[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 162 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5776-S5777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IMPEACHMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Congress is returning to Washington 
for a work period that will be filled with important to-do items, but 
we already know what will top the agenda in the House of 
Representatives: House Democrats are finally indulging in their 3-year 
old impeachment obsession, full steam ahead.
  Many of us remember the Washington Post headline that was literally 
published on Inauguration Day in 2017. Here is what it said: ``The 
campaign to impeach President Trump has begun.'' And, sure enough, 
House Democrats have been at it ever since.
  One prominent House Democrat called this Presidency illegitimate 
before it had even begun. One of Speaker Pelosi's committee chairs whom 
she has tasked with leading this process promised years ago that she 
would find a way to impeach the President.
  Now that Speaker Pelosi has finally crumbled and allowed her leftwing 
impeachment caucus to dictate the House's actions, I don't think many 
of us were expecting to witness a clinic in terms of fairness or due 
process. But even by their own partisan standards, House Democrats have 
already found new ways to lower the bar. This is about the most 
consequential process the House of Representatives could possibly 
engage in: overruling American voters and nullifying an election.
  Surely, any such process must be conducted with the utmost fairness 
and transparency. It must be held to the most exact of standards. Yet 
House Democrats have wasted no time throwing fairness and precedent to 
the wind. Already, they have denied their Republican counterparts 
certain minority rights, like equal subpoena power, which Republicans 
provided Democrats in the Clinton impeachment.
  Already, they have made clear that President Trump's counsel will not 
be allowed to participate in hearings, present evidence, and cross-
examine witnesses--all-important rights that Republicans provided to 
President Clinton.
  Already, one House chairman has been caught publicly 
mischaracterizing his committee's handling of the whistleblower inquiry 
on which this whole investigation hinges.
  For all the public hyperventilating over institutional norms that we 
have heard from House Democrats in recent years, it appears they have 
no intention of letting norms, precedents, or basic due process stand 
in their way as they seek to cancel out a Presidency.
  In the meantime, in the Senate we will keep our focus squarely on the 
substantive work we need to complete for the American people. In the 
coming days, we will confirm another slate of President Trump's well-
qualified nominees. For starters, later this afternoon, we will advance 
the nomination of Barbara Barrett, the President's choice to be 
Secretary of the Air Force.
  Speaking of our Armed Forces, Congress can waste no more time in 
getting our appropriations process back on track and delivering a 
funding that our servicemembers need. Just 2 months ago, the President 
and the Speaker of the House produced an agreement to guide the 
appropriations process. The White House and congressional leaders set 
top-line funding targets for defense and nondefense and agreed to 
forego poison pills. Last month, unfortunately, our Democratic 
colleagues went back on the deal. Routine funding negotiations were 
again subject to poison pill threats, and urgent resources for the 
operations of the Pentagon were withheld for the sake of politics.
  We need to put these political games aside. Democrats need to stop 
filibustering a pay raise for our troops and

[[Page S5777]]

the funding our commanders need. We need to get our funding process 
back on track for the entire Federal Government.
  House Democrats need to stop slow-walking the USMCA, the landmark 
trade agreement that stands to create 176,000 new American jobs. Mexico 
is ready, Canada is ready, and a majority in the Senate is ready. The 
entire continent is just waiting on Speaker Pelosi to stop blocking 
this win for the United States and to stop blocking these new jobs. I 
don't care how much my Democratic colleagues in the House may dislike 
the President. They shouldn't throw 176,000 new American jobs on the 
scrap heap.
  On all these fronts, I hope sincerely that our Democratic colleagues 
will be able to separate this vital business from their animus toward 
the administration and join Republicans in moving forward with the work 
of the American people.

                          ____________________