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[Page H4775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE PRESIDENT IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Green) for 5 minutes.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise. I rise because I
love my country, and I rise today because we are celebrating and
commemorating, to a certain extent, Juneteenth, when General Gordon
Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to alert, announce to the slaves,
if you will, that they had been freed pursuant to the Emancipation
Proclamation.
I am pleased that General Granger did this. I am pleased because
liberation is a wonderful thing. Nobody should be enslaved. But I am
also concerned that that liberation has not completely obliterated the
bigotry that ensued after the liberation.
In this country, we still suffer from bigotry, hatred, racism,
homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, all of the various ugliness that
can cause some people to receive less than the American Dream that
others receive.
And here in this country today, we, in the House of Representatives,
have a unique opportunity to do something about bigotry in our country.
We have an opportunity to do something about a President who has now
been above the law for some 63 days, 63 days since the Mueller report
was presented to the public, 63 days above the law since the Mueller
report.
My contention is he has been above the law since he fired Mr. Comey
some 2 years plus ago. But the President being above the law is
something that can be remedied.
Babies shouldn't be separated from their parents. I read a story just
yesterday about the youngest person to be separated, a 4-month-old
baby, separated from parents for approximately 6 months. The baby was
separated for such a prolonged period of time that the baby did not
recognize the parents when the unity took place with the parents, the
reuniting took place.
I am so saddened by these kinds of incidents, but the truth is, the
House of Representatives can do something about bigotry emanating from
the Presidency. The House of Representatives can impeach a President
for bigotry emanating from his Presidency.
And I believe that this House should do this, but I am also saddened
by the fact that we appear to be a House that is driven by polls.
Polls direct us, snapshots in time, about the opinions of the public.
I am saddened by the fact that we seem to be driven by polls because I
can only imagine what would have happened had they taken a poll before
crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday.
I can only imagine what the poll would have said if Rosa Parks had
taken one before she took that seat in a racist southern town on that
bus.
I can only imagine what the polls would have said if Lincoln had
decided to poll the country before moving forward with the Emancipation
Proclamation or the 13th Amendment.
Polls should not drive a righteous cause; a righteous cause should
drive the polls.
It is time for this Congress that has the authority to move forward
with impeachment to do so. We have not served our country well by
relying on polls. Polls are wonderful, but not for righteous causes.
With a righteous cause, you take a stand, and you move forward. When
you don't take that cause, you are not serving a righteous cause well.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cuellar). Members are reminded to
refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
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