[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Special Counsel Legislation

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I watched the President on TV this 
morning, and like most Americans, so many Americans, I was aghast. The 
President seems to live in an alternative reality. He says things that 
are patently false, and he thinks that just by saying them, they become 
true. With the number of 180-degree turns--direct contradictions to 
what he has said before--the name-calling, and blaming, if you watched 
the President this morning and the way he acted, it was so unbecoming 
of a President, unbecoming of a democracy.
  We believe in truth. People may have different value systems, but to 
just make up things as he goes along and to, without blinking an eye, 
contradict things that he said that were exactly the opposite a few 
hours, a few days, a few weeks ago is not who any President of any 
party of any ideology should be.
  What the President said this morning was embarrassing to America, to 
democracy, and to any American who prizes truth.
  One of the things the President said this morning was that he has 
decided not to be involved in the Russia probe but may change his mind. 
That is why it is so good this morning that the Judiciary Committee is 
marking up bipartisan legislation that will protect Special Counsel 
Mueller from political interference.
  From the very beginning, Special Counsel Mueller's investigation has 
been about following the facts of how a foreign, hostile power 
interfered with our free and fair elections--the wellspring of our 
democracy. That investigation must be allowed to proceed safely from 
the President's heavy hand. The President can't make this go away by 
name-calling. He can't dispute facts. He can't dispute the fact that 
Russia's interfering in our election is very dangerous and must be 
investigated no matter where it leads.
  It is so abundantly clear from the President's remarks this morning 
and from so many other things he has said that he has little regard for 
the rule of law. He seems to have this view that the purpose of the 
Justice Department is to protect his interests and persecute his 
enemies. That is not a democracy. The purpose of the Justice Department 
is to defend the rule of law, and no man or woman is above the law. It 
is not, simply, to go after his friends. He is angry when the Justice 
Department does something he doesn't like even though it is following 
the law. Again, that is not the hallmark of our democracy.
  I am so proud of our Judiciary Committee and Chairman Grassley in 
their rising to the occasion--proposing and hopefully passing 
legislation that says we will protect the rule of law and that we will 
protect our democracy by not allowing the President to fire the special 
counsel at will because he simply doesn't like the results he comes up 
with.
  Again, the Judiciary Committee, this morning, makes us proud. It 
rises to the occasion to tell the President that he cannot tamper with 
the very wellsprings of our democracy and that he will pay a bipartisan 
price if he does.
  I particularly praise Chairman Grassley. We have worked together on 
many things, and we have had our differences on many things, but this 
morning he is rising to the occasion. History regards such moments very 
favorably. I hope we will get a large vote this morning.