[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 162 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5777-S5778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, over the past month, evidence has 
emerged that the President of the United States pressured a foreign 
leader to investigate one of his leading political rivals. A 
whistleblower inside the intelligence community first raised alarms 
that the President applied pressure on Ukrainian President Zelensky 
that would benefit President Trump politically. The President himself 
then released a memorandum of his conversation with President Zelensky, 
which demonstrably validated the whistleblower's concerns.
  In the weeks that followed, the House has received testimony from a 
number of State Department officials who have filled in additional 
pieces to this very troubling puzzle. Rudy Giuliani's efforts to dig up 
dirt on the President's political rivals were well known within the 
State Department and the National Security Council. The Ambassador to 
the EU, Gordon Sondland, was heavily involved with Mr. Giuliani, and we 
continue to receive additional information about Mr. Sondland's 
participation. His scheduled testimony in the coming days will 
undoubtedly be relevant and important.
  Amidst all of this, the White House has engaged in stonewalling and 
outright defiance of congressional prerogatives. The State Department 
instructed its officials not to comply with congressional subpoenas, 
the White House has refused to cooperate with the House impeachment 
inquiry, and the President has publicly and repeatedly sought to bully 
and intimidate the whistleblower.
  As additional facts are unearthed, we have a responsibility to 
consider them with the best interest of our country in mind. The 
whistleblower was doing a courageous and patriotic act and must be 
protected. He must be protected. The Constitution made Congress a 
coequal branch of government. That role must be respected. The matter 
at the heart of the inquiry concerns the very integrity of our 
democratic elections, and it must be investigated thoroughly, 
completely, and in a nonpartisan manner.

[[Page S5778]]

  Our Founding Fathers feared foreign interference in our elections and 
considered it one of the greatest threats facing our fledgling 
Republic. Once again, the wisdom of the Founding Fathers shines 
through. If a foreign country can meddle in or affect the outcome of 
our elections, Americans will quickly lose faith in our democracy. If 
Russia or China or Iran controls our elections, what the heck do we 
vote for? So the alleged offense by the President is clearly serious 
enough to warrant an investigation by Congress, and that is exactly 
what the House of Representatives is doing in its impeachment inquiry, 
and it must continue unimpeded.
  We can do two things, and we must do them. We can protect the 
Constitution and take action to help average working families at the 
same time. Here in the Senate, we can do both: protect the Constitution 
and help average working families. It is not either-or. It is not one 
or the other.

                          ____________________