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[Pages H640-H641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OPPOSITION TO IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Massie) for 5 minutes.
Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the marathon
impeachment sham trial currently underway and occupying the Senate's
valuable time.
[[Page H641]]
Frankly, the American people tuned out a long time ago. They find the
proceeding simply boring, and rightly so. In fact, a recent focus group
of Democrats said they don't even care about this impeachment trial.
They are not interested, and they are ready to move on.
The truth is that, despite all of the repetitive accusations of
coverup, quid pro quo, he said, she said, et cetera, et cetera, this is
nothing more than an attempt at a soft coup against President Trump by
the people who still can't get over the fact that he beat Hillary
Clinton fair and square at the ballot box.
Just listen to some of the recent rants made by the impeachment
managers. As one manager says: ``The President's misconduct cannot be
decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will
be fairly won.''
What an insult to American voters. If we can't trust the American
voters, who can we trust? Does he think they are gullible? Does he
think he is better than them?
Or take the comments of another impeachment manager, a Democrat. He
said, referring to President Trump: ``He is a dictator. This must not
stand, and that is another reason he must be removed from office.''
These are insulting to the American public who chose this President
over Hillary Clinton.
But these are the types of comments you would expect in a Third World
country in which military coups are a common occurrence, not in the
United States of America where we honor the votes and choices of the
American people.
President Zelensky and President Trump both said there was no
pressure or coercion, and the call transcripts have been released to
the public to prove this.
But even if there had been pressure, if withholding foreign aid is an
impeachable offense, why did Joe Biden threaten to do it?
As I have stated repeatedly, if the bar of high crimes and
misdemeanors has been brought down so low to include President Donald
Trump's so-called abuse of power, then Joe Biden should be charged for
his actions in Ukraine. Instead, he gets a pass.
This impeachment trial is simply a farce. But it is an expensive and
time wasting one foisted on the American people by those who do not
have our country's best interests at heart.
Even the Speaker of the House, who is a Democrat, said, if there is
going to be an impeachment trial, if there is going to be impeachment
proceedings, it should be bipartisan, it would have to be bipartisan.
Mr. Speaker, the only thing bipartisan about this sham is the
opposition to it. Democrats joined every Republican to vote against it
in the House. I expect we are going to see similar results in the
Senate, a bipartisan opposition to this partisan sham.
I look forward to the Senate bringing this farce to a speedy
conclusion.
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