[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H133-H143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CALLING ON VICE PRESIDENT PENCE TO CONVENE AND MOBILIZE THE CABINET TO 
ACTIVATE SECTION 4 OF THE 25TH AMENDMENT TO DECLARE PRESIDENT DONALD J. 
         TRUMP INCAPABLE OF EXECUTING THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 38, I call up 
the resolution (H. Res. 21) calling on Vice President Michael R. Pence 
to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive 
departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment 
to declare President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties 
of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President, 
and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Butterfield). Pursuant to House 
Resolution 38, the amendment to the preamble, printed in House Report 
117-1, is adopted, and the resolution, as amended, is considered read.
  The text of the resolution, as amended, is as follows:

                               H. Res. 21

       Whereas on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, the day prescribed 
     under section 15 of title 3, United States Code, for the 
     counting of electoral votes, Congress experienced a massive 
     violent invasion of the United States Capitol and its complex 
     by a dangerous insurrectionary mob which smashed windows and 
     used violent physical force and weapons to overpower and 
     outmaneuver the United States Capitol Police and facilitated 
     the illegal entry into the Capitol of hundreds, if not 
     thousands, of unauthorized persons (all of whom entered the 
     Capitol complex without going through metal detectors and 
     other security screening devices);
       Whereas, the insurrectionary mob threatened the safety and 
     lives of the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and 
     the President pro tempore of the Senate, the first three 
     individuals in the line of succession to the presidency, as 
     the rioters were recorded chanting ``Hang Mike Pence'' and 
     ``Where's Nancy'' when President Donald J. Trump tweeted to 
     his supporters that ``Mike Pence didn't have the courage to 
     do what should have been done to protect our country'' after 
     the Capitol had been overrun and the Vice President was in 
     hiding;
       Whereas the insurrectionary mob attacked law enforcement 
     officers, unleashed chaos and terror among Members and 
     staffers and their families, occupied the Senate Chamber and 
     Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office along with other leadership 
     offices, vandalized and pilfered government property, and 
     succeeded in interfering with the counting of electoral votes 
     in the joint session of Congress;
       Whereas the insurrectionary mob's violent attacks on law 
     enforcement and invasion of the Capitol complex caused the 
     unprecedented disruption of the Electoral College count 
     process for a 4-hour period in both the House and the Senate, 
     a dangerous and destabilizing impairment of the peaceful 
     transfer of power that these insurrectionary riots were 
     explicitly designed to cause;
       Whereas 5 Americans have died as a result of injuries or 
     traumas suffered during this violent attack on Congress and 
     the Capitol, including Capitol Police Officer Brian D. 
     Sicknick and Ashli Babbitt, Rosanne Boyland, Kevin Greeson, 
     and Benjamin Phillips, and more than 50 police officers were 
     seriously injured, including 15 officers who had to be 
     hospitalized, by violent assaults, and there could easily 
     have been dozens or hundreds more wounded and killed, a 
     sentiment captured by Senator Lindsey Graham, who observed 
     that ``the mob could have blown the building up. They could 
     have killed us all'';
       Whereas these insurrectionary protests were widely 
     advertised and broadly encouraged by President Donald J. 
     Trump, who repeatedly urged his millions of followers on 
     Twitter and other social media outlets to come to Washington 
     on January 6 to ``Stop the Steal'' of the 2020 Presidential 
     election and promised his activist followers that the protest 
     on the Electoral College counting day would be ``wild'';
       Whereas President-elect Joseph R. Biden won the 2020 
     Presidential election with more than 81 million votes and 
     defeated President Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College, a 
     margin pronounced to be a ``landslide'' by President Trump 
     when he won by the same Electoral College numbers in 2016, 
     but President Trump never accepted these election results as 
     legitimate and waged a protracted campaign of propaganda and 
     coercive pressure in the Federal and State courts, in the 
     state legislatures, with Secretaries of State, and in 
     Congress to nullify and overturn these results and replace 
     them with fraudulent and fabricated numbers;
       Whereas President Trump made at least 3 attempts to 
     intervene in the lawful vote counting and certification 
     process in Georgia and to coerce officials there into 
     fraudulently declaring him the winner of the State's 
     electoral votes, including calls to Georgia Governor Brian 
     Kemp and a State elections investigator, and an hour-long 
     conversation with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 
     badgering him to ``find 11,780 votes'' and warning of a ``big 
     risk'' to Raffensperger if he did not intervene favorably to 
     guarantee the reelection of President Trump;
       Whereas President Trump appeared with members of his staff 
     and family at a celebratory kickoff rally to encourage and 
     charge up the rioters and insurrectionists to ``walk down to 
     the Capitol'' and ``if you don't fight like hell, you're not 
     going to have a

[[Page H134]]

     country anymore'' on Wednesday, January 6, 2021;
       Whereas while violent insurrectionists occupied parts of 
     the Capitol, President Trump ignored or rejected repeated 
     real-time entreaties from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate 
     Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to appeal to his followers to 
     exit the Capitol, and also ignored a tweet from Alyssa Farah, 
     his former communications director, saying: ``Condemn this 
     now, @realDonaldTrump--you are the only one they will listen 
     to. For our country!'';
       Whereas photographs, cell phone videos, social media posts, 
     and on-the-ground reporting show that numerous violent 
     insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol were armed, were 
     carrying police grade flex cuffs to detain and handcuff 
     people, used mace, pepper spray, and bear spray against 
     United States Capitol Police officers, erected a gallows on 
     Capitol grounds to hang ``traitors,'' vehemently chanted 
     ``Hang Mike Pence!'' while surrounding and roving the 
     Capitol, emphasized that storming the Capitol was ``a 
     revolution,'' brandished the Confederate battle flag inside 
     the Capitol, and were found to be in possession of Napalm B, 
     while still unidentified culprits planted multiple pipe bombs 
     at buildings near the Capitol complex, another lethally 
     dangerous criminal action that succeeded in diverting law 
     enforcement from the Capitol; and
       Whereas Donald Trump has demonstrated repeatedly, 
     continuously, and spectacularly his absolute inability to 
     discharge the most basic and fundamental powers and duties of 
     his office, including most recently the duty to respect the 
     legitimate results of the Presidential election, the duty to 
     respect the peaceful transfer of democratic power under the 
     Constitution, the duty to participate in legally defined 
     transition activities, the duty to protect and uphold the 
     Constitution of the United States, including the counting of 
     Electoral College votes by Congress, the duty to protect the 
     people of the United States and their elected representatives 
     against domestic insurrection, mob rule, and seditious 
     violence, and generally the duty to take care that the laws 
     be faithfully executed: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls upon Vice 
     President Michael R. Pence--
       (1) to immediately use his powers under section 4 of the 
     25th Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers 
     of the executive departments in the Cabinet to declare what 
     is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is 
     unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his 
     office; and
       (2) to transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate 
     and the Speaker of the House of Representatives notice that 
     he will be immediately assuming the powers and duties of the 
     office as Acting President.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution, as amended, shall be 
debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their 
respective designees.
  The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) and the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Jordan) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and insert extraneous material on H. Res. 21.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes to begin.
  Mr. Speaker, we have experienced the trauma of a violent attack on 
this House of Representatives, on this Chamber, and on all of the 
people who work here.
  An armed, lawless, and enraged mob smashed windows, beat up and 
crushed Capitol Hill Police officers who cried out in agony; overcame 
and subdued law enforcement; killed or caused the deaths of at least 
five American citizens, including a heroic Capitol Hill Police officer, 
Brian Sicknick, and four other Americans; inflicted serious injuries on 
dozens of our police officers and other people, including 15 officers 
who had to be hospitalized.
  Chanting ``stop the steal'' and ``hang Mike Pence,'' they threatened 
the lives and safety of the three individuals in the line of succession 
to the President of the United States. They built a gallows right 
outside the Capitol.
  They screamed, ``Where is Nancy?'' They stormed the Speaker's office, 
and they occupied it. They stole government property. They trashed the 
place.
  They terrorized officers, staff, and Members. They brandished the 
Confederate battle flag in the Capitol of the United States, something 
that didn't even happen during the Civil War.
  They allowed hundreds or thousands of people to enter the Capitol 
without metal detectors or any kind of security screening at all, not 
only to desecrate the temple of democracy and to spit in the face of 
Congress but actually to interfere with the counting of electoral 
college votes in the 2020 Presidential election.
  They may have been looking for Vice President Pence and Speaker 
Pelosi, but every person in this room could have died. As a shaken 
Senator Lindsey Graham said, ``The mob could have blown the building 
up. They could have killed us all.''
  Mr. Speaker, whether or not you believe the President's course of 
conduct in encouraging, building, summoning, assembling, and inflaming 
the mob--lighting the flame, as Congresswoman Liz Cheney put it in a 
very powerful and cogent statement this evening--whether you believe 
that that was a high crime and misdemeanor, an offense against the 
Republic, that is a question for another time. And to put my cards on 
the table, I think it was a crime against the Republic.
  But leaving that aside, I think every Member in this body should be 
able to agree that this President is not meeting the most minimal 
duties of office. He is not meeting the oath that he swore, to uphold 
and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. 
He is not protecting and defending the democracy itself, the process of 
electing the President. He is not respecting the peaceful transfer of 
power. He is not taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. He 
is not protecting the Republic against mob insurrection, invasion, and 
hostility. He is not protecting the republican form of government for 
the people of the United States when he allowed this to happen.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution is simply asking Vice President Pence to 
exercise his powers under the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, 
section 4, to convene the Cabinet and to mobilize the Cabinet to state 
and articulate what is obvious to the American people--this President 
is not meeting the duties of office and is clearly not capable of it--
and to transfer the powers to the Vice President under the 25th 
Amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
the great State of California (Mr. McClintock).
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, what a sad and ominous way to begin the 
117th Congress. Hasn't this body done enough in the last session to 
divide our country and abuse our Constitution without carrying that 
damage into the new session?
  The 25th Amendment specifically addresses the incapacity of the 
President to discharge the duties of his office. It was never intended 
as a political weapon when Congress doesn't like the way he discharges 
those duties.
  Now, I have read that speech. He never suggested rampaging the 
Capitol and disrupting the Congress. He urged them to--and this is an 
exact quote--``peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.''
  Now, many of us Republicans joined a bipartisan vote to respect the 
electoral college votes despite our suspicions, our misgivings, and our 
desires. We did this because the Constitution commanded it and our 
institutions depend on it. Now, today, those same principles should 
compel a bipartisan vote to oppose this grotesque abuse of the 25th 
Amendment.
  Last week, the majority argued that the President tried to misuse the 
Constitution to overturn the votes of the electoral college. Well, he 
asserted no direct power. Rather, he urged the Vice President and 
Congress to do so. Many of us declined his bad advice.
  Yet, this week, the majority directly is asserting power to misuse 
the 25th Amendment in a manner that does overturn the votes of the 
previous electoral college. Don't they see that they are committing 
directly the same offense they accuse the President of committing 
indirectly?

  Every act we take builds a precedent for future acts. Once Congress 
asserts

[[Page H135]]

this new role as armchair psychiatrists and a new power to equate 
intemperate speech with functional disability, the most important 
pillars of our government--stability, the rule of law, and the 
separation of powers--will fracture.
  It won't affect this President, but it will stalk future Presidents 
from this day forward. For their sake, please don't do this.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and 
applaud him and salute him as a constitutional scholar, an intellectual 
resource, and the force of justice that he has been as he has crafted 
and advanced this resolution.
  I thank the entire House Democratic Caucus for their love of country, 
determination to protect our democracy, and the loyalty to our oath 
that had been so beautifully manifested in this dark past week.
  Mr. Speaker, a dark week it has been indeed. On Wednesday, the 
President of the United States incited a deadly insurrection against 
America that targeted the very heart of our democracy, this temple of 
democracy, the United States Capitol, defiling the genius of the 
Constitution--separate but equal--attacking the first branch of 
government, trying to prevent us from carrying out our constitutional 
duty to ascertain that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be President 
and Vice President of the United States.
  The gleeful desecration of the Capitol and the violence against 
Congress, our staff, and our workers are horrors that will forever 
stain our Nation's history. Five Americans have died following the 
violent attack. More than 50 police officers were seriously injured, 
including 15 officers who were hospitalized.
  On behalf of the House, I salute and express deepest gratitude to the 
U.S. Capitol Police for the valor that they showed in protecting the 
lives of Members, especially protecting our staff and those who make 
Congress function.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a sad day for our country, that we have to come 
to the floor in a way to defend the Constitution of the United States 
at this time.
  The facts are very clear: The President called for this seditious 
attack. For days, he urged supporters to come to Washington for the 
insurrection. Wednesday morning, he participated in a rally to 
encourage the rioters to march on the Capitol and fight.
  Not only did he urge people to march on the Capitol and fight, he 
further fanned the flames, and he and his family cheered and celebrated 
the desecration of the Capitol.
  Later that day, as the dangers escalated, he ignored and then flat-
out rejected the pleas of Congress, including those of his own party, 
to call off his supporters--the rioters, the terrorists--as they 
engaged in vandalism and violence.
  Now, the President is saying that he is not responsible and that his 
incitement to violence was totally appropriate.
  The President's actions demonstrate his absolute inability to 
discharge the most basic and fundamental powers and duties of his 
office. Therefore, the President must be removed from office 
immediately.
  This is a decision we make with the utmost solemnity and 
prayerfulness which this crisis requires. Removal of the President is 
an unprecedented action, but it is required because it is an 
unprecedented moment in history because of the danger that he poses.
  I heard the previous speaker say that we are objecting to the 
President because we don't like the way he executes his duties. No, we 
don't like it at all: acts of sedition, incitement to insurrection, 
treasonous activity. If you are associating yourself with that as the 
proper execution of the President's duties, then you are associating 
yourself with sedition and treason.
  Yesterday, in a pro forma session, we introduced a unanimous consent 
request to take up Congressman Raskin's legislation, which calls on the 
Vice President to mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment 
to remove the President from office, again, to prevent him from causing 
more damage to our country. Who knows what he might do next?
  But House Republicans rejected this legislation. So the President's 
unhinged, unstable, deranged acts of sedition may continue, endangering 
America and undermining our democracy.
  Now we are taking up this legislation in regular session. After 
passage, we are calling on the Vice President to respond within 24 
hours of passage. This resolution gives House Republicans the clear 
choice to honor the oath of office, to defend our democracy, and to 
uphold the sacred trust given to us by the Constitution and by those 
whom we represent.
  Mr. Speaker, during the Trump Presidency, these 4 years, and 
especially during this sad time, I recall the words of the great 
Israeli poet Ehud Manor when he said:

     I can't keep silent in light of
     How my country's changed her face
     Won't quit trying to remind her
     In her ears, I'll sing my cries
     Until she opens her eyes.

     ``I can't keep silent in light of how my country's changed 
           her face.'' I urge my Republican colleagues to open 
           their eyes and to finally hold this President 
           accountable. The security of our country and the future 
           of our very democracy are at stake.
  When we pray for God to bless America, let us hope that that blessing 
comes down strongly on us in the next few days.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I applaud the great leadership of Mr. Raskin.

                              {time}  2130

  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cline).
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H. Res. 21, 
calling on Vice President Pence to invoke section 4 of the 25th 
Amendment.
  Like all of us, I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the 
violence that occurred here in our Nation's Capital last week. 
Political violence is never the answer, regardless of which side of the 
political spectrum it occurs. And that is a strongly held position on 
which I have been clear since well before my time in Congress.
  Let's be clear about a few things. The adoption of this political 
resolution would be divisive rather than unifying. The Vice President 
has said he has no intention of taking action under the amendment. So, 
this process is pure political theater on the part of the majority.
  In addition, no due process has been provided. As a former 
prosecutor, if law enforcement brought evidence of a crime to me and 
said take this to the jury tomorrow for a jury trial, there would be no 
chance for the defendant to prepare any defense. I would be violating 
half the Constitution, the code of Virginia, and over 100 different 
rules of procedure.
  In the more than 50 years since the 25th Amendment was ratified, 
section 4 has never been invoked. As such, there are no judicial or 
authoritative opinions that would evaluate its implementation. Absent 
this, we must look to the legislative intent of the Congress that 
passed its language, and nowhere in the legislative intent is the 
current situation envisioned. It is meant to be used for incapacity, 
not for political ends with 8 days remaining in a President's term.
  Last week, Vice President Pence was lauded by the majority for not 
yielding to pressure to exert power beyond his constitutional authority 
to determine the outcome of the election. Yet, the majority today is 
attempting to pressure him to exert power beyond the intention of his 
constitutional role in section 4 of the 25th Amendment.
  This action will only further fuel the political divide among our 
citizens and will be detrimental to the long-term efforts to unify our 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, both President Trump and President-elect Biden have 
called for a peaceful transition of power. I would encourage members of 
both parties to work toward this end and vote against this rushed, 
misguided, politically motivated resolution.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lofgren).
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, last week, as we counted electoral college 
votes, I said this day marks a crossroads for our American democracy. 
We didn't know then what an ominous statement that was. We do now.
  Congress was attacked by a violent mob, incited by the President, to 
stop us from doing our constitutional job. The President not only 
encouraged the mob; he said he loved them and made no serious effort to 
stop them.

[[Page H136]]

  Lives were lost and put in danger. Constitutional government was 
urgently threatened. The President's actions were not only wrong; they 
were dangerous.
  He lives in an alternate reality. He is a continuing threat to 
America.
  Vice President Pence should invoke the 25th Amendment, assume 
Presidential duties until the inauguration next week, and save us from 
a President who is unable to function, unable to protect our country.
  I urge all, including my Republican colleagues, to put politics 
aside. Act to secure the safety of our country. We truly are at a 
crossroads for our American democracy.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes the gentleman from Arizona 
(Mr. Biggs).
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, the violence at the Capitol last week has 
been condemned by Republicans, Democrats, and President Trump. So, I 
wonder: Why are the Democrats stoking the fire instead of dousing the 
flames?
  This 25th Amendment resolution is actually similar, with some 
differences, to the proposal filed in October of this year by the same 
Representative and joined by 42 Democrats. The problem at that time is 
they were trying to get this commission together. This time, they want 
the Vice President to invoke the other portion of article 4. But the 
problem, of course, is that the Vice President sent a very lovely 
letter to them, saying he is not going to do that.
  Our Nation is divided. While folks on the left are trying to lay this 
all on President Trump, you should consider a few statements from 
colleagues across the aisle.
  One of our colleagues at one point said: ``If you see anybody from 
that Cabinet,'' meaning Mr. Trump's Cabinet, ``in a restaurant, in a 
department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a 
crowd. And you push back on them, and you tell them they are not 
welcome anymore, anywhere.''
  Senator Booker called for his supporters to: ``Go to the Hill today. 
Get up and please get up in the face of some Congresspeople.''
  I have dozens more similar statements. But what we are talking about 
here today is a resolution, asking the Vice President to invoke the 
25th Amendment and get the Cabinet together to remove this President.
  What that does, it is basically doing what Democrats wrongfully 
claimed President Trump did on January 6. It pours gas on the 
smoldering embers, which consist of tens of millions who believe the 
integrity of the election was questionable. They feel disenfranchised. 
And quite frankly, they are more angry than aggrieved.
  Some believe that by doing this, it is going to be healing. I heard 
this gentleman say this in the Rules Committee, that doing this would 
be healing. Yet, the Vice President said he is not going to do that. If 
this resolution is to ask the Vice President to invoke this 25th 
Amendment, if this is what the purpose of this is, to ask the Vice 
President, then the purpose is now null.
  But I suggest to you it looks like, it would appear like, if we are 
going to proceed on, even after you received the answer that you are 
seeking, and it is disapprobation of your idea, that the only thing 
that could be left is to pour gas on the fire.

  I am asking that cooler heads prevail here. This is not necessary. 
Don't let this get in the way. Just to parrot the last speaker, I am 
asking friends across the aisle: Don't do this.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman reasonably poses the question: 
Why are we doing this?
  We think that the President of the United States constitutes a clear 
and present danger to the Republic and to our people.
  For example, on the white supremacist websites that helped to build 
the President's mob, they are now calling for a return engagement on 
the days of January 19 and 20. They are calling again for an attack on 
the Capitol, and they are calling again for the State legislatures, now 
in 50 States, to be surrounded.
  What will the attitude be of the President of the United States? Will 
he give them aid and comfort? Will he wink at them? Will he send them 
positive tweets and messages, calling them patriots?
  Also, on extreme rightwing websites, they are calling for the 
President to pardon the organizers of the armed violent insurrection 
that took place in this body not even a week ago. What if the President 
decides to pardon them?
  We know this President is not living up to the most minimal duties of 
his office. That is why we are doing this, to protect the public.
  By the way, we are not telling the Vice President what he must do. We 
have no authority to do that. We are telling him what we think he 
should do and that the Congress will be with him because we know that 
he has come under extreme rightwing pressure on everything from the 
counting of the electoral college votes to his positions on a whole 
range of things to go along with Donald Trump. So, we are trying to 
counterbalance that attack on him from the right to say the people want 
to see a peaceful way through this.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Accountability comes before healing, but healing 
should come.
  If we look at the Constitution, we will clearly see that Mr. Raskin's 
resolution fits the language: an inability to be able to discharge your 
duties, to exercise the laws carefully.
  Do you consider these words from the President of the United States 
to insurrectionists and terrorists to ``walk down to the Capitol,'' 
says the President, telling them: ``If you don't fight like hell, you 
are not going to have a country anymore.'' And that is the attack that 
the domestic terrorists made on this place.
  All we are asking of the Vice President, through this resolution, is 
to reflect on that and to call upon the 25th Amendment to convene the 
Cabinet, to begin the healing, because the President of the United 
States is dangerous to the American people.
  That is why we are on the floor today. We hope that he will have an 
opportunity to reflect because the Constitution says in many places 
that the actions of this President are dangerous.
  People have died. We have lost two police officers. Others are in the 
hospital. And yes, it was an insurrection. It is time to pass H. Res. 
21.
  Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary 
and on Homeland Security, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 21, a 
resolution calling on Vice President Michael R. Pence to convene and 
mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the 
Cabinet to activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare 
President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his 
office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President.
  As a person who was in the House chamber, that day and witnessed the 
terror, mayhem, and horror unleashed by the President's incitement of 
insurrection and utter betrayal of his sacred oath, it is manifestly 
evident that the President is clearly incapable, and certainly 
unwilling, of exercising the duties of his office, which makes it 
essential for Vice-President Pence to convene the principal officers of 
the Executive Branch to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.
  Mr. Speaker, the resolution recites a tale of abdication and 
dereliction of duty by a President of the United States unseen in the 
history of our country.
  On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, the day prescribed by section 15 of 
title 3, United States Code, for the counting of electoral votes, 
Congress experienced a massive, violent invasion of the United States 
Capitol and its complex by a dangerous insurrectionary mob, which 
smashed windows and used violent, physical force and weapons to 
overpower and outmaneuver the United States Capitol Police and 
facilitated the illegal entry into the Capitol of hundreds, if not 
thousands, of unauthorized persons (all of whom entered the Capitol 
complex without going through metal detectors and other security 
screening devices).
  This insurrectionary mob threatened the safety and lives of the Vice 
President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of 
the Senate, the first three individuals in the line of succession to 
the presidency, as the rioters were recorded chanting ``Hang Mike 
Pence'' and ``Where's Nancy'' when President Donald J. Trump tweeted to 
his supporters that ``Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what 
should have been done to protect our country.'
  The marauders attacked law enforcement officers, unleashed chaos and 
terror among Members and staffers and their families, occupied the 
Senate Chamber and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office along with other 
leadership offices, vandalized and pilfered government

[[Page H137]]

property, and succeeded in causing the unprecedented disruption of the 
Electoral College count process for a 4-hour period in both the House 
and the Senate, a dangerous and destabilizing impairment of the 
peaceful transfer of power that these insurrectionary riots were 
explicitly designed to cause.
  At least five Americans have died as a result of injuries or traumas 
suffered during this violent attack on Congress, including Capitol 
Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, and more than 50 police officers were 
seriously injured, including 15 officers who had to be hospitalized by 
these violent assaults.
  There could easily have been hundreds more wounded and killed, a 
sentiment captured by Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the President's 
fiercest enablers, who observed that ``the mob could have blown the 
building up. They could have killed us all.''
  Mr. Speaker, these insurrectionary protests were widely advertised 
and broadly encouraged by the current President, who repeatedly 
disgraced his high office by exhorting his millions of followers on 
Twitter and other social media outlets to come to Washington on January 
6 to ``Stop the Steal'' of the 2020 Presidential election, promising 
that the protest on the Electoral College counting day would be 
``wild.''
  Although President-elect Joseph R. Biden decisively won the 2020 
Presidential election with more than 81 million votes and defeated 
President Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College, a margin pronounced 
to be a ``landslide' by the current President Trump when he won by the 
same Electoral College numbers in 2016, the current and temporary 
occupant of the White House never accepted these election results as 
legitimate and waged a protracted campaign of propaganda and coercive 
pressure in the Federal and State courts, in the state legislatures, 
with Secretaries of State, and in Congress to nullify and overturn 
these results and replace them with imaginary and fabricated numbers to 
maintain his continuance in office.
  This culminated in the current President taking the stage at the 
insurrection rally he held on the Ellipse Grounds on January 6, 2021 to 
exhort the rioters and insurrectionists to ``walk down to the 
Capitol,'' telling them ``if you don't fight like hell, you're not 
going to have a country anymore.'
  The President's putative lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who possesses the 
uncanny knack of surfacing to make things worse whenever the President 
is acting to undermine American democracy, warned the mob to expect 
``trial by combat.''
  While domestic terrorists occupied parts of the Capitol, the person 
currently occupying the office of President of the United States, 
ignored or rejected repeated real-time entreaties from the Speaker of 
the House and the Democratic Leader of the U.S. Senate to appeal to his 
followers to exit the Capitol.
  Mr. Speaker, photographs, cell phone videos, social media posts, and 
on-the-ground reporting show that numerous violent insurrectionists who 
invaded the Capitol were armed, carrying police grade flex cuffs to 
detain and handcuff people, used mace, pepper spray, and bear spray 
against United States Capitol Police officers, erected gallows on 
Capitol grounds to hang ``traitors,'' vehemently chanted ``Hang Mike 
Pence'' while roaming the Capitol, emphasizing that storming the 
Capitol was ``a revolution,'' and committed the unspeakable offense of 
brandishing the Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol.
  In all of this, Donald John Trump has demonstrated repeatedly, 
continuously, and spectacularly his absolute inability to discharge the 
most basic and fundamental powers and duties of his office, including 
most recently the duty to respect the legitimate results of the 
Presidential election and the duty to respect the peaceful transfer of 
democratic power under the Constitution.
  Mr. Speaker, Donald John Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his 
trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the 
great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest 
injury of the people of the United States.
  For the safety and security of the people of the United States and 
the survival of our democracy, he must be removed from office.
  For these reasons, I urge all Members to join me in voting for H. 
Res. 21, calling upon the Vice-President to convene the Cabinet and to 
invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and assume the powers and 
duties of the office as Acting President.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Mrs. Greene).
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote the 
President of the United States: ``I know that everyone here will soon 
be marching over to the Capitol Building to peacefully and 
patriotically make your voices heard.''
  ``Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever.''--
President Donald Trump.
  I condemn this violence. Republicans have condemned this violence. 
President Trump has condemned this violence. But elected Democrats over 
the past year have promoted violence, have supported it. They fund it 
on their ActBlue fundraising platform.
  There has been billions in damage caused over this past year, riots 
all over this country. Do you know how many companies have endured 
violence and destruction? I have 83 pages here of businesses that had 
property damage, were burned, through the Minnesota riots.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article about the Minnesota 
riots.

                 [From the Star Tribune, July 31, 2020]

         Buildings Damaged in Minneapolis, St. Paul After Riots

           (By Josh Penrod, C.J. Sinner and Mary Jo Webster)


 Twin Cities restaurants and retail stores were hit the hardest in the 
                rioting following George Floyd's killing

       In the first few days after George Floyd was killed by 
     Minneapolis police, rioters tore through dense stretches of 
     Minneapolis, St. Paul and other metro communities in 
     retaliation, causing millions in property damage to more than 
     1,500 locations.
       In their wake, vandals left a trail of smashed doors and 
     windows, covered hundreds of boarded-up businesses with 
     graffiti and set fire to nearly 150 buildings, with dozens 
     burned to the ground. Pharmacies, groceries, liquor stores, 
     tobacco shops and cell phone stores were ransacked, losing 
     thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. Many were looted 
     repeatedly over consecutive nights.
       Other property--like gas stations, restaurants and even 
     parked cars--was set on fire, with much of it completely 
     destroyed.
       The full extent of damage to Twin Cities buildings--
     including residences, churches, nonprofits and minority-owned 
     businesses--could take weeks or months to calculate. Already 
     on the ropes from months of lost revenue during a global 
     pandemic, some businesses may never reopen as others are 
     still temporarily or indefinitely closed.
       Buildings along a 5-mile stretch of Lake Street in 
     Minneapolis and a 3.5-mile stretch of University Avenue in 
     St. Paul's Midway area experienced some of the heaviest 
     damage. While this is an incomplete list, here's a look at 
     some of those hardest-hit areas.


             Heavy damage near Minneapolis police precincts

       For three consecutive nights starting on Wednesday, May 27, 
     rioters pummeled blocks worth of buildings near the 
     Minneapolis' Third and Fifth police precincts, inflicting 
     heavy damage.
       On Thursday night, protesters torched and heavily 
     vandalized the Third Precinct, and destroyed at least 20 
     nearby buildings, including several restaurants, an Auto 
     Zone, Minnehaha Lake Wine & Spirits, a U.S. Post Office, a 
     cellphone store and the building that housed Talk Town Diner, 
     El Nuevo Rodeo and others. Midtown Corner, a multi-story 
     affordable housing project that was still under construction, 
     erupted into a towering inferno, burning so hot that it 
     melted siding off a nearby house.
       The following night, about three miles west of the Third 
     Precinct, protesters blanketed the area near the Fifth 
     Precinct, heavily damaging at least seven buildings--
     including a U.S. Post Office, a Wells Fargo branch, a 
     staffing agency and a Subway in a nearby strip mall. 
     Authorities also reported that shots had been fired at 
     officers in the Fifth Precinct area, but there were no 
     reports of injuries.


       Fires near Midtown Global Market, heavy looting in Uptown

       The Midtown Global Market area experienced one of the most 
     concentrated tolls during the Floyd riots. More than a dozen 
     businesses near E. Lake Street and Chicago Avenue were 
     destroyed by fire, and a few dozen more reported fire damage 
     with many being burned severely.
       Less than two miles to the west near Hennepin Avenue and W. 
     Lake Street, nearly 40 businesses were broken into or heavily 
     looted, including large retailers like H&M, Timberland, an 
     Apple store, Kitchen Window and Urban Outfitters. Just a few 
     blocks away near Lyndale Avenue and W. Lake Street, a cluster 
     of nearly 30 businesses sustained property damage, including 
     several restaurants and bars. There was almost no fire damage 
     in this area, a stark contrast to other clusters along Lake 
     Street.


                Miles of damage along University Avenue

       Across the river in St. Paul, the hardest-hit area was a 1-
     mile stretch of the Midway along University Avenue between 
     Snelling and Lexington Avenues, although damage extended a 
     few miles, stopping just short of the State Capitol. In all, 
     more than 70 businesses were hit, with more than a dozen 
     sustaining serious fire damage.


                      Twin Cities surrounding area

       Rioters hit buildings well beyond Minneapolis and St. Paul, 
     with damage reported as far north as Blaine and as far south 
     as Apple Valley. Meanwhile, clusters of attacked storefronts 
     sprang up in places like Richfield, North St. Paul, 
     Maplewood, Brooklyn Center and Roseville:


[[Page H138]]


  

  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Our Vice-President-elect, Kamala Harris, 
posted the Minnesota Freedom Fund bail link, encouraging people to 
donate money to bail criminals out of jail.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record Vice-President-elect Harris' 
tweet about the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
     Kamala Harris
     @KamalaHarris
       If you're able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to 
     help post bail for those protesting on the ground in 
     Minnesota.
       4:34 p.m. 6/1/20 Sprout Social
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, we should not be hypocrites.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko).
  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a proud American who has the 
distinct honor of serving this great body.
  As a Member of Congress, we take an oath to defend the Constitution 
because at times it needs defending.
  On January 6, the Nation watched as insurrectionists stormed the 
Capitol, threatened the safety of countless individuals, and 
successfully, albeit it temporarily, disrupted our process.
  In the midst of the attack, hundreds of Capitol Police officers 
heroically upheld their duty to defend the United States and protect 
those who work here. Many officers were severely injured and beaten, 
including one of my former interns.
  Tragically, one officer, Officer Brian Sicknick, succumbed to the 
injuries he sustained.
  To Officer Sicknick's family, I extend my deepest condolences. Know 
that we are praying for you.
  To all Capitol Police officers, we are deeply thankful for your 
bravery. Because of you, thousands of lives were protected, and the 
people's work was able to resume.
  Now, just as the Capitol Police protected us, Congress must match 
that courage and protect the Constitution, our democratic processes, 
and this Nation.
  The President's role in the insurrection is undeniable. Both on 
social media ahead of January 6 and in his speech that day, he 
deliberately promoted baseless theories, creating a combustible 
environment of misinformation and division.
  To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack 
without consequences is a direct threat to the future of this 
democracy. For this reason, I will vote to impeach this President 
tomorrow.
  The bill before us tonight is a nonbinding resolution, which requests 
the Vice President to invoke the 25th Amendment, a step he has already 
said he will not take. It is merely a symbolic gesture, and I will 
oppose that resolution.
  After last week's attack on the Capitol, it is clear our Nation is 
more divided than ever in recent history. We began this great 
experiment over 240 years ago. To preserve it, we must remember that 
our faith, race, or political party is not what unites us. What unites 
us is that we are Americans. I would encourage members of this body, 
and everyone at home, to remember that simple truth.

                              {time}  2145

  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Bishop).
  Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Two questions, as we begin another 24 hours that will deepen the 
wounds of the country and the disaffection among Americans:
  First, will you stop at nothing?
  Second, is there any hypocrisy too far?
  Let's call this what it is: An ultimatum, an attempt to intimidate 
and bully Vice President Pence. They are not seeking just the same ends 
as the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) said, they employ the 
same means. They seek to bully the Vice President to abuse power under 
the 25th Amendment, intended to provide for temporary or sudden 
incapacity of the President while they claim to be scandalized about 
the President bullying the Vice President one week ago to abuse power 
under the 12th Amendment.
  With all due respect for the gentleman from Maryland, he has not 
answered: Why are you doing this now?
  Tonight, the Vice President has clarified in a letter sent to all of 
us at 7:34 p.m. that this resolution has absolutely no other purpose. 
Here are three key things he said: ``I urge you and every Member of 
Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the 
passions of the moment. Work with us to lower the temperature and unite 
our country. . . . `'
  Quote: ``As you know full well, the 25th Amendment was designed to 
address Presidential incapacity or disability.''
  Quote: ``Under our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not a means of 
punishment or usurpation.''
  And listen to this one carefully: ``Last week, I did not yield to 
pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority . . . , and 
I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play 
political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation.''
  The Vice President has given you your answer before you ask the 
question. No legitimate purpose to this resolution remains. Your 
ultimatum does violence to a core feature of the architecture of the 
Constitution. The Framers were emphatic about their purpose to avoid 
making the President a creature of Congress. The 25th Amendment was not 
ratified to change that, as you well know. Please do not pervert this 
important protection to undermine the Constitution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind Members that remarks 
in debate must be addressed to the Chair and not to others in the 
second person.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Last Wednesday, I came to these hallowed Halls where I serve to watch 
the electoral college ratify and certify the election of Joe Biden in 
what was a fair, transparent election, which 61 courts had looked into, 
and all said it was fine. I was sitting right up there in the gallery 
when a Capitol Policeman came in and said: We are locking the doors. We 
are locking the doors.
  And within only minutes of that, I heard the rabble knocking on the 
door, trying to knock it down. We were then told to put on our gas 
masks and to evacuate, and we all did it.
  This was an assault on the Constitution, an assault on Congress. It 
was a felonious assault. It was an attempt to murder the Congress and 
our processes to elect our President of the United States. It is the 
political equivalent of shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue and getting 
away with it.
  Somebody needs to stand up to that, and the 25th Amendment is one way 
to do it, whether Republicans can purge themselves of their own 
creation who has damaged this country.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. COHEN. I ask us to pass this resolution, bring this country 
together, and get rid of this cancer.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, this is an absurd resolution callously 
politicizing an unpredictable tragedy last week. We all know that 
President Trump called for a peaceful and patriotic march. I must have 
attended a half dozen Trump rallies in the past year, and they have 
always been peaceful, wholesome events, typical of the thousands of 
peaceful protesters who remained away from the Capitol last week. I 
never would have expected this in a million years.
  This is a horrible event, but not like the Black Lives Matter, antifa 
events that went on day after day in city after city, with prominent 
Democrats fanning the flames by mischaracterizing police shootings or 
apparently encouraging bail for lawbreakers.
  Less than 2 years ago, a Member of this body encouraged harassment of 
Trump officers at restaurants, gas stations, or department stores. And 
what happened? She was rewarded with the chairmanship of an ``A'' 
committee.
  Even in last week's riots, the Speaker tried to preposterously 
racialize them, which can only lead to trouble, maybe violence. 
Everybody back home says we ought to get along.
  Is this the way to start things?
  It is time to get back to dealing with the people's business, dealing 
with the cancel culture.

[[Page H139]]

  

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson).
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, for 244 years, America has stood 
as the world's bellwether of democracy. Last week, the world saw 
America at perhaps her lowest moment. It was crazy. We all took the 
same oath when we swore to protect this country from enemies, both 
foreign and domestic; and now with a domestic enemy having arisen that 
is crazy, only the Vice President has the power to invoke the 25th 
Amendment and protect this country from this domestic enemy.
  The 25th Amendment was written for this moment. If not now, when 
would its use ever be appropriate?
  Vice President Pence, you have an opportunity to put country before 
self by implementing the 25th Amendment. Please muster the courage to 
protect America from maniacal behavior that threatens the very 
foundations of our democracy. Stop the violence, Mr. Vice President.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Chabot).
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, what happened last Wednesday at the Capitol 
never should have happened. The actions of those who attempted to 
breach the Capitol Building, and then ultimately did, are inexcusable. 
Lawlessness and violence are never acceptable, whichever side of the 
political divide one may fall. Those who broke the law should be and 
will be identified and prosecuted.
  In the aftermath of last week's tragic events, most Americans 
continue to be saddened, angry, and wanting answers, and they are 
looking to us to provide a positive example of how to bring our Nation 
back together. Unfortunately, if what we are doing this evening is any 
indication, Congress might not be up to the task.
  The Democrats' attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment and to once again 
impeach President Trump a week before he will be leaving office anyway 
are, in my opinion, misguided. The push to encourage the Vice President 
to invoke the 25th Amendment is especially ill advised.
  The Constitution is clear that the role for Congress to play under 
the 25th Amendment is to decide if the powers provided thereunder have 
been properly invoked in the event of a dispute between the President 
and Vice President or the majority of the Cabinet. In other words, we 
are to serve as judges under the 25th Amendment, not instigators.
  By encouraging the Vice President to take action, supporters of this 
resolution are abandoning our constitutional role, which could have a 
significant legal consequence down the road. And even more importantly, 
rather than help to heal a divided nation, the Democrats' effort will 
likely drive us even further apart.
  Instead, Mr. Speaker, we should be turning our attention toward 
uniting the American people. It is time for us to tone down the 
political rhetoric, to work together, to solve the problems that face 
our Nation. It is time for us to put aside our differences and find 
common ground. After all, we are all Americans.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Swalwell).
  Mr. SWALWELL. On January 6th, Donald Trump incited radicalized 
terrorists to attack the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral 
ballots. Donald Trump won't protect life and cannot uphold our 
Constitution, so we must do so today.
  It is time for our country to unite, but unity in a national crisis 
starts with accountability, and that starts here in the people's House. 
So let's unite against the violence incited by Donald Trump to stop a 
peaceful transition of power, and unite for the safety of all 
Americans. Let's unite against a President whose hate speech led to the 
death of a law enforcement officer, and unite for the cops, the 
military who bravely defended the Capitol. Let's unite against Donald 
Trump, who inspired terrorists to carry a Confederate flag into this 
Capitol, display a noose, and desecrate the people's House. And let's 
unite for the custodial staff, largely people of color, who cleaned up 
after those White supremacists, because they still believe in this 
democracy, as imperfect as it was that day.
  The most essential function of a President is to protect life and 
defend liberty. Donald Trump has failed to do that and is failing to do 
that. So Vice President Pence must invoke the 25th Amendment.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time each side has 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio has 16\1/2\ minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Maryland has 16\3/4\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Steube).
  Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn't address the 
atrocities occurring right here on the House floor today. A week ago, 
this building was attacked; and instead of working with Republicans to 
attempt to prevent that from ever happening again, the Speaker and her 
Democratic colleagues think an appropriate response is to prevent 
Members from exercising their Second Amendment constitutional rights in 
the very place that wasn't secure a week ago.
  This attack didn't come from the inside. It came from the outside. 
And to respond by restricting Members' Second Amendment rights in the 
very institution that is supposed to uphold those rights is appalling.
  Take note, America. This is what you have to look forward to in a Joe 
Biden administration. If they can do it right here in the people's 
House, they will attempt to do it across the country.
  The plain language of the 25th Amendment is abundantly clear. 
Although I am an attorney, you don't have to be an attorney to 
understand that the Vice President is the principal required to invoke 
the amendment. The beginning of Section 4 states: ``Whenever the Vice 
President and a majority of either principal officers of the executive 
departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide . . . 
declare that the President is unable to discharge. . . . ''
  You must have the Vice President invoking this, and you don't. The 
Vice President has been clear, he is unwilling to invoke the 25th 
Amendment. It is not Congress' role to override him. It doesn't state 
in the amendment that Congress makes that determination. The Vice 
President does.
  But my Democratic colleagues will stop at nothing to remove this 
President, even a week before his term expires. The plain reading of 
the 25th Amendment demonstrates that this is the wrong approach. An 
understanding of last week's events demonstrates this is the wrong 
approach. And a consideration of the political tactics that we have 
seen in recent days, months, and years tells you that this is a 
disingenuous approach at best and 100 percent politically motivated.

  I was elected in 2018. My entire congressional career has been 
consumed by impeaching or removing President Trump. After the Russia 
collusion hoax and a phone call to the Ukrainian President, and then a 
failed impeachment attempt that resulted in an acquittal, here we are, 
a little more than a week away from a new President being sworn in, 
attempting this travesty both to the Constitution and to America as a 
whole.
  This is dangerous, unconstitutional, and does nothing to heal this 
country and move this country forward.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Garcia).
  Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I stand before the House floor 
today alarmed--alarmed that just days ago a sitting President stirred 
up a deadly attack on our U.S. Capitol. I join my colleagues in calling 
on Vice President Pence to activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment.
  It has become abundantly clear that this President has threatened our 
democratic system, has interfered with the peaceful transition of 
power, and has endangered an equal branch of government. The President 
of the United States is unhinged, unfit, and unstable, or as we say in 
my district, ``esta loco el hombre,'' to the point where he is willing 
to tear our democracy down unless he prevails in his quest to overturn 
the election that he clearly lost.
  The actions taken by this President and those who enable him show 
that he is unfit to uphold the duties of his office. For the sake of 
our Nation's security, this President must be swiftly removed.

[[Page H140]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, democracy is a gift that one 
generation gives to the next.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).
  Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose yet another 
Democrat witch hunt. We should take Democrats at their word when they 
say: Never let a good crisis go to waste.
  While section 4 of the 25th Amendment has never been used, a plain 
reading of the text, coupled with the context of its ratification, 
contemplates a very different scenario from the one we are currently 
in.

                              {time}  2200

  It envisions a President's disability resulting from serious illness 
or injury. To suggest it should be used in a different context violates 
the very intent of the 25th Amendment.
  To be clear, this resolution is a divisive political stunt which 
would have no force of law and is a waste of our time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution is a clear overreach, as invoking the 
25th Amendment is not something Congress can initiate, and this must be 
initiated by the executive branch.
  Democrats talk about unity, but clearly that is just talk, as their 
actions only further divide us. Their hypocrisy is on full display this 
week with this 25th Amendment stunt, Articles of Impeachment, censure 
bills, and other efforts to try to punish Republicans for false 
accusations of inciting the type of violence they have so frequently 
and transparently supported in the past.
  Throughout 2020, we witnessed Democrats welcome, encourage, and even 
normalize violence. For them, violent riots were effective in advancing 
their agenda.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Very quickly, the gentlewoman, whom I have not had the pleasure to 
meet yet, confuses disability and incapacity. Franklin D. Roosevelt was 
in a wheelchair. He had a disability, and he was one of our greatest 
Presidents. President Lincoln, according to historians, suffered from 
depression, but he was one of our greatest Presidents.
  Incapacity is different. Incapacity is demonstrated by President 
Trump's complete, total inability to conform his conduct to the rule of 
law and the Constitution.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath).
  Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I came to Congress to make sure that no 
parent ever experienced the pain that I have. I came to Congress to 
fight for children who have practiced active shooter drills at the same 
time that they are simply learning how to read, for families who have 
lost loved ones to gun violence, and for communities that will never 
ever be the same.
  Last Wednesday, Members of this body hid from insurrectionists behind 
barricades and locked doors. Staffers of this hallowed institution 
texted to their loved ones, ``They are banging on the doors outside. I 
love you.''
  And citizens of this Nation watched in real time as rioters stormed 
the Capitol through shattered windows and broken glass. The result of 
the President's rhetoric has left five Americans dead.
  Our response to anyone who seeks to overthrow the will of the people 
must be unwavering and resolute. I didn't come to Congress to do this. 
But President Trump's actions warrant his immediate removal from 
office.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Fallon).
  Mr. FALLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak against this 
resolution. I am at a loss.
  I can't believe the very first time that I have the honor and 
privilege to address this august Chamber is to talk about removing the 
President of the United States because he held a permitted, legal, and 
peaceful rally.
  It is nothing but a wasteful political grandstand. Let's make no 
mistake: January 6 was a dark day in our esteemed Nation's history. It 
was a dark and sad day.
  On the afternoon of January 6, a mob breached our sacred Capitol. 
Donald Trump didn't. A mob destroyed property and vandalized historic 
treasures and ran amuck on these grounds, but Donald Trump didn't.
  A mob committed despicable, evil actions of violence against fellow 
Americans, but Donald Trump didn't. In fact, Donald Trump urged and, in 
fact, he demanded peaceful dissent and nothing more. Our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle want us to unnecessarily remove a President 
when we are measuring the time he has left, not in years, months, 
weeks, or days--he has got 182 hours left in office.
  You don't achieve unity by simply saying it. You achieve unity 
through actions. This resolution accomplishes not unity but, rather, is 
a waste of time, and fosters further divisiveness. I am going to vote 
``no'' on this resolution.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Neguse).
  Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I had planned remarks here, but I have to 
respond to my colleague. His words are simply too much to bear.
  The gentleman talks a lot about the mob and culpability. Who summoned 
the mob? Who encouraged the mob? Who incited the mob? You know as well 
as I do that the President did. I stood here 6 days ago in this exact 
same spot, and I quoted Lincoln's admonition that ``we shall nobly 
save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth.''
  Less than 10 minutes later, a violent mob breached the Capitol, the 
first breach of this hallowed building, the citadel of liberty, since 
the War of 1812.
  Congress must respond. Our undertaking here is not about politics. It 
is a matter of conscience. I support the distinguished gentleman from 
Maryland's resolution. I pray the Vice President will honor his oath 
and reconsider and invoke the provisions of the 25th Amendment.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Gaetz).
  Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Speaker, well, they may be calling on the Vice 
President, but based on his letter, he is not answering.
  Everybody in this country knows that they wanted to impeach President 
Trump on his first day in office. And it looks like they are going to 
want to impeach him on his last day too. But all he did in the middle 
was rescue our economy, rebuild our military, reform the VA, and reduce 
America's involvement in foreign wars.
  Now, I join the bipartisan caucus condemning the violence that we saw 
at our Capitol, but the hypocrisy is just downright disorienting.
  President Trump called for protests that would be peaceful and 
patriotic. He got labeled a national security threat. Yet the 
gentlewoman from California can call on her supporters to get physical 
and in the faces of Republicans, and she gets the chairmanship of the 
Financial Services Committee.
  Republican Members of Congress utilized a process contemplated in the 
Constitution to offer an objection, and we were labeled seditionists.
  Democrat Members of Congress raised funds for groups attacking our 
police, burning our cities, destroying our businesses, establishing 
autonomous zones, and they were celebrated as justice warriors.
  Wednesday, they called for unity, democracy, and healing. Now, just 
days later, seeking power and political advantage, the Democrats have 
reverted to the mean. They have gone back to their natural state: the 
party of impeachment, removal, and division.
  They are about to have unified control of the government. Maybe they 
would use this time to preview an agenda for the American people.
  The last two times the 25th Amendment was invoked, it was to 
facilitate a colonoscopy. Now they are using it to facilitate a 
transition to Joe Biden. How weird. Why?
  I would call it virtue signaling, but there is no virtue in it. This 
removal effort isn't for America. It is for them for their ability to 
showcase and wield power, and we see the power of cancellation and 
removal on full display in America today. Forbes Magazine has called 
for White House officials to be shamed and unemployable.
  ABC News has called for the cleansing of the Trump movement. I don't 
know what that means, but talking about cleansing our fellow human 
beings sure is scary. Big Tech has driven consumers and conservatives 
off of

[[Page H141]]

monopolistic platforms, and when we created our own platform, Parler, 
it was nuked from the internet altogether.
  The gentlewoman from New York was booted from a Harvard advisory 
board because she took an adverse position on electors that had been 
taken by every single member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 2001.
  Cancellations for some, celebrations for others for doing the exact 
same thing.
  The President of the United States can't tweet or post on Facebook, 
but we know from Project Veritas that the principal counsel for PBS can 
call for the government to steal children from Republicans and throw 
Molotov cocktails at the White House. We should allow America to heal 
before America is lost, but that is not what is happening today.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Florida an 
additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the resolution today, they 
want to show you that they can still tear things down. I guess, over 
the next 2 years, we will see if they are capable of building anything 
or anyone up.
  This is a deeply unpopular impeachment. The public wishes we were 
here dealing with coronavirus, not the virus of Trump hatred that you 
seem to have found no vaccine for.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I heard one of our colleagues say it was the fault of the mob, not 
Donald Trump. But who summoned the mob? Who created the mob? Who 
assembled it?
  You don't have to trust us if you don't like what you call ``Democrat 
Members.'' We do prefer Democratic Members for the new ones, but how 
about this? Listen to the chair of your own conference.
  The chair of the Republican Conference, Liz Cheney, said, ``The 
President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, 
and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his 
doing. None of this would have happened without the President.''
  So you can hate the Democrat Members all you want. That is the chair 
of the Republican Conference.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Carolyn B. Maloney).
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, like all of us in 
this Chamber, the Vice President and the Cabinet swore in their oaths 
of office to protect and defend the Constitution from enemies foreign 
and domestic.
  Now they must fulfill that oath by invoking the 25th Amendment. 
Donald Trump's reckless actions on and leading to January 6 underscore 
that he is a clear and present danger to our democratic traditions. He 
repeatedly and blatantly lied, spouting baseless claims of a stolen 
election and fraud.
  He called on his supporters to come to D.C. on January 6, a day which 
he said ``will be wild,'' and willfully incited an armed and deadly 
insurrection against another branch of our government.

  President Trump must be held accountable, and we must return to the 
peaceful transfer of power. I urge a ``yes'' vote.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Clyburn).
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. In 
recent days, it has become indisputable that this President is unable 
to uphold his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
  On the contrary, he seems only capable of attacking the Constitution. 
Never before has a President sought to overturn a fair and secure 
election, threatening State officials to manufacture fraudulent votes.
  Never before has a President incited mob violence to block 
certification of his opponent's victory.
  Never before has a President refused to condemn and demand the 
cessation of an attack on our country.
  The devastating bruises on our Nation's soul can only begin to heal 
by removing the weapon used to bludgeon us.
  The Vice President must invoke the 25th Amendment to immediately 
remove power from this dangerous President. And if he doesn't, we must 
vote to impeach.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi).
  Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Mr. Speaker, I am so glad our friends have 
changed their mantra from ``stop the steal'' to ``start to heal.''
  But in order to heal, you have to take strong medicine, and that 
medicine happens to be the truth. My friends, the truth is, 
unfortunately, this President is no longer fit to serve.
  We cannot trust this President to protect American democracy after he 
encouraged his supporters ``fight like hell'' in storming the Capitol.
  We cannot trust him to protect American safety after he told these 
violent seditionists, ``We love you. You are very special.''
  We cannot trust this President to tell right from wrong even today 
when he said that his remarks on January 6 were ``totally 
appropriate.''
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot trust this President to protect us when he 
instigated a mob that tried to kill us.

                              {time}  2215

  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Soto).
  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, I was in the gallery right behind us when the 
Capitol was breached. Then domestic terrorists breached the Rotunda. I 
heard the loud sounds of gunshots through this sacred Chamber. My last 
images were brave Capitol Police, guns drawn, to protect us.
  This was the first armed insurrection in over 200 years. Who incited 
this violent insurrection? Donald J. Trump.
  Our resolution states these protests were encouraged by him. He urged 
millions of his followers to come and ``stop the steal,'' which is a 
lie.
  And let's say this now for the Record and for the ages: Joe Biden 
won.
  And for this high crime nearly ripping our country apart, we should 
be removing him by the 25th Amendment or he should be impeached.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, on January 6, 2021, domestic terrorists the 
President has empowered for years stormed the Capitol, desecrated the 
people's House, and threatened the lives of the Speaker, Vice 
President, and countless other Members and staff. None of us will ever 
forget that day.
  The invasion of the Capitol was not only foreseeable, it was 
inevitable because of the many years the President has spent fanning 
the flames of hatred and racism in our country.
  The facts are clear: The President rallied his supporters at the 
White House and then sent them to the Capitol to disrupt our democracy 
and overturn an election.
  I won't spend another second explaining why Donald Trump should have 
long ago been removed from office. Donald Trump showed us who he was 
from the very beginning. Too many people turned a blind eye, and, last 
Wednesday, our country paid the price.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time both sides have 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland has 7\3/4\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Ohio has 8 minutes remaining.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this past year, government told Americans: You can't go 
to church, you can't go to work, you can't go to school.
  One hour ago, Democrats told Republicans, new rules--new rules for 
the House.
  Today, you can say anything you want about the President, no rule on 
decorum, no rule about attacking personality. They can say anything 
they want, and we see we have done that.
  Today, on the floor, you have to wear a mask. If your masks comes 
below your nose, you are going to get fined.
  And in order to come in here and debate and constitutionally 
represent

[[Page H142]]

your constituents, the 750,000 people we all get the privilege of 
serving, you had to walk through a metal detector.
  And they did all those changes with less than 40 minutes of debate.
  And, tomorrow, they are going to impeach a President, a President who 
is leaving office in 8 days--8 days before there will be a peaceful 
transfer of power, just like there has been every other time in 
American history. But they are going to do impeachment. They are going 
to do it, again.
  They have been obsessed with it. It is truly an obsession. People on 
the Democrat side started calling for impeachment the day President 
Trump was inaugurated. They attacked him before he even won the first 
election, before he won in 2016. They attacked him that summer when 
they started their investigation.
  This is scary, where this goes, because this is more than about 
impeaching the President of the United States; this is about canceling 
the President and canceling all the people you guys disagree with. That 
is what scares me more than anything.
  We have seen it play out over the past several days. I never thought 
I would see the things that we are now witnessing. I don't know where 
it ends, but I will tell you what: It should scare us all.
  And I said this in the Committee on the Judiciary--and the gentleman 
from Maryland will remember this--the cancel culture doesn't just go 
after conservatives and Republicans. It won't just stop there. It will 
come for us all. That is what is frightening.
  And I hope you all recognize that and that at some point we can unite 
and actually do things that help those folks back home that we all get 
the privilege of representing.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, the cancel culture of violent white 
supremacy tried to cancel out all of our lives last Wednesday.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Panetta).
  Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, on January 7 at 4 a.m., I was right outside 
those doors where, 14 hours earlier, a rioter was shot as she violently 
tried to enter this Chamber.
  It was in that early morning and at that location that I had a brief 
conversation with Vice President Mike Pence right after we finished 
certifying the electoral college.
  I was proud that we did our job that morning despite the violence we 
experienced earlier that day, but I knew that was not enough because of 
the seditious actions by President Trump before that riot and his 
inaction during that riot. So I said to the Vice President, ``It's up 
to you to keep us safe.''

  Tonight, with the President still in office, I am beyond asking; I am 
legislating to compel the Vice President to convene the Cabinet, to 
conclude that the President is not just unable but, clearly, he is 
unwilling and unworthy to discharge his duties.
  So, through this legislation, I ask my colleagues to call on the Vice 
President to invoke the 25th Amendment, yes, to keep us safe and keep 
this Nation secure.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New 
Mexico (Ms. Herrell).
  Ms. HERRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the misuse of the 
25th Amendment.
  To preserve separation of powers, the authors of the 25th Amendment 
correctly intended section 4 to be initiated by the Vice President, not 
by the request of Congress.
  Process concerns aside, the fact is, removing the President from 
office will not heal our Nation. It will not bridge our partisan 
divides, give Americans hope, or bring us together. It will only make 
things worse.
  With just days away until President Trump leaves the White House and 
just days into our new Congress, we have more important things to do. 
We should be working to hold Big Tech accountable. We should be working 
to help families and small businesses get through the pandemic. We 
should be working on jobs, on infrastructure, on energy, and all the 
other issues our constituents sent us here to address.
  I am appalled by the violence that took place here last week. Those 
who assaulted police officers and forced their way into these hallowed 
halls are responsible for their criminal acts and must be brought to 
justice.
  I cannot support the 25th Amendment, but I am also tired of the 
double standard, the double talk, and the double trouble that we have 
brought upon the American people. We have to stand for our 
Constitution. This is our Nehemiah moment, and we better take 
advantage.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Bera).
  Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, just over a week ago, we all took the oath of 
office, all of us, Democrats and Republicans, and part of that oath was 
to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, both 
foreign and domestic.
  It is quite clear what happened last Wednesday: a domestic attack on 
our government, a domestic attack on this body. Republicans have 
already acknowledged who instigated the attack. The lead instigator was 
the President of the United States.
  Now it is our solemn duty to uphold that oath, to defend our 
Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. There is 
nothing more solemn than what we have to do.
  If my colleagues don't want to invoke the 25th Amendment--that is one 
mechanism--we will give you an opportunity tomorrow to impeach the 
President. That is our duty. That is what we have to do. Let's uphold 
our oath.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Gomez).
  Mr. GOMEZ. Mr. Speaker, we are here tonight because a violent mob, 
incited by the President of the United States based on a lie, laid 
siege to Congress to overturn a Presidential election.
  We have to ask ourselves, what would have happened if that mob 
succeeded? Why stop at one election? Why not two? Why not make Donald 
Trump President for life?
  Thank God that did not happen and they did not succeed.
  However, even after that terrible day of January 6, 2021, Donald 
Trump is still using the lie of a stolen election to turn American 
against American for his own selfish ends.
  I believe even with only a few days left in office that Donald Trump 
is still a danger to our Republic and must be removed immediately.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 10 seconds to the 
gentleman.
  Mr. GOMEZ. Mr. Speaker, as an example, today, the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff issued a statement reaffirming their devotion to the rule of law 
and affirming that Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United 
States.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New 
York (Ms. Velazquez).
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution.
  ``Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are 
learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise 
good judgment and model the behavior we hope they will emulate.'' That 
was Betsy DeVos.
  ``As I am sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled 
me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.'' That was Elaine Chao.
  Mr. Speaker, these were members of the President's own Cabinet who 
bore the sacred responsibility of taking action when the President is 
clearly unfit for office. But their words are all talk, and if they 
will not act, then Congress will.
  So, today, we are giving the Vice President 24 hours to do right by 
the American people. Remove this President from office, and if you do 
not, the House will impeach.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, 6 days ago, I was standing right here, 
fulfilling my constitutional duties to certify the election. And, 6 
days ago, Donald Trump was on the Mall, whipping a

[[Page H143]]

mob into a frenzy with false claims of stolen elections and 
unconstitutional schemes. It was a big lie, the same big lie he had 
been telling for weeks.
  He told the mob, ``We are going to the Capitol'' and ``to fight like 
hell,'' and they did. Five died. Many more were hurt. And we were 
seconds away from something much worse.
  My colleagues, upholding our oath, the Constitution, and our 
democracy means recognizing that every second that Donald Trump is 
President the Nation is at risk. We have the power to do something 
about it. Mike Pence must do his duty, invoke the 25th. If he won't, we 
will move with urgency to do ours and impeach Donald Trump again.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining on 
both sides?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland has 2\3/4\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Ohio has 4\3/4\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Davidson).
  Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I can't say it better than the Vice President said it 
himself. Vice President Mike Pence said, ``Last week, I did not yield 
to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to 
determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to 
efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a 
time so serious in the life of our Nation.''
  Mr. Speaker, I include this letter in the Record.


                                           The Vice President,

                                 Washington, DC, January 12, 2021.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Madam Speaker: Every American was shocked and saddened 
     by the attack on our Nation's Capitol last week, and I am 
     grateful for the leadership that you and other congressional 
     leaders provided in reconvening Congress to complete the 
     people's business on the very same day. It was a moment that 
     demonstrated to the American people the unity that is still 
     possible in Congress when it is needed most.
       But now, with just eight days left in the President's term, 
     you and the Democratic Caucus are demanding that the Cabinet 
     and I invoke the 25th Amendment. I do not believe that such a 
     course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or 
     consistent with our Constitution. Last week, I did not yield 
     to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority 
     to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now 
     yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play 
     political games at a time so serious in the life of our 
     Nation.
       As you know full well, the 25th Amendment was designed to 
     address Presidential incapacity or disability. Just a few 
     months ago, when you introduced legislation to create a 25th 
     Amendment Commission, you said, ``[a] President's fitness for 
     office must be determined by science and facts.'' You said 
     then that we must be ``[v]ery respectful of not making a 
     judgment on the basis of a comment or behavior that we don't 
     like, but based on a medical decision.'' Madam Speaker, you 
     were right. Under our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not 
     a means of punishment or usurpation. Invoking the 25th 
     Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent.
       After the horrific events of this last week, our 
     Administration's energy is directed to ensuring an orderly 
     transition. The Bible says that ``for everything there is a 
     season, and a time for every purpose under heaven . . . a 
     time to heal . . . and a time to build up.'' That time is 
     now. In the midst of a global pandemic, economic hardship for 
     millions of Americans, and the tragic events of January 6th, 
     now is the time for us to come together, now is the time to 
     heal.
       I urge you and every member of Congress to avoid actions 
     that would further divide and inflame the passions of the 
     moment. Work with us to lower the temperature and unite our 
     country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden 
     as the next President of the United States. I pledge to you 
     that I will continue to do my part to work in good faith with 
     the incoming administration to ensure an orderly transition 
     of power. So help me God.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Michael R. Pence,
     Vice President of the United States.

                          ____________________