people. This isnt complicated, you know it, i know it, the American People know it. President trumps wrongdoing and the urgent threat his actions present to our next election and our democracy leaves us no principled alternative but to support these articles of impeachment. Our constitution, our country, and our children depend upon it. I yield back. Speak of the gentle lady yields back. The gentleman from georgia. As the gentle lady just said, i wish they would examine the factual conduct. At this point i yield 2 minutes to The Gentleman from louisiana. The gentleman is recognized. The founders of this country warned us against a single party impeachment because they feared it would bitterly and perhaps irreparably divide our nation. The truth is, in the 243 years of this republic there has never been a single party, fraudulent Impeachment Process like the one being used today. Our democrat colleagues have weaponized the Impeachment Provision of The Constitution to nullify the votes cut that 63 million americans who elected president donald j. Trump. This is not about a phone call or ukraine or even his use of the Executive Privilege. You have to remember that 95 of the democrats on this floor today voted to impeach donald trump before the july 25th phone call ever happened to be between President Trump and president zelensky and not only is this a single party impeachment, its also evidence free. After all their herculean efforts they could only come up with two short articles of impeachment. On the first, the democrats know there is zero direct evidence of the record of these proceedings to show President Trump engaged in any abuse of power. As you will hear today, their entire cases based on hearsay, speculation, and conjecture and there is not a single fact witness that can provide testimony to support their baseless allegations. The democrats a second claim is that President Trump obstructed congress by simply doing what virtually every other president in the modern era has also done, and that is to assert, mr. Chairman, a legitimate Executive Privilege which protects the separation of powers. The democrats could and should end simply go a few blocks away, compelling the extra documents and information they requested. They didnt do that here, they are trying to meet their own arbitrary, completely machiavellian timeline to take down president they low. They feverishly produced 20 times faster than the Impeachment Investigation of bill clinton, trying to release their political outcome, previously house rules and the federal rules of civic procedure. I yield back. Speak of The Gentleman from new york is recognized. Speaker, The Gentleman knows impeachment was put in The Constitution as a defense of the republican between elections. I now yield 2 minutes of the distinguished gentle lady from washington. Gentle lady is recognized. Mr. Speaker, this is a day of accountability and defending our democracy. The facts in front of us are clear. This president , donald j. Trump, coerced a fragile foreign ally to investigate his political opponent and interfere in our election. And he leveraged critically needed a congressionally approved military aid to ukrai ukraine. The president s allies want to claim he did this because he cared about corruption. But if President Trump truly cared about corruption, he would have listened until the Talking Points that were prepared by the National Security council on anticorruption. He did not. On those two calls with president zelensky, he never mentioned the word corruption. He did not abide by the Department Of Defenses own recommendation that ukraine had passed all the anticorruption benchmarks and he did not listen to the unanimous conclusion of all of his top advisors, that he must release that aid to ukraine. He did release the eight in 2017 and 2018 but not in 2019. Why . Because in 2019, Vice President joe biden was running for president. Because this is not hearsay, we have a responsibility. The president told us himself on National Television exactly what he wanted from the phone call with president zelensky. He came to the white house lawn and said i wanted president zelensky to open an investigation into the bidens. He solicited foreign interference before, he is doing it now and he will do it again. The president is the smoking gun. Our founders, mr. Speaker, entrusted us with the awesome responsibility of protecting our democracy which gets its power not from the bloodlines of monarchs but from the votes of we the people. Without that we are no longer a democracy, we are a monarchy or a dictatorship. So today, to uphold my oath to constitution and country, i will vote to impeach donald j. Trump. I yield back. The gentle lady yields back. The gentleman from georgia. I will also remind my chairman, impeachment has never been a weapon between elections when you cant win back the next one. Other than authorizing an act of war, impeachment is the greatest item we has congress can consider. The decision to move forward is so consequential that its only been done three times previously in our nations history, all based on legitimate evidence of criminal behavior. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues have diminished what should be a solemn and great proceeding similar because they dont like the man occupying the white house. The democrats have been intent on impeaching the president since the day he took office. Their actions are clearly motivated by hatred for President Trump. This Impeachment Vote today is in the next step in their plan to remove them from office. The partisan Impeachment Investigation from the House Intelligence Committee was unnecessarily held Behind Closed Doors in a room designed to be share classified information. Not nothing classified was shared during these meetings about the result of this decision was that most members of congress and all americans were blocked from hearing the facts for themselves. Chairman schiff repeatedly withheld crucial information from the republics republicans including the ability to speak with a whistleblower. He was even called out by liberal Media Outlets for spreading misinformation, falsehood throughout the Impeachment Process. The Republic Emacs Hearings were a complete disregard for house rules and decades of president. The republicans were not allowed to call witnesses or make basic parliamentary motions. The only witness is allowed to testify publicly were those that fit neatly within the Democrats Predetermine narrative. We have not been presented any real evidence that proves the president is guilty of High Crimes And Misdemeanors as required by The Constitution to remove the elected president. If there were criminal activity has many of my democratic colleagues claim, where are the crimes listed in the articles of impeachment . We are forever weakening this body by interning impeachment into a political weapon. This Impeachment Scheme is nothing more than an attempt to conduct a taxpayerfunded Opposition Research and damages emac of president s electability heading into 2020. The American People must see right through the charade and are fed up. Its time for this madness to stop and for us to get back to the important work the American People sent us here to do. And i yield back. Denman yields back. Gentleman reserves, gentlemen from new york. I now yielded 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from california. Gentleman is recognized. Thank you for your leadership. Lets start by making this very simple. No one in america can do what donald trump did and get away with it. No american elected official can call a Foreign Government and ask for an investigation of a political opponent. No member of congress can call up a foreign official and ask for help in a reelection campaign. If we did that we are going to get indicted. No one is Above The Law and The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. My first sworn oath when i joined the United States air force enacted duty. The oath i took was not to a Political Party or a president or a cane, it was to a document that made america the greatest nation on earth. And of that document contains a safeguard for when the president s abuse of power is so extreme that it warrants impeachment. We are not here because of policy disputes. While i disagree with the president , i acknowledge he has the right to restrict a number of refugees into our country, he has the right to eliminate environmental executive orders, he has the right to sign a bill giving tax breaks to the wealthy but the president does not have the right to cheat and solicit foreign interference in our elections, that is illegal, it is not what the voters elected him to do and we will not stand for it. The president s actions in this case were particularly insidious because he also used a Foreign Government for his private gain, conditioned taxpayerfunded military aid with the ukrainian president on the requirement that ukraine publicly announce an investigation into his opponent and by harming ukrainian National Security, the president also harmed u. S. National security. And then the president solicited foreign interference again on the south line of the white house when he again asked ukraine to investigate his political opponent china to do the same. That abuse of power is not acceptable. Whether or not the senate convicts, the house has an independent duty to do the right thing. Thats why we passed over 275 bipartisan bills that were stuck in the senate, whether impeaching or legislating, we will continue to be faithful to The Constitution regardless of what the senate may or may not do. Moreover, impeachment is a form of deterrence. Our children are watching, no president ever wants to be impeached and whether donald trump leaves in one month, one year, or five years, this impeachment is permanent and will follow him around for the rest of his life and history will record it. People will know why we impeached. Its all very simple. No one is Above The Law. Not our commander in chief, not our president. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from georgia. Thank you, mr. Speaker. As my pleasure to yield a minute and a half to The Gentleman from North Carolina. In 2016, 63 million americans went to the polls and elected donald trump president of the United States. House democrats have been trying to overturn the election ever since. In fact, they have tried five additional time since the one before us to impeach the president including a vote in may of 2017. Just five months into his term. In january of this year, House Democrats took control of this chamber and they are faced with a choice. They could use the tools of the majority to pursue legitimate priorities for the American People. Policies that can impact their lives, or they can use the tools to undo the 2016 election. They made their choice. Since then, House Democrats have issued more subpoenas than bills have been signed into law. That tells us all we need to know about this congress. Rather than launch a legitimate investigation, democrats turned to focus groups to workshop their language, to see that they can sell this to the American People on the American People rejected it. Allowing the courts to resolve legitimate disputes, they rush and impeachment. Here we are, based off the thinnest record in modern history. Its not a surprise that the senate is already asking for additional witnesses and more documents and real evidence. The body of evidence is weak and woefully insufficient for impeachment. And with that, i yield back on this sad day for this institution. Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from new york, mr. Nadler. I now yield 2 minutes to The Gentleman from maryland. Thank you mr. Speaker. American elections belong to the American People, not the american president and not foreign powers. No president may cheat the people by working with Foreign Governments to steal from us. A free and Fair Election and no president to attempts it may cover up that cheating by systematically Obstructing Congress in our work. Article two of The Constitution does not authorize the president to do whatever he wants. The reason we have a constitution to keep Government Officials from doing whatever they want. If we lose the certainty of free and Fair Elections to president ial corruption and foreign manipulation, we lose our democracy itself. The most precious inheritance we received from prior generations that pledged their sacred honor and gave everything they had to defend it. The struggle for democracy is the meaning of america. That is why we remain the last best hope of a world ravaged by authoritarianism, violence, and corruption. We must act now to protect our elections and safeguard constitutional democracy for the enormous and unprecedented challenges that still lie ahead of us. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from georgia. Its my pleasure to yield a minute and a half to The Gentleman from west virginia. Thank you mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition. Today is a disappointing day. It is the day my colleagues from across the aisle cast the vote they have spent the last three years obsessing over. The vote to impeach our duly elected president. There are two charges claimed by House Democrats and there is zero cause for either. While President Trump has led, our country has thrived and washington liberals have failed despite the commitment of many of our colleagues to obstruct the trust administrations agenda at every turn, our country continues to succeed. In this body, however, we have not been able to deliver on what americans want and need. We still have not finished securing our border. The Opioid Epidemic still rages in our communities. Our infrastructure is still in dire need of an overhaul. And we still have not reached a bipartisan resolution on drug pricing. If congress hadnt spent the last years stock in a divisive, ugly, partisan impeachment debacle, think of what we could have done. The lives that could have been saved, the communities that could have been improved, the crisis on our southern border ended and the positive work we should do for our country. But we didnt. All because of Divisive Political theatrics. Congress can do better than this and america deserves better. I yield back my time. The gentleman from georgia reserves. The gentleman from new york. Mr. Speaker, i yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from rhode island. Mr. Speaker, i rise in support of the articles of impeachment against donald j. Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Nobody runs for congress to impeach a president but this president has left us no choice. President trump abuse the enormous powers of his office when he betrayed our National Security and undermined the security of our elections when he put his own personal political interests ahead of the interest of our country. He tried to cheat to win Back Reelection and this wasnt an attack on Vice President biden, this was an attack on our democracy and if we do not hold the president accountable today we will no longer live in a democracy. We will live in a dictatorship or any future president will be free to abuse their office in order to get reelected. So today every member of this chamber faces a choice, whether to do what The Constitution demands and the evidence requires order turned a blind eye to the president s grave misconduct. A blind eye to the overwhelming evidence of High Crimes And Misdemeanors. To my Friends On The Other Side of the aisle, i say this. This is not about making history, this is about holding a lawless president accountable in the way our framers intended, a time to put our country over your Political Party. Do not seek safety in the high grass of the vote against these articles. We are all americans. Show the American People your devotion to your country is more powerful than your loyalty to your Political Party. United we can defend our democracy from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Divided we risk losing our democracy. All you have to do is look at the evidence because it will lead you to only one answer, the president of the United States must be impeached. Remember these facts, you try to cheat, he got caught, he confessed and then he obstructed the investigation into his misconduct. For our democracy, for our constitution, for the people you represent and for all who will inherit our country from us, i pray you will do the right thing. And i yield back. The gentleman yields back, The Gentleman from georgia. At this point it gives me pleasure to yield a minute and a half to The Gentleman from alabama, mr. Rogers. The gentleman recognized mr. Rogers. I rise today and complete and total support of President Trump. The matter before the house today is based solely on fundamental hatred of our president , a coup against the duly elected president of the United States. This is a sad day for our nation when one Political Party along with their cohorts in The Deep State and Mainstream Media try to hijack our constitution. The democrat majority has irresponsibly turned the Impeachment Process into a political weapon, something republicans refused to do when our base was calling for the impeachment of president obama. It is well past time for the house to move beyond its hopes and put the nation first, that is everywhere President Trump is doing. The United States as a record low unemployment, Historical Performance in the stock market. President trump is rewriting failed trade deals of the past to put america first, hes rebuilding our military. He helped create the Space Bar Sand the list goes on. I implore my colleagues to end this spectacle now. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Mr. Speaker, im hearing a lot from my colleagues across the aisle except a defense of President Trumps conduct which is indefensible. I now yield 2 minutes to The Gentleman from florida. Some say this impeachment is about eight lines in a Call Transcript but there is so much more. This is about a scheme that lasted months and involved dozens of Trump Administration officials. Look at the evidence, look at the direct evidence. Text messages, emails, calls and meetings way back in may. The president told his team, talk to rudy giuliani. The president s message, no white house meeting unless ukraine helps him in the 2020 election. There was a prerequisite of investigations into the bidens and an announcement of an investigation was deliverable. He said the most important thing for the ukrainian president to do was to commit to an investigation of the bidens. Just before the july 25th call, he told the ukrainians, assuming president Zelensky Convinces Trump he will investigate, we will nail down a date for the visit to washington. More texts, more emails, more calls, all at the same message. If ukraine didnt announce an investigation into the president s political rival they wouldnt get the white house meeting they had been promised and they wouldnt get the aid they needed in their war against russia. American president ial power comes from the people through elections and The Constitution requires that we protect those elections. The president abused his power to solicit foreign interference, he was cheating American Voters before they even had a chance to vote. President trumps Actions Force us to protect our elections and The Constitution. I urge my colleagues to defend The Constitutions to support the articles of impeachment and remind the world that in americ, no one is Above The Law. I yield back. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from georgia. There is for koufax, no pressure, no conditionality, they did nothing to get it and they got the money. I yield a minute and a half to The Gentleman from florida. The gentleman is recognized. In opposition of this political effort to remove President Trump from office, im not surprised this day has come but i am disappointed. Disappointed because impeachment is one of the most consequential decisions we can make in this body and this impeachment is based purely on partisan motives. Speaker pelosi said we shouldnt go down this path unless there was something compelling, overwhelming, and bipartisan because of how divisive it would be. Unfortunately its clear the majority has had laser focus on one thing for three years, impeaching the president. The majority has failed to deliver for the American People, they failed to pass a budget on time, failed to pass spending bills on time and failed to deliver Bipartisan Solutions that will actually help improve the lives of americans. But the American People see through this sad charade for what it is, and attempts to undo the 2016 election based on hearsay and opinions, not facts. The transcript of the call showed no conditions were placed on the aide. President trump and president Zelensky Have said there was no pressure and ukraine received the aid without taking any actions. The president may only be impeached for committing treason, bribery, and other High Crimes And Misdemeanors. Nowhere in the articles of impeachment is argued that the president has committed treason, bribery, or any crime under the law. This is not overwhelming, it is not compelling, it is not bipartisan about the speaker was right in one way, this is incredibly divisive and has lowered the bar for what future president s will face. I strongly oppose the articles before us today and i hope we will finally move past this nightmare and get to work to deliver results for the American People. I yield back. The gentleman yields back. The mr. Speaker, its clear that he abuse the powers of his office to pressure ukraine to help his reelection campaign. This is the highest of high crimes and President Trump must be held to account. I now yielded 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from california. Speak out the is recognized. I think The Gentleman for yielding. As a member of the Homeland Security committee i know firsthand the dangers that foreign interference in our elections present to our democracy. As a member of congress, it is my sworn duty to ensure that our nation is secure from all threats foreign and domestic. And congress has a constitutional job to elevate allegations of misconduct by the Executive Branch including the United States president. Creating a system of checks and balances to prevent the creation of a king. And congress is a coequal branch of our nations government equal with the presidency with duties that are given to us by the framers. This is a very sad day and i do