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[Pages S202-S203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMPEACHMENT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, before I make remarks on a different
issue, I would like to address comments made this morning by the
majority leader, the Senator from Kentucky. The first related, as most
of his comments recently, to the pending impeachment trial in the U.S.
Senate.
I listened carefully to his arguments that the House and the Senate
have moved too quickly on this matter. It is true that they moved with
dispatch, and I think it reflects the fact that the charges that have
been made were timely, important, and relevant to the election campaign
cycle which we now face.
The charges in the Articles of Impeachment suggest the President, in
conversation with the President of Ukraine, asked for help in the
campaign that is about to ensue, asking specifically for investigative
material on the son of former Vice President Joseph Biden. At the same
time, the President was withholding military assistance voted by the
Appropriations Committee in Congress to Ukraine as they continue to
battle with Russia. These are serious charges, and they were based on a
telephone conversation last July.
It is true that the effort by the House of Representatives has been
timely and, by measurement of previous impeachment investigations, much
faster, but I believe that the timeliness is one of the important
elements here because we are facing this campaign.
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Secondly, there was an argument made by the majority leader that the
Articles of Impeachment which we are about to receive in the Senate do
not state that a crime was committed. I would refer the majority leader
to the Constitution as well as to precedent in the U.S. Senate. The
actual allegation of a crime is not required for an impeachment. I
think the Senator from Kentucky knows that.
The last point he makes is one that I think is very important, and
that is that there has been some delay by Speaker Pelosi in sending the
Articles of Impeachment to the U.S. Senate. I would say, during the
course of the period since they were first voted on last December in
the House and their arrival in the Senate this week, we have seen
several things of importance unfold, not the least of which was a
recent disclosure of new witnesses and new evidence that has have been
collected since the House voted on the Articles of Impeachment. In the
eyes of many, it is relevant evidence, and the fact that that
information is now available to the Senate means we have a better
chance of arriving at the truth after deliberation.
Secondly, I might add it is encouraging that some Republican Members
of the U.S. Senate have made it clear that they oppose the notion of a
motion to dismiss the impeachment charges as soon as they arrive. That
might have been the dream of some in the White House--and perhaps even
some in the U.S. Senate--but cooler heads have prevailed, and I salute
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who believe we have a special
responsibility to treat this constitutional assignment with
independence and dignity. That means we don't prejudge by coming to the
floor and announcing, in some critical terms, that the Articles of
Impeachment should not be taken seriously. We should take them
seriously. It is a serious matter. I hope colleagues on both sides of
the aisle will do that.
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