[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 22, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CLOAK-AND-DAGGER IMPEACHMENT

  (Mr. WESTERMAN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, this cloak-and-dagger impeachment 
process is unprecedented, uncalled for, and unfair to the American 
people.
  When I, a Member of Congress, am turned away from reading testimony 
from Chairman Schiff's closed-door hearings, how can I keep informed on 
a narrative that is constantly changing?
  How are we supposed to know all the facts when the Intelligence 
Committee is selectively leaking information to the press, creating a 
biased narrative while shrouding the truth in darkness?
  Will we ever get information before there is a vote on impeachment, 
or will the Speaker continue allowing secret hearings and inquiries to 
drag on?
  These are questions every American should be asking.
  Impeachment undoes an election and is the most serious tool Congress 
can use. We should treat it as such. Instead, we have seen Democrats 
calling for it since before President Trump was even inaugurated.
  One of my Democrat colleagues recently said: If President Trump isn't 
guilty, he needs to prove it.
  That is not how America works. It is the Speaker's responsibility to 
lay out the evidence in an open, transparent way so we can debate it 
and vote on it.

                          ____________________