[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT 
     RECEIVED ON AUGUST 12, 2019, BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE 
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE TRANSMITTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE SELECT 
   COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE SENATE AND THE PERMANENT SELECT 
       COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in August a public servant inside the 
intelligence community found the conduct of the President of the United 
States alarming enough to file an official whistleblower complaint. The 
inspector general of the intelligence community found this 
whistleblower complaint both credible and urgent. By law, the Director 
of National Intelligence must forward such a complaint to the 
congressional intelligence committees within 7 days of receiving it. 
Congress has been informed by the inspector general of the intelligence 
community in writing that the Trump administration is preventing that 
complaint from being sent to the relevant committees in Congress.
  Those are the facts. The situation they describe is unacceptable. We 
know that the executive branch is blocking the legislative branch--a 
coequal branch of our government--from performing its constitutional 
oversight duties. The fact that the whistleblower complaint concerns 
our national security, our foreign policy, and potential misconduct by 
the President makes the situation even more serious.
  In a short time, I will ask my colleagues' consent to pass a simple 
resolution. It essentially says ``that the whistleblower complaint 
received on August 12, 2019, by the Inspector General of the 
Intelligence Community shall be transmitted immediately to the Select 
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.''
  I cannot imagine any legitimate or straight-faced reason for an 
objection to this unanimous consent request. The only reason for any 
Senator to object would be to shield the President's conduct from 
scrutiny by the public and the representatives they elect to represent 
them; that is, to protect the President from accountability.
  In a moment, I hope this resolution will pass without a single 
dissenting Senator, and it should.
  The request, despite its noncontroversial nature, speaks to the 
issues that go back to the founding days of our Republic: checks and 
balances, the separation of powers, and the constitutional duty of the 
President and the executive branch to faithfully execute the laws of 
the United States. The Senate, today--right now--should speak with one 
unified voice to reaffirm those time-honored principles and defend the 
grand traditions of our democracy.
  Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 325, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 325) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate that the whistleblower complaint received on August 
     12, 2019, by the Inspector General of the Intelligence 
     Community should be transmitted immediately to the Select 
     Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
     Representatives.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, reserving the right to object, all of 
us share the concern for protecting whistleblowers who use appropriate, 
established channels to raise legitimate concerns. The Senate's 
obligation is to treat such allegations in a responsible and deliberate 
manner, to avoid racing to judgment based on media leaks, and to not 
fuel media speculation with reckless accusations.
  There is much we do not know about the complaint lodged with the 
intelligence community's inspector general, including whether the 
complaint involves intelligence activities at all.
  Before the Democratic leader elected to go to the media yesterday, 
the chairman and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on 
Intelligence had already been working together in a bipartisan manner--
free from politicization--to get more information from both the Acting 
Director of National Intelligence and the intelligence community's 
inspector general. Given the progress the committee was making, I don't 
believe this made-for-TV moment was actually necessary. I would have 
preferred the committee be allowed to do its work in a quiet and 
methodical manner. It doesn't serve the committee or its goals to 
litigate its business here on the floor or for the television cameras.
  Nevertheless, I agree that the DNI should make additional information 
available to the committee so it can evaluate the complaint consistent 
with the statute and other procedures that exist to safeguard 
classified and sensitive information.
  I also want to express my appreciation for President Trump's 
announcement that the White House will release tomorrow the ``complete, 
fully-declassified, and unredacted transcript of [his] phone 
conversation with President Zelensky.'' I hope this will help to 
refocus the conversation away from reckless speculation and back toward 
the facts.
  So, stipulating that our objective here is simply to conduct the kind 
of bipartisan oversight of intelligence matters that the committee has 
successfully conducted in the past, I have no objection to the 
Senator's request.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, three brief points. First, this 
resolution is not aimed at the Senate Intelligence Committees. Senators 
Burr and Warner do a diligent job in trying to figure out what is going 
on. It is aimed at a thus far recalcitrant executive branch which has 
blocked the ability for the committees to see the complaint even though 
law requires it.
  Second, it is welcomed that we can join together to do our job of 
oversight. I want to thank the majority leader for not blocking this 
request, because I think every one of us in this Chamber realizes the 
importance of oversight and the need to prevent an overreaching 
executive from going that far. Getting the transcript is a good step, 
but it is the complaint we need.
  That is the gravamen of this resolution. It is the whistleblower's 
complaint, not the transcript, that we need and are asking for in this 
resolution.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be 
agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon 
the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 325) was agreed to.
  (The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted 
Resolutions.'')

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