[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 11, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7928-H7930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of 
rule IX, I seek recognition to give notice of my intent to raise a 
question of the privileges of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:
  Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump, President of the 
United States of America, in the Congress of the United States of 
America.
  Resolution.
  Resolved, that Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of 
America, has undermined the integrity of his office with impunity and 
has brought disrepute on the Presidency with immunity, has betrayed his 
trust as President to the manifest injury of the American people and is 
unfit to be President, and is impeached pursuant to Article II, section 
IV of the Constitution of the United States of America, and that the 
following Articles of Impeachment be exhibited to the United States 
Senate:
  Articles of Impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in the name of itself and of all of the 
people of the

[[Page H7929]]

United States of America against Donald John Trump, President of the 
United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment 
against him for high crimes and misdemeanors of a nature which may, 
with peculiar propriety, be denominated as political, not requiring the 
commission of a crime, and exclusively the jurisdiction of the United 
States House of Representatives for impeachment purposes.
  Article I: That Donald John Trump, President of the United States of 
America, unmindful of his high duties of his office and the dignity and 
proprieties thereof, and the harmony, respect, and courtesies, which 
ought to exhibit and be maintained in American society, has under the 
inane pretext of dispensing with political correctness, produced a 
demonstrable record of inciting white supremacy, sexism, bigotry, 
hatred, xenophobia, race-baiting, and racism by demeaning, defaming, 
disrespecting, and disparaging women and certain minorities.
  In so doing, Donald John Trump, President of the United States of 
America, has fueled and is fueling an alt-right hate machine and its 
worldwide covert sympathizers engendering racial antipathy, LGBTQ 
enmity, religious anxiety, stealthy sexism, and dreadful xenophobia, 
perfidiously causing immediate injury t American society, to wit:

  On September 23, 2017, Donald John Trump incited race-baiting and 
racism, engendering stealthy sexism and racial antipathy, when he 
disrespected, disparaged, and demeaned mothers of professional football 
players by calling them dogs as he made the widely published statement:

       Won't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when 
     somebody disrespects our flag, say, Get that son-of-a-B-I-T-
     C-H off the field right now, out. He's fired. He's fired.

  On September 23, 2017, Donald John Trump incited race-baiting and 
racism, engendering racial antipathy, when he disrespected and 
disparaged professional football players, approximately 70 percent of 
whom are reportedly African American, by calling them sons of dogs as 
he made the widely published statement:

       Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when 
     somebody disrespects our flag, say, Get that son-of-a-B-I-T-
     C-H off the field right now, out. He's fired. He's fired.

  On September 30, 2017, Donald John Trump incited bigotry and race-
baiting, engendering racial antipathy, when he disrespected, 
disparaged, and demeaned Puerto Ricans, who are Americans, by implying 
Puerto Ricans want others to do for them what they won't do for 
themselves, as he made the widely published claim:

       They want everything to be done for them when it should be 
     a community effort.

  Further, on October 3, 2017, while in Puerto Rico, as was widely 
shown on American television, Donald John Trump incited bigotry, 
engendering racial antipathy, when he disparaged Puerto Ricans by 
stating:

       I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our 
     budget a little out of whack because we spent a lot of money 
     on Puerto Rico, and that's fine. But we've saved a lot of 
     lives.

  The President did not make similar widely published statements about 
Texas or Florida.

                              {time}  1230

  On January 27, 2017, Donald John Trump incited xenophobia and hate 
against Muslims in the United States of America, engendering religious 
anxiety, when he disrespected Islam by issuing Executive Order 13769, 
fulfilling a campaign promise to ban Muslims from entering the United 
States of America. This widely published campaign promise is dated 
December 7, 2015, and reads as follows:

       Donald J. Trump Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration, 
     New York, New York, December 7, 2015. Donald J. Trump is 
     calling for the total and complete shutdown of Muslims 
     entering the United States until our country's 
     representatives can figure out what is going on.

  On March 4, 2017, Donald John Trump incited race-baiting and racism, 
engendering racial antipathy, when he defamed, disrespected, and 
disparaged President Barack Obama by making the widely published 
statement, which has since been disclaimed:

       Terrible. Just found out that Obama had my ``wires tapped'' 
     in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This 
     is McCarthyism.

  On July 26, 2017, Donald John Trump incited bigotry, engendering 
LGBTQ enmity, when he disparaged and disrespected transgender Americans 
by indicating that the costs of their medical care outweighs the 
sacrifice they are willing to make for our country as he made the 
widely published statement:

       After consultation with my generals and military experts, 
     please be advised that the United States Government will not 
     accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any 
     capacity in the U.S. military. Our military must be focused 
     on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened 
     with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that 
     transgender in the military would entail.

  In so doing, the aforementioned Donald John Trump, unmindful of the 
high duties of his high office and the dignity and proprieties thereof, 
and of the harmony, respect, and courtesies which ought to exist and be 
maintained within American society, has undermined the integrity of his 
office, has brought disrepute on the Presidency, has betrayed his trust 
as President to the manifest injury of the people of the United States 
of America, and, as a result is unfit to be President.
  Therefore, Donald John Trump, by betraying his trust as President, 
warrants impeachment, trial, and removal from office and 
disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under 
the United States of America.
  Article II: That Donald John Trump, President of the United States of 
America, unmindful of the high duties of his high office and the 
dignity and proprieties thereof, and of the harmony and courtesies 
which ought to exist and be maintained within American society, did 
betray his trust as President and bring shame and dishonor to the 
office of the Presidency by associating the majesty and dignity of the 
Presidency with causes rooted in White supremacy, bigotry, racism, 
anti-Semitism, White nationalism, and neo-Nazism when he, to wit:
  On August 15, 2017, Donald John Trump made a widely published 
statement characterizing a group of anti-Semites, bigots, racists, 
White nationalists, and Klu Klux Klansmen who rallied in 
Charlottesville, Virginia, as ``very fine people.''
  Thereafter, on August 23, 2017, the United Nations Committee on the 
Elimination of Racial Discrimination released a 2-page decision in 
which it was stated that they were ``disturbed by the failure at the 
highest political level of the United States of America to 
unequivocally reject and condemn the racist violent events and 
demonstrations led by the aforementioned groups, thereby potentially 
fueling the proliferation of racist discourse and incidents throughout 
the State party, and deeply concerned by the example this failure could 
set for the rest of the world.''
  On October 7, 2017, hate groups were again back in Charlottesville, 
Virginia, at the statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, 
chanting, ``You will not replace us.'' Since this event on October 7, 
the President has made many widely published statements about many 
things including, but not limited to, the National Football League, but 
has not made one widely published statement condemning the hate groups 
for returning to the place where an innocent person lost her life at 
the hands of hate.
  In so doing, the aforementioned Donald John Trump, unmindful of the 
high duties of his high office and the integrity and proprieties 
thereof, and of the harmony, respect, and courtesies which ought to 
exist and be maintained within American society, has undermined the 
integrity of his office, has brought disrepute on the Presidency, and 
has betrayed his trust as President to the manifest injury of the 
people of the United States of America, and is unfit to be President.
  Therefore, Donald John Trump, by betraying his trust as President, 
warrants impeachment, trial, and removal from office and the 
disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under 
the United States of America.
  Article III: Donald John Trump, President of the United States of 
America, unmindful of his high duties of his high office and the 
dignity and proprieties thereof, and of the harmony and courtesies 
which ought to exist and be maintained in American society, did engage 
in perfidy by making the widely reported claim that 3 to 5

[[Page H7930]]

million people voted illegally in the 2016 Presidential election and, 
further, expending tax dollars to establish a commission to investigate 
his claim, to wit:
  On November 27, 2016, Donald John Trump made the widely reported 
claim that:

       In addition to winning the electoral college in a 
     landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions 
     of people who voted illegally . . . in Virginia, New 
     Hampshire, and California. So why isn't the media reporting 
     on this? Serious bias. Big problem.

  On January 25, 2017, Donald John Trump made the widely reported claim 
that:

       I will be asking for a major investigation into voter 
     fraud, including those registered to vote in two States, and 
     who are illegal and. . . .

  On July 1, 2017, Donald John Trump made the widely reported claim 
that:

       Numerous States were refusing to give information to the 
     very distinguished voter fraud panel. What are they trying to 
     hide?

  On June 28, 2017, according to highly reported news stories, the 
commission previously referenced by Donald John Trump requested 
detailed voter registration data from all 50 States, including names, 
addresses, and other sensitive data from every voter in the country. 
Several States refused to send the information, and some States have 
been prevented by courts from turning over the information.
  In so doing, the aforementioned Donald John Trump, unmindful of the 
high duties of his high office and the dignity and proprieties thereof, 
has undermined the integrity of his office and has brought disrepute on 
the Presidency and has betrayed his trust as President to the manifest 
injury of the people of the United States of America, and is unfit to 
be President.
  Therefore, Donald John Trump, by betraying his trust as President, 
warrants impeachment, trial, and removal from office and 
disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under 
the United States of America.
  Article IV: Donald John Trump, President of the United States of 
America, unmindful of the high duties of his high office and of the 
dignity and proprieties thereof, and of the harmony and courtesies 
which ought to exist and be maintained in American society, while aware 
of the widely reported history of unlawful abuses and brutality 
perpetrated by many, not all, police officers against innocent persons 
in the United States of America, did betray his trust as President, 
bringing shame and dishonor to the office of the Presidency by 
encouraging law enforcement officials to violate the constitutional 
rights of suspects in their custody and control, to wit:
  On July 28, 2017, Donald John Trump, in a speech in front of the 
Suffolk County Police Department in Long Island, New York, stated that:

       And when you see these towns and when you see these thugs 
     being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see 
     them thrown in--rough. I said, ``Please don't be too nice.'' 
     Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you're 
     protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand 
     over? Like, don't hit their head, and they've just killed 
     somebody--don't hit their head. I said, ``You can take the 
     hand away, okay?''

  This statement is injurious not only to the rule of law, which 
presumes innocence until guilt is proven in a court of law, but also to 
the administration of justice, which requires that care is given to 
persons held in the custody of law enforcement. Our Nation is founded 
upon a social contract where the constitutional rights of the 
individual are not surrendered because he or she is accused of a crime. 
To speak to the contrary is a violation of the Presidential oath of 
office to which Donald John Trump is bound.
  In so doing, the aforementioned Donald John Trump, unmindful of the 
high duties of his high office and the dignity and the proprieties 
thereof, and of his oath of office, to ``faithfully execute the Office 
of President of the United States of America, and will to the best of 
my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States,'' has undermined the integrity of his office, has 
brought disrepute on the Presidency, has betrayed his trust as 
President to the manifest injury of the people of the United States of 
America, and is unfit to be President.
  Therefore, Donald John Trump, by betraying his trust as President, 
warrants impeachment, trial, and removal from office and 
disqualification to hold any office of high honor, trust, or profit 
under the United States of America.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Franks of Arizona). Under rule IX, a 
resolution offered from the floor by a Member other than the majority 
leader or the minority leader as a question of the privileges of the 
House has immediate precedence only at a time designated by the Chair 
within 2 legislative days after the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Texas will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

                          ____________________