[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 165 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT FOR FOLLOWING A LAW THAT 
                             THEY VOTED FOR

  (Mr. BARR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, we know the Democrats' hyperpartisan closed-
door impeachment process lacks any semblance of fundamental fairness. 
We know from the transcript between President Trump and President 
Zelensky that there was no quid pro quo.
  But what many people don't know is this: In 2014, this House 
unanimously passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, which tasks the 
executive branch to use U.S. assistance to bolster democratic 
institutions of Ukraine and counter corruption and improve transparency 
and accountability of the Ukrainian Government. Every Democrat voted 
for this measure.
  In 2017, this House overwhelmingly passed the National Defense 
Authorization Act, which required the administration to certify as a 
condition of providing assistance that the Government of Ukraine has 
taken substantial actions to counter corruption and increase 
accountability. 145 Democrats voted for that.
  In 2019, the NDAA that passed this House required that certification 
requirement again, and 139 Democrats voted for that.
  So here is the bottom line: Given recent elections, President Trump 
not only had the authority to address the issue of corruption in the 
call with President Zelensky, he had a legal duty to speak and secure 
assurances from the new Ukrainian Government that those anticorruption 
measures would be carried forward. The Democrats are trying to impeach 
the President for following a law that they voted for.

                          ____________________