[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 17, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4227-H4228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CALLING FOR IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart. 
I rise today with a sense of responsibility and duty to the people who 
have elected me, a sense of duty to this country, a sense of duty to 
the Constitution of the United States of America.
  I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to call for the impeachment of the 
President of the United States of America for obstruction of justice. I 
do not do this for political purposes, Mr. Speaker. I do

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this because I believe in the great ideals that this country stands 
for, liberty and justice for all, the notion that we should have 
government of the people, by the people, for the people.
  I do it because, Mr. Speaker, there is a belief in this country that 
no one is above the law, and that includes the President of the United 
States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, our democracy is at risk. Mr. Speaker, this offense has 
occurred before our very eyes. It is perspicuous. It is easy to 
understand.
  Mr. Speaker, we are talking about a President who fired the FBI 
Director who was investigating the President for his connections to 
Russian involvement in the President's election.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not about the President firing the FBI Director 
because he was investigating someone else. It is because the FBI 
Director was investigating the President himself. And after firing the 
Director, he went on to let us know that he considered the 
investigation when he fired him. And then he tweeted language that 
would be intimidation or a warning, an admonition, very strong, to say 
the very least.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow this to go unchecked. The President is 
not above the law. It is time for the American people to weigh in.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people are a part of this democracy. This 
is a participatory democracy. The American people don't participate on 
election day only. The American people participate daily, and this is 
your day to act. This is your day. I am speaking to the American 
people. It is time for you to act. It is time for you to let us know 
where you stand.
  I have seen a poll that indicates that a majority of those who are 
being polled are for impeachment. And I have seen another poll that 
says a plurality of those. Whether it is a majority or a plurality, let 
us let the American people weigh in. The American people should speak 
up, speak out, stand up so that we will get a sense of what the 
American people want.
  This is not something to be taken lightly, and I do not. I think this 
is one of the highest callings that a Member of Congress has to 
address. I believe that this is where your patriotism is shown, where 
you demonstrate to the American people where you really stand. So I 
take this stand. It is a position of conscience for me. I have not 
talked to another person in Congress about this. Each Member of 
Congress has to make his or her own decision, so this is not about my 
encouraging other people to do things, other than the American people.
  This is about my position. This is what I believe. This is where I 
stand. I will not be moved. The President must be impeached.
  For those who do not know, impeachment does not mean that the 
President will be found guilty. It simply means that the House of 
Representatives will bring charges against the President. It is similar 
to an indictment but not quite the same thing.
  Once a President is impeached, then the Senate can have a trial to 
determine the guilt or innocence of the President; whether he is guilty 
or not guilty, to be more specific. But the House of Representatives 
has a duty that it can take up, and that is of impeachment.
  I stand for impeachment of the President. How can you weigh in? Well, 
you can contact my good friends over at Free Speech For People. At that 
organization, they have a petition. The petition would allow you to 
weigh in and become a part of the nearly 1 million people who have 
already said the President ought to be impeached. You can weigh in at 
impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org. And believe me, if a plurality of the people 
are saying it now, and that is the poll that I really put my emphasis 
on, the one that says a plurality believes that the President should be 
impeached, more than 40 percent, I think that can grow. I assure you, 
once you weigh in, American people, there will be a difference in the 
attitudes about this.
  I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity because but 
for this opportunity, you might not hear my voice. I am a voice in the 
wilderness, but I assure you that history will vindicate me. I assure 
you that righteousness will prevail. I assure you that no lie can live 
forever, and truth crushed to Earth will rise again.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President, such as accusations 
that he committed an impeachable offense.

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