[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 176 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H8278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       LIMIT PRESIDENTIAL PARDON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a constitutional 
amendment I have introduced today to prevent the President of the 
United States, or any future President of the United States, from 
pardoning himself or herself, members of their family, members of their 
administration, or members of their Presidential campaign.
  Monday's indictment of President Trump's campaign chairman, Paul 
Manafort, and guilty plea of another campaign staff member demonstrate 
how important it is for Congress to act.
  The pardon power is supposed to be a safety valve against injustice, 
a vestige from when we were part of Britain and the King had this 
power. We are no longer part of Britain, and that power should not be 
as complete as it is. It is not supposed to be a way for Presidents to 
put themselves, their families, and members of their administration and 
their campaign team above the law, to obstruct justice if there is an 
investigation of wrongdoing.
  Unless we change the Constitution, this is how it can be used and may 
be used. We should stop this conflict of interest from ever arising.
  There are already serious questions swirling around the current 
President, his family, and members of his administration and his 
campaign staff, including possible collusion with Russia during the 
2016 Presidential election currently being investigated by special 
counsel Robert Mueller. To ensure that everyone is treated equally 
under the law, we need to amend the Constitution to narrow the scope of 
the pardon power.
  For some who may say this is only because of the current President, I 
would say: I objected to the pardon of the brother of a President in 
the past; in 1977, I proposed changing the pardon power in Tennessee 
through a constitutional convention item that would have said four 
Supreme Court Justices could disapprove of a gubernatorial pardon; and 
I also proposed in 2007, in this Congress, a change in the pardon power 
with the Supreme Court of our United States where a vote of six members 
could veto a pardon.
  The pardon power is a vestige of a day gone by. It is not something 
that we should have complete and total ability of the President to use 
to pardon whomever and whatever he pleases and to obstruct justice.
  I ask my fellow Members to join me in this amendment to protect 
America, to see that our Constitution is current and reflects our 
values, and to not be complicit in any activities that this President 
may use with the pardon power to free up wrongdoers.

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