[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 150 (Wednesday, September 18, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7757-H7758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PUT PRINCIPLES ABOVE POLITICS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise because I love my 
country. And I rise today because we are witnessing clear and 
convincing evidence of a Presidential coverup. We are witnessing this 
evidence live and in living color on national TV.
  Just yesterday, before the Judiciary Committee, two witnesses did not 
appear pursuant to the coverup, and the one who did appear brought with 
him the clear and convincing evidence. He brought with him a letter 
from the President of the United States, by and through his agents, 
that indicates that he should not give certain testimony--clear and 
convincing evidence of a coverup.
  The President of the United States is engaged in a continuation of 
obstruction that is creating the coverup. He obstructed. This is why we 
are having the Judiciary Committee hearings, in part.
  He continues his obstruction, which means he is covering up. We 
cannot allow this to continue.
  The President is making a bet. The President's bet is this: The 
President is betting that we will put politics above principle, that we 
will not use Article II, section 4 of the Constitution as the radical 
Republicans did in 1868 to impeach President Johnson for merely 
speaking ill of Congress.
  He is betting we won't use that. He is betting we won't put the 
principle above the politics. He believes that we will put winning the 
next election above the Constitution of the United States of America. 
He believes that we are going to put the politics above the moral 
imperative to do that which we know should be done when a President has 
committed impeachable acts.
  I believe that we will not be driven by the polls. We will not. Those 
who

[[Page H7758]]

crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge weren't driven by the polls. They were 
driven by a moral authority that they had to do that which was right, 
and we must do the right thing, too.
  We cannot be driven by polls. We must drive the polls. We must stand 
on principle. We will not allow the next election to determine what we 
will do now.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a risky thing to make this kind of decision. You 
don't know what the next election will bring. You have to use this 
power that the voters have given us, the constituents have given us, 
the people of this country have given us to do that which is right.
  We must impeach this President. If we don't impeac him, Article II, 
section 4 of the Constitution will become meaningless. There will be no 
guardrails. There are none now, as he sees it, because he has made a 
bet.

  Well, I am betting that this Congress will do the right thing. I am 
betting that we are going to put principle above politics and the 
people of this country above our political parties. I am betting we are 
not going to try to save a few people at an election at the expense of 
all the people who are suffering because of the coverup and because of 
the insidious discrimination this President is perpetrating upon this 
country and his policies.
  I am betting on the American people. I am betting that the American 
people will stand with us. I am also betting that principle above all 
is what we must stand with.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

                          ____________________