[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5808-S5809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Administration

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the House of Representatives continues to 
investigate the circumstances of the President's interaction with 
Ukrainian President Zelensky and whether he used the power of his 
office to pressure

[[Page S5809]]

a foreign leader to intervene in an American election on his behalf. 
The facts that are already in the public domain are so deeply troubling 
and must be taken very seriously. I know that our colleagues in the 
House of Representatives did not run for office to begin an impeachment 
inquiry, but this task was thrust upon them by the President's alleged 
conduct and the demands of the Constitution of our Republic.
  Here in the Senate, our job is even more austere. We are assigned the 
power not only to examine the evidence but to render judgment. We all 
have a solemn duty to follow the facts impartially and let ourselves be 
governed by reason, rather than by passion or by politics. That role 
means that we have a responsibility to behave impartially, in a 
nonpartisan manner from the outset. As my friend Leader McConnell said 
during the 1998 impeachment debate, ``it's been my view that I don't, 
as a potential juror, if it's serious enough to warrant a potential 
impeachment proceeding, I don't think I ought to pre-judge the case.''
  Yet already a few of my Senate Republican colleagues seem determined 
to turn this serious inquiry into another partisan exercise. My friend 
the Republican leader, here on the floor yesterday, made the sadly 
predictable attack of calling the work of the majority in the House 
partisan. Another of my colleagues, Senator Graham, said he was trying 
to organize a letter of Senate Republicans promising they would not 
vote to convict the President before the House even completes its 
inquiry--before any articles of impeachment are even drafted, let alone 
voted on, before a scrap of evidence was considered in the Senate 
trial, if it comes to that. Senator Graham seems to be advocating 
``Alice in Wonderland'' justice--first the verdict, then the trial. I 
hope he will rethink that.
  Over the State work period, the Republican leader ran an 
advertisement in which he declared: ``The way that impeachment stops is 
a Senate majority with me as majority leader.'' That is a far cry from 
what he said in 1998: ``not prejudging the case.''
  We are several steps away from a potential trial in the Senate. The 
House continues to do its work diligently, even handedly, with only the 
facts in mind. So I remind my Republican colleagues in this Chamber 
that committing today to vote not guilty is contrary to their oath to 
do impartial justice. That is their oath. Instead of prejudging, I 
remind my Republican colleagues in this body that you have a 
responsibility to put country over party. Our national security, the 
rule of law, and our democracy are at stake.