January 9, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 5 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
IMPEACHMENT; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 5
(Senate - January 09, 2020)
Text available as:
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Pages S99-S100] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IMPEACHMENT Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, first, this morning I want to associate myself with a statement made yesterday by one of our distinguished colleagues about the House Democrats treating impeachment like a political toy. Here is what the Senator said: ``If it's serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn't, don't.'' That was our Democratic colleague, the senior Senator from California, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. She wasn't alone. ``It's time to get on with it.'' That is our Democratic colleague the junior Senator from Delaware. ``At some point, it's appropriate to send them and pass the baton to Senators.'' That is our Democratic colleague, the senior Senator from Connecticut. ``I think the time has past. She should send the articles.'' That is our Democratic colleague the junior Senator from Connecticut. Now, this is a challenging time to create bipartisan agreement in the Senate on any subject, but the Speaker of the House has managed to do the impossible. She has created this growing bipartisan unity here in the Senate in opposition to her own reckless behavior. The Senators may not agree on much, but it appears most of us still recognize the threat to our institution when we see one. Article I, section 3, says: ``The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments''--period. The House can begin the process, and Speaker Pelosi's majority has certainly done that, but the Senate alone can resolve it. Yet, for weeks now, the House majority has blocked the Senate from fulfilling our constitutional duty. In a precedent-breaking display of partisanship, the Speaker has refused to let her own allegations proceed normally to trial unless she gets to hand-design various elements of our Senate process. In other words, the House Democrats already spent 12 weeks undermining the institution of the Presidency with a historically unfair and subjective impeachment, and now, for a sequel, they have come after the institution of the Senate as well. That is where we are. The dwindling number of our Senate Democratic colleagues who remain complicit in this must realize what they are doing. Should future House majorities feel empowered to waste our time with junior varsity political hostage situations? Should future Speakers be permitted to conjure up this sword of Damocles at will and leave it hanging over the Senate unless we do what they say? Of course not. This week, a majority of the Senate stepped forward to make it perfectly clear that this conversation is over. A majority of this body has said definitively that we are not ceding our constitutional authority to the partisan designs of the Speaker. We will not let [[Page S100]] the House extend its precedent-breaking spree over here to our Chamber. There will be no unfair new rule book written solely for President Trump. The basic organization of the first phase of this trial will track the phase one of the Clinton trial, which all 100 Senators voted for in 1999. I have said for months that this is our preferred route. By the way, that is exactly what the American people want. Seventy- seven percent told a Harvard-Harris survey that the basic outline of a Clinton trial, reserving the witness question until later in the proceedings, ought to be good enough for this President as well. Fair is fair. In the same survey, 58 percent of Americans said they want Speaker Pelosi to do her job and send the articles to the Senate rather than continue delaying. It makes sense that American families have lost patience with this act just like we Senators have lost patience with it because this is not just some intramural tiff between the two Houses in our bicameral legislature. This recklessness affects our entire country. When you take a step back, what has really happened over the last 3 weeks? What has happened? When you take a step back from the political noise and the pundits discussing ``leverage''--by the way, that never existed--what have House Democrats actually done? This is what they have done. They have initiated one of the most grave and most unsettling processes in our Constitution and then refused to allow a resolution of it. The Speaker began something that she herself predicted would be ``so divisive to the country,'' and now she is unilaterally saying it cannot move forward to resolution. It is bad enough that House Democrats gave in to the temptation of subjective impeachment that every previous House for 230 years has managed to resist. However unwise, that is their constitutional prerogative. They get to start it, if they choose, but they do not get to declare that it can never be finished. They do not get to trap our entire country into an unending ``Groundhog Day'' of impeachment without resolution. Alexander Hamilton specifically warned against a procrastinated resolution of impeachments. In part, that is because our duly-elected President deserves a verdict, just like every American who is accused by their government deserves a speedy trial. This goes deeper than fairness to one individual. This is about what is fair to the entire country. There is a reason why the Framers did not contemplate a permanently unsettled Presidency. That is true under any circumstances, but consider especially the circumstances of recent days. Even as the Democrats have prolonged this game, we have seen Iran escalate tensions with our Nation. We live in a dangerous world. So, yes, the House majority can create this temporary cloud over a Commander in Chief if they choose--if they choose--but they do not get to keep the cloud in place forever. Look, there is real business for the American people that the Senate needs to complete. If the Speaker continues to refuse to take her own accusations to trial, the Senate will move forward next week with the business of our people. We will operate on the assumption that House Democrats are too embarrassed--too embarrassed--to ever move forward, and we will get back to the people's business. For example, the Senate continues to process President Trump's landmark trade deal, the USMCA, through our committees of jurisdiction. It passed the Senate Finance Committee this week by a landslide vote of 25 to 3, a major victory for the President and for working families. Now our other committees will continue their consideration. And there is more. The epidemic of opioids, fentanyl, and other substance abuse continues to plague our Nation. Some colleagues have signaled they may raise privileged resolutions on war powers. The Senate has plenty of serious work to do for our country. So while the Speaker continues her irresponsible games, we will continue doing the people's business. ____________________