[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 7 (Monday, January 13, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S155-S156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Impeachment

  Ms. HARRIS. Madam President, just across the street from where I 
stand today is the U.S. Supreme Court. That building has four words 
etched in marble above its entrance: ``Equal Justice Under Law.''
  The promise of those four words is that in our country, our system of 
justice must treat everyone equally regardless of their race, gender, 
sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or 
socioeconomic status, but too many people in our country grow up 
knowing and experiencing that in America we have two systems of 
justice--one in which certain people are held accountable and another 
in which powerful people like Donald Trump escape accountability 
altogether.
  This has been true from the first days of our Nation's history, when 
a group of men gathered in Philadelphia to debate lofty notions of 
justice and equality, yet produced a document that literally counted 
Black Americans as fractions of a person.
  In the Declaration of Independence, we were told that ``all men are 
created equal,'' but we know that in our Nation's founding at that 
time, the policy of our Nation was to rob indigenous people of their 
land and their livelihood and to exclude women from the right to vote.
  So to make true the promise of America and move us toward a more 
perfect Union, people have organized and fought and marched for 
justice. From the suffragettes to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., those 
fights have won us progress toward a more just and inclusive nation, 
but, clearly, there is still more work to be done to achieve equal 
justice under law.
  When the determination of whether you sit in jail before trial is too 
often based on the size of your bank account

[[Page S156]]

rather than the size of your crime, we have not yet achieved equal 
justice under law. There is more work to be done when young people 
selling drugs on the corner too often become felons for life, while 
white-collar criminals face no accountability.
  There is more work to be done when regarding the sexual assault of 
women, the current President has said:

       When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do 
     anything.

  There is work to be done when the American people know that the rules 
aren't equally enforced against powerful people. Unless we acknowledge 
these truths, too many Americans will remain distrustful of our 
institutions and cynical about our government and our leaders.
  This is the point, my colleagues: We now face a choice. Will we 
insist that we have one system of justice that applies equally to all 
or will we continue to have two systems of justice in which some are 
above the law?
  Later this week, the Senate will likely begin the impeachment trial 
of President Donald Trump. This moment in our history will have 
consequences. The Senate is charged with deciding whether the President 
of the United States, with all his power and supposed wealth, will be 
held accountable for his actions and whether we will finally live up to 
the principle of ``Equal Justice Under Law.''
  This is why I speak to you today, fully aware that I stand on the 
shoulders of those who come before me in our Nation's ongoing fight for 
equality. I speak because I was raised by people who spent most of 
their lives demanding justice in the face of racism, misogyny, bigotry, 
and inequality. I speak because I have dedicated my entire career to 
upholding the rule of law and bringing integrity to our system of 
justice. I speak to ensure that everyone in California and throughout 
our country can enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed to them by the 
U.S. Constitution.
  As a U.S. Senator, I speak fully prepared to uphold my solemn oath to 
support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to do 
impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, and to affirm 
that my first obligation is to serve the people of the United States--
all the people.
  I hope my colleagues can agree that our Nation's Founders had the 
foresight to create a system of checks and balances and anticipate the 
need to remove a President who might yield to foreign influence or use 
the Presidency for personal power and benefit.
  Our Founders feared that a day like this might come, and so they 
empowered the U.S. Congress with the tool of impeachment to hold a 
lawless President accountable.
  This week, after months of investigation, sworn testimony, public 
hearings and debate, the House of Representatives will likely send to 
the U.S. Senate two Articles of Impeachment. These articles charge 
President Trump with abusing his power for his personal and political 
gain and with obstructing Congress's effort to investigate his 
misconduct.
  In this trial, the U.S. Senate must not only consider the charges 
against the President but also conduct itself in a way that 
demonstrates to the American people that in our system of justice no 
one is above the law. Each Senator here must exhibit the kind of moral 
and ethical leadership that this President abandoned when he pressured 
a foreign nation to interfere in our elections.
  There is no question that President Trump's misconduct has left a 
vacuum of leadership in our country, and the American people are 
therefore rightly looking to the U.S. Senate to demonstrate that their 
leaders are worthy of the public's trust.
  The American people should expect their Senators to seek the truth, 
not cover up the facts. So let's honor our oath to defend the 
Constitution by doing the job the American people have entrusted to us.
  Let us ensure that this trial is a search for truth and that we 
follow the facts where they lead and come to a verdict based on all of 
the available evidence.
  Let us do our jobs and insist that we hear from Mick Mulvaney, John 
Bolton, and anyone with a firsthand knowledge of the President's 
misconduct. Let us demand that the White House turn over additional 
emails and documents that shed light on the President's motives for 
withholding military aid from Ukraine. And let us be clear that an 
order from this President to block evidence or witness testimony will 
itself be further evidence of his efforts to obstruct the U.S. 
Congress.
  The importance of this moment in our history cannot be overstated. 
What we do in this trial will show the world who we are as a country. 
Our actions will also send a message to further Presidents and future 
Presidents of the United States about the kind of conduct that is 
acceptable from the leader of our Nation.
  As the U.S. Senate, we must say that it is unacceptable for a 
President to shake down a vulnerable foreign nation for personal or 
political benefit. We must say with one voice that no President can 
disregard the legitimate oversight authority of the U.S. Congress, and 
we must say, as leaders of the United States of America, that in our 
system of justice, everyone--everyone--will be held accountable for 
their actions, including the President of the United States.
  My final point is that, years from now, people are going to judge. 
They are going to judge whether we rose to the solemn occasion that is 
the impeachment trial of the President of the United States, and we 
cannot be passive in this moment. I am mindful of Coretta Scott King's 
words:

       Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it with 
     each generation.

  It is incumbent on this generation to fight for a system of justice 
in which all are treated equally.
  In that ongoing fight, we, as the U.S. Senate, must agree that we 
cannot speak about the ideals of equality and justice and then act in 
ways that violate those very principles. It is our duty, both as 
Senators and as proud Americans, to protect the Constitution, to earn 
the people's trust, and to prove to the American people that it is 
still within the power of the U.S. Congress to hold the President 
accountable. History is watching. Our actions here will shape this 
body's legacy.
  I urge my colleagues to have the courage, the foresight, and the 
patriotism to act in the interest of our Nation and its people. I urge 
my colleagues to fight for one system of justice in the United States 
of America and to ensure that no one is above the law. I urge my 
colleagues to reaffirm the most basic of American principles--that ours 
is not the government of one man but a government of the people, by the 
people, and for the people.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.