[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 110 (Friday, June 23, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RELATING TO THE CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 503, IMPEACHING JOSEPH R. 
    BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR HIGH CRIMES AND 
                              MISDEMEANORS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 22, 2023

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, impeachment is serious, yet here we are 
engaged in a baseless political stunt to impeach our current President.
  It is not a punishment, sought to be inflicted when one branch of 
government merely dislikes what a coordinate branch has done.
  It is a serious remedy designed to prevent abuses of power and is 
designed to ensure that ours remains a government of, by, and for the 
people.
  The Constitution governs the order of our nation, and it dictates the 
work of the Congress.
  Article I details the powers of the House and the exercising of these 
powers as they relate to the coordinate, coequal branches of 
government, codified in Articles II and Articles III: three equal 
branches of government coexisting and cohesively working to provide 
oversight to the respective actions of the Congress, the Executive and 
Judiciary.
  This has worked, with challenges of course, since 1789, yet the 
outright abuse of our Constitution to use impeachment as a political 
tool is an abomination of our congressional duties.
  This impeachment resolution is centered on accusations that the Biden 
Administration lacks appropriate security at the Southern U.S. border.
  The resolution of impeachment specifically states that President 
Biden's conduct and dereliction of duty in these matters ``warrants 
impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United 
States.''
  This accusation, that the President of the United States has abused 
his powers and that his conduct is in dereliction of his duties as 
President is flatly outrageous.
  When the Framers of our Constitution designed our government, they 
bifurcated power between the federal and state governrnents, and 
divided arnong the branches.
  They vested in the Congress the capacity to make the laws, and in the 
Executive the power to faithfully execute those laws.
  Because the House enjoyed a natural superiority, as most 
representative of the passions of the populace, the Framers vested in 
the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment and made the 
Senate the judges.
  Entirely unlike the incredulous and now confirmed illegality of 
President Trump's behavior while in office, the President Biden has 
certainly not earned the same stain of impeachment from the House of 
Representatives and whereby his conduct absolutely does not merit 
conviction and removal from office by the Senate.
  When the Founders inserted the Impeachment Clause in Article I, 
Section 2, Clause 5, they did so to preserve our democracy, protect the 
American people, and to prevent the abuses and excesses of the Chief 
Executive.
  The Constitution has served our nation well for over two hundred 
years.
  In order to keep faith with the Framers and with our future, we must 
preserve, protect and defend that Constitution and all its provisions.
  This is why this impeachment attempt is not one that is within the 
national interest but a disgrace to our governrnent and its entrusted 
duties.
  I ask colleagues to vote no on this shameful resolution.

                          ____________________