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[Page H3795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES IS AT RISK
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 because I love my
country. And still I rise because there is a crisis that has to be
addressed.
Madam Speaker, the system of checks and balances that we have
instilled within our government, a system that the Framers of the
Constitution devised such that there would not be a concentration of
power in the hands of the chief executive officer of the government, in
fact, is to prevent a concentration of power in any aspect. There is
power that is spread across the government.
There are three branches of the government. I want to focus this
morning, if I may, on two--the executive and the legislative--because,
Madam Speaker, this morning, as I stand before you, a proud American, I
must inform all that the system of checks and balances is at risk.
It is at risk because we now have a President who does not believe
that he can or will be impeached. We have a President who refuses to
allow Congress to perform its constitutionally accorded oversight
responsibilities.
When you have a President who does this, Madam Speaker, you lose the
power of Congress. It becomes concentrated in the President. The
Presidency becomes a place where power is concentrated because the
President has no fear:
He doesn't believe that there are consequences for his going beyond
what the Constitution allows;
He will engage in conduct that Article II, Section 4 of the
Constitution would prohibit; and
He will engage in impeachable offenses because he knows that the
Congress will not impeach him.
It is impeachment that is the ultimate guard against a reckless,
ruthless, lawless President; and if we do not exert our authority, this
President, knowing that we won't, is capable of doing things that we
cannot imagine.
Madam Speaker, it is up to us, the Members of this Congress, to
assure that this government continues to have the checks and balances
that the Framers of the Constitution intended. If we do not, if
Congress does not fulfill its responsibility, we won't have a
Presidency. The power will be so concentrated that we will have a
monarchy.
The Framers of the Constitution never intended for a President to
just totally disregard the Congress. And notwithstanding all that might
happen in the courts, notwithstanding all of the subpoenas that may be
taken to court and have them litigated properly, the ultimate check on
a President is Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, and that is
impeachment when he commits impeachable acts.
We have the Mueller report. It speaks for itself. And there are many
constitutional scholars who have said there has been an obstruction to
take place.
There are many lawyers who have worked in the Justice Department.
They number hundreds now, the lawyers who have signed on, indicating
that the President should be beneath the law just as everyone else is,
or the law should apply to him. He shouldn't be above the law.
They are indicating that, if we don't act, we are showing the
President that he is above the law. He then becomes a monarch, and we
then become a weaker form of government.
So I call upon this Congress: Let us do what is expected of us. The
Framers of the Constitution gave us the way. They have shown the way.
We but only have to have the will, and it is worth it for us to do this
because the country is at stake in the sense that the government is at
risk.
Madam Speaker, I love my country.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
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