[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 22, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRESS HAS A DUTY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Mr. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, Members of Congress have a solemn duty 
to work to keep our Nation safe, secure, and more prosperous than it 
was yesterday. We are expected to analyze sensitive information to gain 
a more in-depth understanding of the needs of the American people and 
the threats our country faces on a daily basis.
  That role is even more consequential for the members of the 
Intelligence Committee, who are entrusted with the privileged 
information that other Members cannot access. You would expect them to 
focus day and night on securing our Nation and promoting our national 
security priorities abroad, but that has not been the case in this 
Congress.
  Under the Democratic majority, the most basic responsibilities of the 
committee have been neglected. Instead, the House Intelligence 
Committee is using its time and resources to run a sham impeachment 
inquiry in secret.
  Members of this Chamber will be asked to take one of the gravest 
votes a Member could take before seeing a single transcript from a 
witness deposition. The information Members and the public hear is 
incomplete or intentionally distorted by selective leaks.
  Madam Speaker, at what cost does this impeachment effort come?
  As Democrats push forward with this sham partisan process, our Nation 
is losing its intelligence edge around the world, particularly against 
China. Not only are there significant intelligence gaps in order to 
accurately assess the Chinese threat, the Chinese are actually ahead of 
us when it comes to technological capabilities that are critical to 
national security.
  The Intelligence Committee's members are uniquely qualified to 
formulate our Nation's response, but they cannot address these 
challenges because of the committee's continued distraction over 
impeachment.
  The larger issue goes beyond what the Democrats are doing in one 
committee. It is what they have failed to do as a majority. Their trend 
of inaction strikes at home.
  They have failed to swiftly pass the United States-Mexico-Canada 
Agreement. In fact, they voted to prioritize impeachment over it 
earlier today.
  They have failed to address surprise medical billing.
  They have failed to secure our border or reform our crumbling 
infrastructure.
  They have failed to lower prescription drug prices in a bipartisan 
way.
  The House Democrats are failing to pass appropriations bills that 
would end the continuing resolution and fund the government. As a 
result, pay increases for our troops, disaster recovery funds, and NIH 
medical research funding are all at a stalemate.
  Each of these failures represent an enormous opportunity cost for the 
American people.
  Democrats have chosen impeachment over getting anything done, even 
though they previously warned of that exact problem.
  In August, Congresswoman Slotkin said: ``People in my district are 
wanting us to pass bills, and they fear that if we go down this path of 
impeachment, we're not going to be working on the things that affect 
their lives, their pocketbooks, and their kids.''
  In September, Congressman Max Rose said: ``Impeachment will not fix 
our roads and bridges or lower the cost of drugs. . . . The truth is 
impeachment will only tear our country further apart, and we will see 
no progress on the enormous challenges we face as a nation.''
  Democrats said their majority would be different. They promised the 
American public, if they entrusted them with the majority, they would 
act differently, that they would put people before politics.
  Madam Speaker, in the polls we see today, more people can tell you 
about the investigations but can't tell you anything that has been 
accomplished. They have broken their promise to solve problems, work 
for all Americans, and focus on passing legislation.
  Madam Speaker, there are 22 legislative days left on the calendar--
22. In that brief time, we have a lot of work to do, but we cannot 
fulfill our responsibilities if Members in this Chamber continue to 
turn their backs on the promise they made when their constituents sent 
them to Washington.
  Madam Speaker, how much money was spent? How many ads were made? And 
how many promises were given that this majority would be different, how 
many things they said they would accomplish?
  And how much time have they wasted? We are 13 months from an 
election, but we have not accomplished a thing.
  We are better than this.
  Madam Speaker, if you only listened to what Members on the other side 
of the aisle said just in August and September, before the political 
pressure forced them to change their mind.
  Madam Speaker, if the Speaker had only waited 48 hours, we would not 
put America through another nightmare. We would not break the fabric of 
democracy of this Nation.
  Madam Speaker, this is the people's House. We have got 22 more days. 
We ask that you keep the promise you made to the American public and 
you stop this sham of an impeachment you call.

                          ____________________