[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S807-S808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IMPEACHMENT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, ``Remember this day forever.'' That is 
what Donald Trump said on January 6, in a tweet to his supporters after 
they had attacked the U.S. Capitol.
  I certainly will never forget what happened that day. I will remember 
the Vice President being removed from the Chair and whisked off the 
floor of the Senate by the Secret Service. I will remember the law 
enforcement officers, holding automatic weapons, standing guard in the 
well of the Senate while the mob spread through the Capitol building.
  The entire country and the world will remember the now infamous 
images of a murderous mob rushing the barricades, attacking police 
officers, breaking into this building, and rampaging through these 
hallowed halls.
  We will remember the incredible acts of heroism by Officer Eugene 
Goodman and others, to protect and defend those who work in this 
building. And we will remember the lives lost, including Officer Brian 
Sicknick, and the 140 police officers who were injured in this attack.
  On February 3, Officer Sicknick's ashes rested in honor in the 
Rotunda of this Capitol. He died defending this building and this 
democracy. I have thought about Officer Sicknick and his family often 
in the past few weeks.
  During the week of February 8, Senators served as jurors in the 
second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Former President Trump was 
impeached on January 13 by the House of Representatives in a bipartisan 
vote, 10 Republicans joining with Democrats to impeach.
  The Senate had a constitutional obligation to conduct a trial on this 
Article of Impeachment. We also had an obligation to make clear for the 
record and for history what happened on January 6 and the days leading 
up to it.
  What did the record show over the course of this trial?
  First, it showed Donald Trump's big lie: his claim that the only way 
he could lose an election was if it were stolen. When he lost the 2020 
election in a landslide to Joe Biden, Donald Trump refused to accept 
the will of the American people. He tried to challenge the election in 
the courts, losing over 60 times. He tried to bully State officials 
into overturning their States' election results.
  And when that failed, he invited his followers to come to Washington, 
DC, on January 6, the day when Congress would assemble to certify the 
States' electoral votes. He invited them to come to DC to interrupt 
that process and, in his words, ``stop the steal.''
  Donald Trump knew what his extremist followers were capable of. Over 
the summer, when armed extremists stormed and occupied State capitols, 
demanding an end to COVID-19 safety restrictions, he had cheered them 
on.
  On January 6, he whipped his followers into a frenzy. ``We have to 
fight like hell,'' he told the crowd he had invited and assembled. ``If 
you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country 
anymore.'' Then he told his followers--angry, inflamed, many of them 
armed--to go to the Capitol where the Vice President and Congress were 
certifying the votes.
  Donald Trump was not shocked what happened that day. He was excited. 
We now know that he ignored pleas from Members of Congress in the 
Capitol--members of his own party--who begged him to calm the mob and 
stop the attack.
  To this day, Donald Trump has not showed one ounce of remorse or 
regret. He later described his speech on January 6 as ``totally 
appropriate.''
  For 5 days, the House Managers meticulously laid out an overwhelming 
case for conviction. The managers had the facts, the law, the 
Constitution, and a mountain of evidence on their side. The former 
President's defense team did not have much to work with. They only 
spent a couple of hours making their case and spent much of that

[[Page S808]]

time showing cartoonish videos on repeat. The House Managers 
effectively rebutted all of the former President's defenses. The 
managers' case was clear, and it was compelling.
  That is why I voted to convict Donald Trump for inciting an 
insurrection against our government.
  I regret that more of my Republican colleagues did not join me in 
voting to convict and disqualify Donald Trump from holding future 
office. I wish the Senate had sent an unequivocal message that it is 
unacceptable for Presidents to incite violence in order to stop the 
peaceful transition of power. But that said, history will show that 
this was the most bipartisan impeachment vote against a President in 
American history.
  And it should not be lost that a majority of Senators--including 
seven Senators from the President's own party--voted to convict him. 
Donald Trump is no longer President of the United States, but the 
poison he has injected into our national bloodstream remains, and it is 
still toxic.
  As Americans reflect on the horrific, deadly events of January 6 and 
Donald Trump's role in inciting them, I hope we will remember that 
democracy and our Constitution do not defend themselves. They must be 
protected, preserved, and defended by ``We the People.''
  On January 6, that greatest tradition of American democracy, the 
peaceful transition of power that had taken place in every Presidential 
transition since George Washington's, was broken. Our democracy, our 
Constitution, and this Capitol building were attacked on January 6, 
2021. Brave Americans were wounded and killed defending them. And 
thanks to that bravery, our democracy endures.
  We must learn our lessons from this. We will remember January 6, 
2021, forever. And we must not repeat it.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the terrible 
events of January 6, the impeachment vote, and the need to hold people 
accountable for their actions.
  While the U.S. Senate did not achieve the two-thirds vote necessary 
to convict former President Donald Trump, this will go down in history 
as the largest bipartisan vote ever to hold a President accountable for 
high crimes and misdemeanors under our Constitution.
  Former President Donald Trump spent months pushing a big lie--that 
the November election was stolen from him. He inspired, encouraged, and 
incited a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in order to stop the 
certification of the electoral college vote, and then he did nothing to 
stop the violence, which caused massive injury and loss of life.
  I wish to convey my personal and deep gratitude to all of the Capitol 
Police officers who courageously put their lives on the line to protect 
all of us that day, and I join with my colleagues in grieving the loss 
of life and injuries that so many suffered as a result of this violent 
insurrection.
  This wasn't just an attack on a building. It was an attack on all of 
the people who work there. It was an attack on our form of government. 
It was an attack on our Constitution. It was an attack on ``We the 
People.''
  This bipartisan vote sent an important message: In America, no 
President is above the law. And inciting violence against our 
government is illegal and dangerous.
  Now, as a nation, we must move forward. We must do everything we can 
to bring down the temperature of our debates, find common ground on 
issues we care about, and reduce the divide in our families and 
communities. And we must continue to strive for accountability and 
justice. Our democracy demands no less.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, the first few weeks of the Biden 
administration produced an absurd number of Executive orders, soft talk 
on China policy, and the threat of open borders. These actions left the 
American people confused and diluted their faith in our institutions, 
but nothing made the American people feel more unsettled than the 
unprecedented second impeachment and trial of former President Donald 
J. Trump.
  Impeachment is inherently political. The fallout is everything but. 
Last week, I was able to spend time talking to Tennesseans about what 
they saw and heard during the trial, and I was struck by how fiercely 
most of them spoke out against the very idea of it.
  The House Managers didn't just fail to prove their case against the 
former President. They failed to convince the American people that the 
Members of the House of Representatives who supported impeachment acted 
in good faith when they drafted their single Article and transmitted it 
to the Senate for consideration.
  Tennesseans saw no serious inquiry into the alleged connection 
between the former President's words and the actions of the dangerous 
rioters who breached the Capitol on January 6, 2021. They remain 
unpersuaded by the arguments the House Managers offered to prove the 
constitutionality of the trial itself. In fact, the only thing they 
remain firmly convinced of is that this second impeachment culminated 
in nothing but a partisan show trial designed to humiliate the former 
President and wipe the voices of more than 70 million Americans from 
the pages of history.
  The Senate's vote to acquit the former President of these spurious 
charges put an end to the House Managers' charade, but it will take 
more than an entry into the Congressional Record to help the country 
rise above the enmity that fueled it. It is our duty to lead by example 
and get to work on behalf of the millions of Americans living under 
this cloud of anxiety, fear, and mistrust. I encourage my colleagues to 
quiet their hearts in the coming weeks and commit to doing the work 
that will put us on the path to economic recovery, quality in-person 
schooling, and a strong national defense. Only then will we be 
justified in asking those we serve to once again put their faith in us.
  I would be remiss if I did not associate myself with the comments of 
the Republican Leader honoring Officer Eugene Goodman for his actions 
during the January 6, 2021 riot at the United States Capitol.
  On that day, Officer Goodman found himself alone, facing off against 
a rushing tide of violence. Without blinking, he lured the mob away 
from the Senate chamber, protecting us from what we now know was an all 
but inevitable tragedy.
  I was honored to celebrate these acts of bravery and self-sacrifice 
by joining the Senate's unanimous vote in support of S. 35, to award 
Officer Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal. I thank him for his 
courage and his commitment to duty, and for his willingness to continue 
to serve here in the Capitol.

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