Called wafer thin evidence. This is where impeachment becomes the norm rather than the exception. Thats not how our Founding Fathers intended. They wanted impeachment to be rare. They set a high bar for impeachment. Alleged abuse of power, the first article is not a high crime or misdemeanor. In fact its not even a crime. Since there is no concise Legal Definition of abuse of power the Majority Party in the house can designate nearly any disagreement with the president are now in an Impeachable Offense. The second article produced a similarly dangerous precedent. Its a practice that began with George Washington and its not obstruction of congress. Rather its a function of the essential checks and balances contemplated under the constitution. It is what every Grade School Student in america knows but apparently House Democrats do
not. Let the third branch of government decide to come up they are the referees. The house has never, i repeat never, approved an abuse of Power Roi Obstruction of congresses article of impeachment but that will change today. Today House Democrats are pursuing a wacky constitutional theory under which all four president s could have been impeached. If all of this sounds absurd, Madame Speaker, its because it is absurd. The whole process is absurd and has been from the outset. Heres whats not absurd but rather frightening. House democrats today are setting a dangerous precedent under which no future president will be immune from impeachment and it will forever negatively tarnish the history of this house. I yelled back. Gentleman from new york. Madame speaker, the president has constituted the highest of
high crimes against our country and that was confirmed in president nixons case and again in president clintons. There is no higher crime then present using his office to commit corruptions. I now yield one minute to the gentleman. This july, President Trump blocked 400 million in congressionally approved aid that ukraine desperately needed to defend itself against russia. Because he needed the ukraine to do him a favor first. He asked the president of the ukraine to launch a public investigation into a political rival, military aid and other benefits would only come after. But this is not about a single call or a single transcript, this is about a perfect storm, months of activity directly ordered by the president to his senior cabinet and political appointees, and orchestrated plan demanding a foreign power
or interfere in our democracy. President trump betrayed his Oath Of Office. He has refused to cooperate with a coequal branch of government. That setting the stage for all of our future republicans. Donald trump must be held accountable for his actions and today we sent a clear signal to this president and all future president s, no one is Above The Law. I yield back. Gentleman from georgia. Thank you Madame Speaker. At this time i yield to them settlement from kansas. I write today in opposition to the impeachment of a legitimately elected president of the United States. Enough. Madame speaker, for the love of this country, enough. Enough of this Impeachment Circus and enough of these sham witch hunts. Im voting no because the president has done nothing wrong. The only thing thatPresident Trump is guilty of is doing the things he said he would do. If my democratic colleagues were honest they would tell us the only thing President Trump is guilty of is not being hillary clinton. The only party guilty of obstruction, abuse of power or whatever focus groups term they are using today is the party on the other side of this aisle. They are obstructing the will of the American People. They are obstructing the very foundations of our country by politically weaponizing impeachment, they have dangerously shattered president , and abuse our constitution. They alone will bear this responsibility. Madame speaker, they will fail. And its no wonder that the American People dont trust this body. Its past time to be done with the circus and get to the work that matters like securing our borders and passing trade deals. I will vote no and encourage this body to move on from this heartbreaking disgraceful day to things that actually matter. I yield back. Gentleman from new york. Madame speaker i now yield one minute to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. Price. Gentleman is recognized. The moment our founders anticipated in establishing the power of impeachment has arriv arrived. The evidence is clear. President trump abused his power by asking a vulnerable foreign leader to investigate both his political rival and a baseless russian conspiracy theory. While Withholding Congressionally appropriated defense aide and a coveted white house visit. He then blocked congressional investigation into these abuses. These abuses corrupted our integrity, our diplomacy and undermined it National Security. We somehow regard constitutional checks and balances is the under struck double underpinnings of our democracy. In fact they are not fixed, they are not indestructible. The president has demonstrated this beyond all doubt. Its up to the congress. The first branch of government, to apply the remedy that the constitution prescribes because the threats to our democracy are real and present. With this vote we are fertile that no one including the president is Above The Law. Gentleman from georgia. Thank you. I yield a minute and after the gentleman from kentucky. Since the beginning of this impeachment inquiry, its been extremely troubling to see the partisan divisive way in which democrats have carried out this entire process. I guess we shouldnt be surprised though. They promised they would unseat this president since the day he took his Oath Of Office. From the start, this has been a
baseless attempt to undo the will of 63 million americans voted for President Trump. I can tell you, the people i represent in kentucky, the very people who voted for this president to enact change and fight for this country are appalled at the mess the actions from House Democrats who have failed to even come close to proving their case. I hope all of my Congressional Colleagues carefully consider the president they are setting by voting in favor of the sham process in these illegitimate articles of impeachment. These articles were written and built on a report that was drafted with by his presumptions, cherry picked witnesses and vastly disputed facts. The president did not commit any Impeachable Offense and its clear for all of us to see
through the now very well known transcript. This rigged process in such a concerning precedent for Impeachable Offenses moving forward and i wholeheartedly oppose these baseless articles of impeachment. I yield back the balance of my time. Sentiment from new york. I now yield one minute from to the gentleman from californ california. Many have lamented that this effort is not bipartisan but that is on my colleagues. Comic they have not the truth, they sought to avoid the truth. Warriors, patriots, Career Diplomats who provided evidence against the president. No House Republican has joined us to demand the documents and witnesses that President Trump has refused to produce. Senate Republican Leaders this week have announced that President Trump himself can set the rules of his own trial and there will be no fact witnesses. Republicans refused to seek the truth and condemn the abuse of power, or to work with us to prevent this ongoing behavior in the future and thats the tragedy of todays event. In our nations history, thousands of americans have gone into battle without reservation to fight for our republic as they still do today. Many have been gravely injured and some have made the ultimate, today in contrast for fear of losing an election, my colleagues will not speak up for the rule of law and the voters made gave them a pass but history will judge them harshly. I yield back. Gentleman from georgia . I yield to the gentleman from georgia. I think my colleagues from georgia and my friend mr. Colleague collins. I rise today not only in it opposition of these articles of impeachment but strong opposition to the process that has brought us to this point. Our constitution and bill of rights are all about process. Our founders knew that a government without constraints could accuse anyone of any crime at any time even without compelling evidence. Thats why the fifth and 14th amendment establish a bedrock principle of innocent until Proven Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. On November The 14 comments week or pelosi and for the president that the president should prove his innocence. She stated mr. President , if theres anything that could show your innocence you should make that known. That also guarantees that the accused can call witnesses on they behave, could be half of the president was continually denied that right. The 16th Amendment guarantees the right of the president from questioning the socalled whistleblower and his identity has been kept secret. Before you take this historic vote today, one week before christmas, i want you to keep in mind. When was falsely accused of
treason, Pontius Pilate gave the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to than democrats have afforded this president in this process. Gentleman from new york. Of the president was given the opportunity to come and testify before the Judiciary Committee to send this counsel and question witnesses and he declined to do so. I now yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan. Thank you, Madame Speaker. This is a sad day for our country and for our democracy. The president has abused the powers of his office, Betrayed The Public Trust and undermined Americas National security by pressuring the Foreign Government to interfere in our elections in this moment, and
history of our constitution, its clear. Remedy for such misconduct by a president is impeachment. But sadly the president s misconduct leads us no choice but to follow the constitution. I have two grandchildren. My granddaughter kaitlyn is eight and my Grandson Colin is four. Someday, a long time from now they will ask me about this day. They will ask me about the time a president put himself Above The Law. And they will want to know what i did to stop him. And i will have an answer for them. Today, i vote to uphold the constitution. I will vote to impeach donald trump. I yield back. Gentleman from georgia. Thank you Madame Speaker. It is interesting that the president was supposedly given rights in the judiciary
committee, not a lot of the judgments recognized for a minute and a half. Madame speaker. We are here today because houston grads have spent upwards of 30 million in three years trying to overturn the 2016 election of President Trump and come up with nothing. Because of their radical leftwing democrats are willing to make all future president ial elections and valid until judged worthy by the majority of the House Of Representatives. The president of the United States does not serve at the pleasure of the House Of Representatives. Perhaps the greatest denial of reality regarding President Trump is acknowledging that, under his policies things are actually going much better than they have been decades for working americans. We are a democratic Constitutional Republic in which power throws in from We The People they believe that they
are entitled to rule us even if they have to change the rules to invalidate the real end of the votes of the people of america. That is why the absence of a case does not matter in this charade of impeachment. I believe that the American People recognize and share my urgency about what is at stake. Madame speaker, you and your majority may decide today that i have faith that the American People will decide otherwise next november. The gentleman from new york. I now yield one minute to the gentle lady from washington. Gentle lady is washed i can recognize one minute. Thank you Madame Speaker. I rise today in support of this resolution. After carefully reviewing all of the evidence in the articles of impeachment before us. It is clear that presidency
and Obstructing Congress. I did not come to this conclusion lightly. Its an extremely serious matter. But no president can be allowed to pressure our country with the personal and political gain. His behavior has jeopardized the integrity of our elections, put our National Security at risk and placed his personal interests above those of the American People. His obstruction has prevented the house from conducting its constitutional duty of oversight of the Executive Branch. By failing to upload his Oath Of OfficePresident Trump forces each of us as the members of the House Of Representatives uphold i urge our colleagues to do just that and defend our democracy. I yield back. At this time i yield a minute and after the gentleman from virginia. Gentleman is recognize for a
minute and a half. I oppose this Impeachment Effort and vote no on the articles of impeachment. I represent the Fifth District of virginia was home to so many Founding Fathers who shaped of this great country we live in out today. Thomas jefferson and James Madison are not around to see with their creation has become but i dont think they would be pleased to see congress separating the will of democracy by holding an Impeachment Vote because the democratic parties cannot accept the 2016 election. Instead of wasting the taxpayers time and money on specious investigations we could have legislation to surpass medical billing and saw the litany of other issues americans actually care about. Tomorrow we might have a vote on the usmca which we should have passed months ago would it not have been for the delay be clean democrats. Votes like the one we will take today, the nature and entire process of this proceeding reeks of careers, bureaucrats and
politicians up politics over people. I ran for office and serve my constituents and thats why we are here. To my colleagues who do that, i offer thomas paine. To argue with the person who has announced the voice of reason. Does gentleman yields back. Gentleman from new york. A reminder that the has passed. Prescription drugs, rebuilding infrastructure, taking on corruption and selfdealing in washington. 80 of these bills are languishing on senator mcconnells desk. And, we wish to place on the
record, thats a constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Thats defending liberty. The central figure testing americas resolve is not here in washington today but rather the Closeted Villain Sits in m moscw with the kremlin. And they put their own selfish interest over liberty. And as ukraine vends defense or eastern flank, 14,000 people have been killed a persons hand with over 2 million to this place. And we are withholding vital military aid from the ukraine to coerce his interference from mr. Trumps personal gain. Might i end by saying, vote for the articles of impeachment. Thank you Madame Speaker at this time, i yield a minute and after the gentleman from north carolina. Thats an unprecedented process that has been used in the effort. Its a mockery of american justice. In 17881 of our Founding FathersAlexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist papers, in many cases impeachment will connect itself the preexisting faction. And in such cases there will always the greatest danger that the regulations are more
majority and minority then by real demonstrations of ignorance or guilt. What does this mean . It means that the majority can exert its influence regardless of injustice. In this