[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 19, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E46-E47]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        OPPOSITION TO H. RES. 21

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PAUL A. GOSAR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 2021

  Mr. GOSAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H. Res. 21 
and its invocation for Vice President Mike Pence to activate Section 4 
of the 25th Amendment.
  The Resolution appears to be ill-conceived, vindictive and 
disassociated from any factual basis. There is no medical, scientific 
or other evidence that the President is operating under an infirmity 
that prevents the faithful execution of our laws. Indeed, no one even 
so much as asked for such evidence. No independent medical exam was 
sought. No interviews of cabinet members or testimony was proffered 
where one or more cabinet members could have presumably attested to 
some medical or physical infirmity warranting immediate intervention.
  While it is true the President has his detractors, almost all of whom 
support this ill-advised resolution, attacking one's political 
opponents by invoking the most dramatic and emergency based provisions 
in the Constitution is reckless and poses serious harm to the Republic. 
Unfortunately, as it has been brought to the floor, the political bar 
has been lowered. I voted no as there is no merit to it and it is 
plainly a vengeful attack at the outgoing President who has been 
vilified by leftist

[[Page E47]]

media and others. I remain concerned that this provision will be 
brought up against the next president, and the next, and the next, for 
mere political opportunism.
  Indeed, in light of the incoming president's age and existing 
infirmities, I fear a movement to remove him without just cause using 
this provision. I am told that Mr. Biden won the presidency in the 
greatest popular vote on record in the history of the United States. To 
me that means the American people knew what they were voting on, 
embraced him as their choice, and that choice should not be easily 
disturbed, if ever. More concisely, the American people were well aware 
of Mr. Biden's age and health issues and that cannot be used as a 
pretext to remove him before the natural expiration of his term. This 
historic victory, greater than the then-historic victory of Obama, 
cannot be tarnished by congressional machinations to remove the next 
president. I will not countenance such villainy, nor will the Republic.
  Invocation of the 25th Amendment should be used in the rarest and 
most exceptional circumstances. That does not exist relative to 
President Trump, and none was even whispered. And it does not, and will 
not, exist for President Biden. I go on record now to register my 
objection to such loose talk, including the formation of a commission 
to ``investigate'' the 25th Amendment. This is dangerous. It is breezy 
talk, a bit too comfortable about removing elected officials to replace 
them. That is the sole prerogative of the people every four years.
  Section 4 of the 25th Amendment addresses an incapacitated President 
unable to make the decision to relinquish their duties. As the current 
president is not incapacitated, the current effort falls far short. 
Laughingly short. Improbably short. Ridiculously short.
  I restate my call for civility. I call for unity. I ask the leftists 
here, the socialists who want to deconstruct this great Nation, to stop 
the nonsense and join with me in building our country, not tearing it 
down. I condemn the violence we saw all over the United States from May 
to the present, from Portland to Washington, D.C., led by domestic 
terrorist organizations like Black Lives Matter and the pro-fascist, 
protocommunist Antifa. I call out the rioters at the Capitol last week 
and condemn their violation of our House proceedings, indeed directly 
stopping me from conducting House business. My request for a remand for 
the state legislature to double check electoral integrity lost 
cosponsors and lost immediacy because of the violence that day. I thank 
the overwhelmed Capitol Police.
  Unlike some of my colleagues, I note my long-term support for our 
police. It is not a fashion for me, as it is others, who condemn police 
and seek to defund it on one day, and then after feeling scared and 
vulnerable, call for more police. I remain consistent in my support for 
ethical law enforcement. I wish they had back up that day and were able 
to arrest and stop any incursion. The leftists in this body have brow 
beaten our law enforcement to such a degree the rules of engagement are 
not known to even themselves. All law enforcement knows is one mistake 
and they are cancelled. It does not have to be that way. It should not 
be that way.
  For these reasons, Madam Speaker, I stand in opposition of the 
resolution and the invocation of the 25th Amendment and I voted No. 
Now, more than ever, God bless these United States.

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