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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL
Coverage of House Floor Debate on Impeachment Articles. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired December 18, 2019 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00] COLLINS: -- real quickly. No pressure, no conditionality, no -- nothing was ever denied them, and when they got through they actually got the money and they never did anything for it.
We have talked about the facts. That's a distraction that doesn't need to happen.
With that, Ms. -- Madam Speaker, I yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Davidson.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half.
DAVIDSON: Madam Speaker, I've heard numerous colleagues say they didn't run for Congress to impeach the president. Well, maybe not originally, but unfortunately from the moment proceedings began, after the fourth vote to launch an impeachment inquiry, today's vote was inevitable. Many of them campaigned on it.
I love this country with a soldier's passion. I came here to defend freedom, not to deny due process to anyone. I came here to solve problems and change the broken status quo, not to distract or disrupt those like President Donald Trump who deliver on promises to put America back on the path of peace and prosperity that has made and kept our country free.
For months now, Americans have heard speculation about the president's motives in Ukraine. Despite months of effort, dozens of hearings and countless documents, Americans have not seen proof that the president committed a high crime or a misdemeanor.
We have a republic, if we can keep it. This is disgraceful, dishonest process. It's a discredit to this body and to our nation. I urge the House to drop these divisive Articles of Impeachment and get to work for the American people.
I yield.
SPEAKER: Gentleman yields back.
Gentleman from New York.
NADLER: Madam Speaker, how much time -- would you tell me how much time both sides have left, please?
SPEAKER: Gentleman from New York has two hours and two minutes. Gentleman from Georgia has two hours and three minutes.
NADLER: Madam Speaker, I now yield one minute to the gentlelady from New York, Ms. Velazquez.
SPEAKER: Gentlelady is recognized for one minute.
VELAZQUEZ: Madam Speaker, the facts are clear.
The president of the United States withheld $400 million in military aid to an ally of the United States, and also held back a White House meeting to compel a foreign nation to investigate his political opponent. At the exact time the president was doing this, Ukraine was engaged in a battle for its very existence with one of America's adversaries, Russia.
The president abused his power to persuade a foreign nation to dig up dirt on a political opponent, and that's the truth. This was quite simply a geopolitical shakedown.
The president then tried to block Congress from exercising its constitutionally mandated duty to uncover the truth.
Every single one of us today faces a stark choice: If we choose to turn a blind eye to put political expediency before the Constitution then we are complicit in this subversion of democracy.
If we do not hold this president accountable, we have failed the people who sent us here...
SPEAKER: Gentlelady's time has expired.
VELAZQUEZ: ... and we have abdicated our own oath to defend the Constitution. In the United States of America...
SPEAKER: Gentlelady's time has expired.
VELAZQUEZ: ... no one is above the law, not even the president.
SPEAKER: Gentleman from Georgia.
COLLINS: Thank you, Madman Speaker.
At this time it is my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Byrne.
SPEAKER: Gentleman's recognized for two minutes.
BYRNE: Madam Speaker, in three months we've gone from receiving an unsubstantiated, hearsay and discredited whistleblower complaint to the production of Articles of Impeachment against the president of the United States. Not since Andrew Johnson has the House engaged in such a partisan political stunt. From the beginning this has been a sham, and this House has been nothing but a star chamber.
The Democrat majority literally locked themselves in the basement of this building hiding from the American people. When my colleagues and I refused to stand for it, Democrats moved to public hearings but denied us questions, denied us witnesses and denied the president any meaningful opportunity to defend himself.
With this complete abuse of process, the Democratic majority has produced the flimsiest and most legally unsound Articles of Impeachment in the history of this nation. Never before has the House reported an Article of Impeachment that does not allege an underlying crime, yet this majority will do so today.
Read the transcript. There was no quid pro quo, no bribery, no extortion, no crime and no abuse of power. And they don't even allege a crime in their Articles of Impeachment.
[14:35:00]
The president raising Ukrainian corruption is not an impeachable offense.
If the dealings of Hunter Biden were so above board, you would think the majority would be just fine looking into this matter. Yet they haven't moved my resolution asking for an investigation and our subpoenas for Hunter Biden have all been denied.
Hunter Biden doesn't get a pass because his dad was vice president. I am proud to have fought against this charade every step of the way and I will proudly vote no today.
And I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from New York?
NADLER: Madam Speaker, I now yield one minute to the gentlelady from Wisconsin, Ms. Moore.
SPEAKER: The gentlelady is recognized for one minute.
MOORE: Madam Speaker, the facts are uncontestable, the evidence is overwhelming. The president grossly misused the office of president and obstructed Congress and justice requires this impeachment.
I feel compelled to respond to the false narrative that Democrats are using this process to overturn an election. You know, I agree, elections are the appropriate venue for public policy disputes; however, we're not talking about a public policy dispute.
We're talking about a president who subverted national security by soliciting for interference in our elections; the exact thing our founding fathers feared and the exact circumstance for which they drafted the impeachment clause. Our democracy, our Constitution deserves standing up for, not Donald John Trump.
And I will leave my colleagues with this last thought as they decide how to cast his historic vote. For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, only to lose his own soul? I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentlelady yields back.
The gentleman from Georgia?
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
At this time, I yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gooden.
SPEAKER: The gentleman's recognized for a minute and a half.
GOODEN: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
This is the day the founding fathers feared when they granted Congress the power of impeachment, where we have a political party so dead set against the president that they will do anything to impeach him. And they're about to get away with it, simply because they have the votes.
But that's not how this process is supposed to work. It's not meant to be dictated by a thin partisan majority nor is it meant to be used when an election is just around the corner.
And no one understands that better than our speaker, who I have great respect for. And I agree with the comments she made on March the 6th of just this year, impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path because it divides the nation.
And that's exactly what's happened.
And when we walk out of here tonight, we all know how this result's going to go. The Democrats are voting for this, not one Republican is breaking. This is not bipartisan.
The American people are disgusted with the United States House of Representatives and we bring shame upon this body today my moving forward this impeachment.
I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from New York?
NADLER: Madam Speaker, I now yield one minute to the gentleman from California, Mr. Lowenthal.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for one minute.
LOWENTHAL: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The facts in this case are as simple as they are tragic. Witness after witness attested to these facts. No one has credibly refuted them. President Trump tried to coerce Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 elections. He used the power of his office for personal political gain. By withholding aid to Ukraine, the president has endangered our ally Ukraine and undermined our own national security. And when he got caught, the president attempted to cover up the crime and shut down any investigation by obstructing Congress.
We have overwhelming evidence that this president poses an urgent threat to our elections, to our national security and to the rule of law. Congress must vote to impeach him to protect our constitutional republic. There is no alternative.
Thank you and I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentleman from Georgia?
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The only urgent threat to this body is the clock and the calendar and the desire to impeach the president before we go home for Christmas.
With that, a minute and a half to the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Roe.
SPEAKER: The gentleman's recognized for a minute and a half.
ROE: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Today's a sad day in The People's House. Since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Democrats have been on a crusade to stop him by any means. I believe the American people, the fairest people on this earth, they believe that everyone should be treated equally under the law, no matter what your station you occupy in life -- rich, poor, president, factory worker -- fair.
This process has been anything but fair. For two years we've been told that then-candidate Donald Trump colluded with Russians to interfere with our elections.
[14:40:00]
Two years, millions of dollars spent on the Mueller investigation. No collusion.
You'd think after being that wrong, Democrats would finally decide to work on the problems that the American people sent us here to do. You'd be wrong again.
Then we were told that the president withheld money to the Ukrainians in a quid pro quo -- no, no, a bribery -- no, abuse of power -- I guess whatever polls best -- to gather information on the political rival -- potential rival. Well, here are some facts about what happened.
Fact number one, the transcript of July 25th phone conversation that president released shows no pressure. Fact number two, President Zelensky did not know the money was withheld. Fact number three, no investigation occurred or was announced. Fact number four, the money was released September 11th, 2019. Facts are stubborn things.
One member on the other side of the aisle said, quote, I'm concerned that if we don't impeach this president, he will get reelected, end quote.
That, Madam Speaker, says it all. I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from New York?
NADLER: Madam Speaker, I now yield one minute to the gentlelady from Oregon, Ms. Bonamici.
SPEAKER: The gentlelady is recognized for one minute.
BONAMICI: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I take seriously my oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and I do not take today's proceedings lightly. The founding fathers included the impeachment process in the Constitution to uphold our values and to maintain the checks and balances that are essential to separation of powers and to democracy.
They knew way back in 1787 that a president could abuse the power of the office. In fact, they adopted the phrase high crimes and misdemeanors from a phrase that had been used in the English parliament since 1386, intended to cover situations where an official abused his power and included and -- disobeying an order from the parliament.
Donald Trump has abused the power of his office by inviting a foreign government to interfere in the U.S. election and he did this not to help the United States, but to benefit himself. That's wrong and it's an impeachable offense.
And then, when Congress exercised our constitutional duty to investigate these wrongdoings, he obstructed the investigation every step of the way. That is also wrong and it's also an impeachable offense.
In our country no one is above the law; that includes the president of the United States.
And I yield back the balance of my time.
SPEAKER: The gentleman from Georgia?
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. At this point, I yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Kelly.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half?
M. KELLY: And I thank the gentleman.
You know December is such a great month and there are so many great dates in December. And we talk about the wonderful things that have happened in Decembers of the past, there's also -- in addition to Christmas being something we celebrate -- the Boston Tea Party took place in December.
But also on December 7th, 1941, a horrific act happened in the United States and it's one that President Roosevelt said this is a date that will live in infamy.
Today, December the 18th, 2019, is another date that will live in infamy. When, just because you hate the president of the United States and you can find no other reason other than the fact that you're so blinded by your hate that you can't see straight that you've decided the only way we can make sure this president doesn't get elected again is to impeach him.
On the floor of The People's House, the bastion of democracy and liberty and the whole world, we have decided the political power is far more important than principle.
I would urge all members of the House to vote no on impeachment and to look their voters in the eye and -- listen, let me tell you. The voters will remember next November what you're doing this December. This is a terrible time. This is a date that will live in infamy. Thank you, Mr. (sic) Speaker, and I yield back.
SPEAKER: The members are reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
The gentleman from New York?
NADLER: Madam Speaker, I now yield one minute to the gentlelady from Florida, Ms. Frankel.
SPEAKER: The gentlelady is recognized for one minute.
FRANKEL: In 1787, at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked do we have a republic or a monarchy.
He responded, a republic if you keep it.
Madam Speaker, a republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a public matter, not the private concern or property of the rulers. In a republic, no person is above the law. In a republic, the president may not abuse his power by withholding critical foreign assistance for his own personal political gain nor may he stop witnesses from talking.
I did not come to Congress to impeach a president but I did take an oath to keep the republic for our children and our grandchildren; we should do nothing less. One day, I will tell my grandson that I stood up for our democracy. I will vote yes to impeach the president.
And I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentlelady yields back.
The gentleman from Georgia?
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
At this time, I yield a minute and 40 seconds to the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Grothman.
[14:45:00]
SPEAKER: Gentleman is recognized for a minute and 40 seconds.
GROTHMAN: Thank you.
I'd like to address why we're here. We're certainly not here because of a misquoted phone call in July of 2019. The Washington Post ran an article headlined "The Campaign To Impeach President Trump Has Begun" the day he was sworn in. The gentleman from Maryland who spoke earlier called for impeachment two days before President Trump was in -- before he was sworn in. The gentleman from Texas was introducing impeachment resolutions two years ago and said President Trump should be impeached so he can't get re-elected.
This impeachment is not about anything that happened on a phone call, this impeachment is about what President Trump has done. The people in this country who are let in, who are inadmissible, or apprehended and don't have legal authority fell from 100,000 people in May to under 5,000 people in November, and you hate him for it.
Ben Carson thinks that low-income housing should be used by American citizens and not people who are here illegally, and you hate him for it. President Trump doesn't want people coming here and going on welfare, and you hate him for it. President Trump wants able-bodied people on food stamps to try to work, and he is hated for it.
President Trump renegotiated that ripoff trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, and that was let in place by President Bush and President Obama, and you hate him for it. President Trump sides with law enforcement instead of criminals and murders dropped 1,000 people last year, and you hate him for siding with the police.
President Trump lets Christian adoption agencies choose who they want to be parents, and you don't like him for that. President Trump won't let foreign aid go to agencies that perform abortions, you hate him for that. President Trump's judges stick to the Constitution, he's disliked for that. President Trump is keeping his campaign promises, and you hate him for that.
I yield the remainder of my time.
COLLINS: Reserve.
SPEAKER: Members are once again reminded to keep their remarks to the chair.
Gentleman from New York.
NADLER: Madam Speaker, we do not hate President Trump. But we do know that President Trump will continue to threaten the nation's security, democracy, and constitutional system if he is allowed to remain in office. That threat is not hypothetical. President Trump has persisted during this impeachment inquiry in soliciting foreign powers to investigate his political opponents.
The president steadfastly insists that he did nothing wrong and is free to do it all again. That threatens our next election as well as our constitutional democracy.
I now yield one minute to the gentleman from California, Mr. McNerney.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for one minute.
MCNERNEY: Madam Speaker, the House of Representatives, the people's House, is vested by the Constitution with the power of impeachment to balance the power of the presidency. Without this essential duty, the president could exploit his sacred office without any regard for the law. On January 3rd, 2019, every member of the House swore an oath to defend the Constitution and this week we're being asked to do just that.
When allegations arose that the president tried to coerce a foreign government to help undermine the 2020 election, the House carried out its duty to investigate a potential abuse of power. But the president refused to cooperate and forbade his administration from doing so, obstructing Congress from carrying out our sworn responsibility.
If these actions bear no consequence, future presidents may act without constraint and American democracy will be at an end. Therefore, compelled by my sworn duty to defend the Constitution, I will vote to impeach this president.
I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentleman from Georgia.
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
At this time I yield to my friend from Florida, a minute-and-a-half.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for a minute-and-a-half.
YOHO: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I'd like to address my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and reiterate President Washington's warning to the republic 223 years ago. The Constitution rightly sets a high bar for impeachment, but the integrity of the process also depends on the ability of the legislators to vote their minds independent of party politics.
Removing a president is too important and lawmakers are given too much latitude to define high crimes and misdemeanors for it to be any other way. Otherwise excessively partisan politicians could overturn an election simply because the president is a member of the opposite and opposing party. It is in regard to this impeachment process that George Washington forewarned us as a nation at this moment history. When political parties "may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men and women will be enabled to subvert the power of the people to usurp for themselves the reins of government."
[14:50:00]
How wise he was. Vote no on this assault to our republic, the Constitution, and against President Trump.
SPEAKER: The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from New York.
NADLER: Madam Speaker, John Adams warned in a letter to Thomas Jefferson that these risks are unavoidable and might sometimes overlap. Quote: "You are apprehensive of foreign interference, intrigue, influence. So am I. As long and as often as elections happen, the danger of foreign influence recurs." Close quote.
I now yield one minute to the gentlelady from Michigan, Ms. Lawrence.
SPEAKER: The gentlelady is recognized for one minute.
LAWRENCE: Madam Speaker, today history is being written. The facts are conclusive. The president attempted to use the power of the powerful office of president to force Ukraine to influence our 2020 election. In the process, President Trump jeopardized our national security and with held vital military assistance intended to prevent further Russian aggression to our region.
However, as our committees, including Government Oversight which I sit on and which I'm a member, sought to interview additional witnesses and obtain documents, the president ordered from the power of his office that the executive branch to not participate and obstructed the congressional oversight.
Article I provides the House of Representatives with the sole power of impeachment as well as the authority to conduct oversight of the executive branch. What did he have to hide? When the framers met over 200 years ago, they went to great lengths to ensure future presidents would be forced to answer to their constitutional responsibility.
I stand today in support of the two Articles of Impeachment.
SPEAKER: The gentleman from Georgia.
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
At this time I yield two minutes to the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Cline, a member of the Judiciary.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for two minutes.
CLINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today is a sad day for this body, for the voters who sent me here last November, and for our nation. Benjamin Franklin cautioned when asked what he had given us, a republic if you can keep it. Today we take a step further toward losing the republic that our founding fathers envisioned by engaging in activity that they specifically warned against. The misuse of the constitutional power of impeachment for one party's political gain.
Our Constitution is the very foundation of our republic. Its assurance of self-determination has been the shining beacon by which our nation has chartered its course over the last two centuries from a new democratic experiment, struggling to survive, to the greatest nation on earth. America has been powered over the years not by government, but by the ingenuity, the bravery, and the faith of its people, confident in their place as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
And so it is we the people who determine our president, not we the Judiciary Committee, nor we the Congress. The Constitution is clear, it's only when we see clear proof of the impeachable offenses outlined in Article II, Section 4, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, that we are to challenge the decision of the voters, break the figurative glass, and pull the emergency rip cord that is impeachment.
We do not have that proof today. Thomas Jefferson said: "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
But rather than educate this majority has chosen today to obfuscate with hearsay, innuendo, and speculation. And when history looks on this shameful period for this house, it will judge it for what it truly is, the ugly hijacking by the majority of our Constitution, and the powers it so solemnly entrusts to us to engage in a blatantly political process designed to finally achieve what they could not achieve at the ballot box, the removal of a duly-elected president.
Compelled by my sworn duty to uphold this Constitution and for the people, I vote no on impeachment today.
I yield back.
SPEAKER: The gentleman from New York.
NADLER: Madam Speaker, I now yield one minute to the gentleman from California, Mr. Huffman.
SPEAKER: The gentleman is recognized for one minute.
HUFFMAN: Madam Speaker, as we take this solemn, necessary step of impeaching President Trump, my Republican colleagues have made up their minds. We can't persuade them to do the right thing. So I'll address my remarks to the future. Today's vote will be judged by future generations, including my precious children, Abby (ph) and Nathan, maybe grand-kids.
[14:55:00]
Historians will study what members of this Congress did when our democracy was tested like never before, by a president who put personal interests above country, who compromised national security to cheat his way to reelection, and when caught not only lied and refused to admit wrongdoing, but flouted Congresses authority. He even called the constitutional impeachment mechanism unconstitutional.
Historians will marvel how some members of Congress continued to stand by this man, how they put blind, partisan loyalty or fear of Donald Trump above their duty to defend the Constitution, how they made absurd partisan arguments and tried to obstruct these proceedings, and how instead of pushing back when their party fell under the dark spell of authoritarianism, they embraced it as if the Constitution, the rule of law, and our oath of office mean nothing.
So Madam Speaker, for our future generations, our children, the judgment of history, let me be clear I stand with our Constitution, with the rule of law, and our democracy. I'll be voting yes to impeach Donald J. Trump.
SPEAKER: Gentleman's recognized for a minute and a half.
WILLIAMS: I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
Today's vote to impeach the duly elected president of the United States is truly historical. However, its unique place in history is not for the reasons the Democratic Party and their mainstream media overlords are so desperately trying to convey.
Today will be remembered as the day the Democrats claiming a false moral supremacy over the desire of the American people executed a deliberate and orchestrated plan to overturn a presidential election.
It will be the first time in history that a party paraded out their Ivy League academics to explain to 31 states and almost 63 million people that their voice should not be heard and why their votes should not be counted.
I pray for our nation every day, but today I'm praying for my colleagues across the aisle who have arrived at this partisan and self-directed fork in the road and chose the road never before traveled and one that has a dead end.
Donald J. Trump is our president chosen by the American people fair and square. As we say in Texas, it's a done deal. Democrats' attempt to change history will never undo that.
May God bless the greatest country in the world, the United States of America.
I yield back my time.
SPEAKER: Gentleman yields back. Gentleman from New York. NADLER: Madam Speaker, I would remind the gentleman that the Impeachment Clause is placed in the Constitution to protect the American people and our form of government against a president who would subvert our constitutional liberties inbetween elections.
I now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green.
SPEAKER: Gentleman's recognized for one minute.
A. GREEN: And still I rise, Madam Speaker. I rise because I love my country. And, Madam Speaker, shall any man be beyond justice?
This is the question posed in 1787 by George Mason at the Constitutional Convention. Shall any man be beyond justice?
Madam Speaker, if this president is allowed to thwart the efforts of Congress with a legitimate impeachment inquiry, the president will not only be above the law. He will be beyond justice.
We cannot allow any person to be beyond justice in this country. In the name of democracy, on behalf of the republic, and for the sake of the many who are suffering, I will vote to impeach and I encourage my colleagues to do so as well. No one is beyond justice in this country.
I yield back the balance of my time.
SPEAKER: Gentleman from Georgia.
COLLINS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
And I'd also remind my chairman that the impeachment was not to be used in the -- between election cycles to defeat a sitting president who you think will be reelected.
With that, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Buchanan.
SPEAKER: Gentleman's recognized for one minute.
BUCHANAN: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I will vote today against both Articles of Impeachment because we are without merit and setting a dangerous precedent for our country.
This political vendetta is an abuse of the impeachment process and would subvert the votes of 63 million Americans. Just because the president's opponents are afraid that he'll win reelection is no excuse for weaponizing impeachment. No president in history has ever been impeached 10 months before an elections.
Elections are the heart of our democracy. Our founding father devised a simple way to remove a president if you disagree with him. It's called an election and we have one coming up in less a year. Let's let the people decide this next November.
[15:00:00]
