Result of anarchists who came loaded the gentlemans time has expired. I yields back. The gentleman from new york is recognized. I yield one minute to distinguished gentleman from louisiana. Gentleman from louisiana is recognized for one minute. I rise today in my last floor speech in this body to do what i was sworn to do on the first day. To protect and defend the constitution. President trump put the domestic terrorists on notice by saying stand back and standby. He then summoned them to d. C. Directed them to march on the capitol. Then he sat back and watched the insurrection. Some of my colleagues, some of which may well be coconspirators in their latest attempt to placate this unfit president suggest we shouldnt
punish trump for his actions in order to unify the country. That is the climax of foolishness. Let me suggest to them, stand up, man up, woman up, and defend this constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, including donald j. Trump. The first impeachment republicans said we departments need to impeach him because he learned his lesson. No need to remove him. Well, we said, if we didnt remove him, he would do it again. Gentlemans time has expired. We told you so. The gentlemans time expired. Richmond out. Gentleman from new york reserves. The gentleman from ohio. The gentlewoman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. Thank you. I rise in opposition to the resolution. At a time when our country needs unity, its concerning that my democratic colleagues have chosen to begin impeachment
proceedings against a president with just seven days left in office. All League Challenges have been exhausted, congress has certified electors over objections and joe biden will be the next president of the United States. President trump has indicated he will peacefully transfer power to president elect biden next week. Why pursue impeachment just one week before he leaves office. Ive heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say they have to impeach the president because he is too dangerous to stay in power. Yet they know that it is impossible for the senate to remove him before his term expires. What is the point . This move sets a dangerous pres dent for our nation. If congress is going to impeach
a president , it must not only be done after intense debate and deliberation, not rushed through in the 11th hour to make a political point. There impeachment attempt is dangerous for our country and has far reaching implications for our future and with that i yields back. The gentleman from ohio reserves. The gentleman from new york is recognized. I now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from new york. The gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. I did not come to congress to impeach donald trump. The constitutional crimes by an out of control president inspired by his hatred and the big lie that he told cannot be ignored. Donald trump is a leaving, breathable, impeachment offense. It is what it is. The violent attack on the u. S. Capitol was an act of insurrection incited by donald
trump. Hes a clear and present danger to the health, safety and well being of the American People and that is why this impeachment is necessary on the house floor for a second time with a bipartisan majority. Violence will not win. Insurrection will not win. Sedition will not win. Terror will not win. Lawlessness will not win, mob rule will not win. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Democracy will prevail. The gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new york reserves. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. We reserve. Gentleman from new york. I now yields one minute to distinguished gentleman from california. The gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. Thank you. On january 3rd we stoods here and swore an oath to defend our constitution against enemies foreign and domestic. Three days later that oath was put to the test when a violent mob tried to break down those doors to stop us from performing our constitutional duty. This mob was not without a leader. On that day the president told them to walk to this capitol, 16 blocks from where he stoods. They were radicalized by his lies and conspiracy theories he spent months fueling, many of which ive heard on this floor the last week. He needed to say only two words to end the violence. I concede. Thats what leaders do in a democracy because thats what we do in the United States. They put politics aside and put Country First. As i looked to our colleagues over on the other side, i wonder how many of them will demonstrate that leadership and
join us in Holding President trump accountable for inciting this deadly attack . How many will uphold our oath and put our Country First to defend this constitution from the threat in the white house . To do anything less is to turn your back on the oath all together. Thank you. I yields back. The gentleman from new york reserves. The gentleman from ohio recognizes. We continue to recognize. Gentleman from ohio continues to reserve. The gentleman from new york is recognized. I yields three minutes to the gentleman from rhode island. The gentleman from rhode island is recognized for three minutes. For more than 220 years since George Washington yieldsed the presidency to john adams, the peaceful transfer of power has been a hallmark of our democracy. The will of the American People reign supreme over the will of individual people. Every single president has honored to upholds the principles until now. Donald trump lost his bid for
reelection last november. It was a free and last election. His own Election Security director called it the most secure election in u. S. History. For two months donald trump has refused to accept the will of the American People. Over and over again hes told his supporters he didnt really lose. The election was stolen from him and from them. As they grew anger ri and an griier he told them it was way to keep him in power. As congress certified the result, the president made his move. He directed his supporters to travel to washington for rally to stop the steal. They did. He then once assembled he had one final request. March to the capitol and do what it takes to help me hold onto power. We will never give up. You dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore. The people heard his message loud and clear. They answered his call for
insurrection. As the third ranking republican in this chamber put it, he summoned the mob, assembled mob and lit the flame of this attack. Armed with gun, pipe bomb, bats, shield, zip ties and more, they set their sights on the u. S. Capitol. They stormed the citadel of our democracy. Hundreds of domestic terrorists did what donald trump wanted them to do. They seized capitol and tried to end our countrys experiment in democracy. As the trump family and white house aides watched gleefully on television. They searched this place for the Vice President who they came to hang for treason. They sought to seize control of our government in name of donald trump. Let that sink in. The terrorists who stormed this building planned to hang the Vice President , kill the speaker and topple our government. They took down the American Flag and replaced it with a trump flag. I asked my colleagues who are not planning to vote for this
article, is this the kind of country you want to live in . What are you going to tell your children and grandchildren when they ask what you did in this moment . Can you stand for the republic or for this president . Heed the words of Abraham Lincoln. This great house in which he served cannot and will not endure if we do not stand together now. The president and terrorist who stormed the halls last wednesday did not succeed in toppling our republic. Remust ensure they never do. I implore you in support in this article. I yield back. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. I yields one minute to the gentleman from new jersey. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. We have been here before. We have done this before. This has failed before. We fractured our nation using the same process before. Congress must be the glue that started unifying every one. By the time this process could conclude, the man they want out of office will no longer even be the president. If we want unity, this is not the way. America was and is the Leading Light in the world. This proceeding has continued to cloak our nation in darkness. Nearly half the country supports our current president. This takes their voice away. We must be bigger and better than the most base of instingtss that have been driving our political discourse. It is destroying us. Lets link arms with one another and begin to heal. Lets stop this impeachment. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from new york is recognized. I yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from colorado. The gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute. Thank you. President trumps actions encouraging, inciting a mob that stormed the United States capitol for the sole purpose of stopping the constitutionally mandating counting of electoral votes cannot go unanswered by this body. He must be impeached. If congress does not act, if we shrink from our constitutioal responsibilitys, it will undermine the vision of america as the last best hope of earth as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently said so many years ago. To the millions of americans watching today, i hope you understand that were proceeding on this path out of love for our
country. I will northern my oath today. I will vote for impeachment. I pray that my colleagues will muster the courage to do the same. With that i yield back. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from new york reserves. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. We reserve. The gentleman from ohio reserves. Gentleman from new york. I yields two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina. The gentleman from South Carolina is recognized for two minutes. Thank you. I thank the gentleman for yieldsing me the time. I rise in support of the article of impeachment. Last wednesday we gathered to follow the constitution simple instruction to count the electoral votes. This president refused to accept those results. Instead he sought to overturn them by inciting a violent insurrection but we were not
detiered from doing our constitutional duty. Today, we must do our constitutional duty once again. While the president failed in his attempt to unend our democracy last wednesdays events made clear if we do not hold him accountable and remove him from power, a future attempt could very well be successful. The survival of our democracy depends on defeated candidates, sepg their defeats as has been the case in every president ial election since 1864. Our january 6th joint session is a vital point of the transfer of power, not the contest for power. Vice president gore understood this. Accepting and certifying the 2000 election result in which he was defeated. Vice President Biden understood
this, accepted and certified this president s victory in the 2016 election. This president s refusal to participate in the peaceful transfer of power and his role in the inciting of the last weeks violence pose a existential threat to our constitutional democracy. This threat must be extinguished immediately. This president must be impeached and convicted. He must be prevented from ever attempting to seize power again. With that i yield back. The yes man from new york reserves. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. Thank you. I yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado. The gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. I thank the gentleman for yielding term. I heard that President Trump radicalized group that the rioters who stormed this
capitol. I would say we need to look no further than ourselves to find out what happened and to look at history. Americans were frustrated when they learned the fbi was invooesst vest gaiting the trump campaign. They were frustrating to learn the Obama Administration and the dnc had created this false campaign against the trump administration. They were frustrated when the inauguration of the president was boycotted by over 40 Democrat Members of this house. They were frustrated to read in the Washington Post the day after the inauguration, let the impeachment begin. They were frustrated when members of this house spoke over and over about impeaching the president days into his administration. Then the socialists and hollywood joined their allies in congress. Robert deniro said he wanted to
punch the president in the face. Madonna thought about blowing up the white house. Kathy griffin held occupy a likeness of the president beheaded head and nothing was said by my colleagues at that point in time. In fact, one democrat colleague said that Trump Supporters should be harassed where ever they are in restaurant, on the street, in supermarkets. During this time the president was under investigation by a special counsel who found no collusion, no conspiracy with russia. The president supporters were harassed. The head of the fcc was called a dirty, sneaky indian. His children harassed in school. The press secretary, Sarah Sanders was kicked out of a restaurant for being a trump employ. Trump donors gentlemans time has expired. Im sorry, you couldnt hear me. The mike wasnt on. The gentleman from ohio reserves. The gentleman from ohio reserves. The gentleman from new york is recognized. I now yields two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from maryland. The gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. Smashing windows and Beating Police officers over the head with fire extinguishers, blood thirsty mob attacked the capitol and invaded this Congress Last wednesday. They erected a gallows and repeatedly chanted hang mike pence. They stormed Speaker Pelosis office yelling wheres nancy. They brandished the confederate battle flag. They wounded dozens of people,
hospitalizing dozens of people. Killed five of our people. For six hours they shut down the counting of Electoral College votes. Our say red process for peaceful transfer of power in the United States. They may have been hunting for pence and pelosi to stage their coup but every one of us in this room could have died. As senator Lindsey Graham said the mob could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all. Now the far right is calling for return engagement from january 17th to january 20th. They are asking the president to pardon the conspirators in last weeks rampage as they prepare for a race war again next week. Its bats much to be hearing these people would not be trying to destroy our government and kill us if we just werent so mean to them. Well, despite the floor leaders desperate effort to polarize
this body and this nation along party lineses, its the chair of the republican conference who best articulated what happened in a statement yesterday and i recommends every american read this. Liz chaney of wymoing wrote this president summoned this mob, assembled this mob and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president. The president could have immediately intervened to stop the violence. He did not. Theres never been a greater betray by a president of the United States request ten seconds. Yields i yields an additional ten seconds. Theres never been a greater betray than his office to the out of the constitution. Read miss chaneys statement. Lets come together and impeach the president for this high crime against the republic. We dont have a minute to spare. Hes a clear and present danger to the people. The gentleman from new york preserves. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. I yields two minutes to the gentleman from florida. Seems to me that impeachment is an itch that doesnt go away with one scratch. It seems President Trump may be most likely to be impeached when he is correct. Before the last president ial impeachment President Trump rightly pointed out that imporp activities of the Biden Crime Family and sub skentsly hes been proven right. Dont think for a moment were going to drop that or stop our pursuit for the truth. Before that we had the russia hoax where you had the president rightly making claims that Hillary Clinton and the dnc were colluding with russians to disother yents our democracy. How right he turned out to be. Then we have the 2020 president ial election where the
president correctly pointed out, unconstitutional behavior, voting irregularities, concerns over tabulations, dead people voting and now impeachment again. When they go low, we kick em. Eric holder, former attorney general under barack obama. Breaching the capitol was as low as low can be. We all denounce it. Who it is that they are kicking . The president who created soaring highs for our economy, rising wages before the pandemic, 400 miles of wall to stop the caravans, who drew down troops in the middle east and showed empathy for the forgotten men and women of our country. Its why so many people love him so much and its why they are kicking all of us. This president has faced unprecedented hatred and resistance from big media, big tech and big egos from congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle. Before the rioters tore through that glass, Speaker Pelosi stood and tore through the president s state of the union speech inciting anger, resentment, division. Some believe that truly these true colors are being shown now through this divisive, partisan impeachment. The time expired. Request an add