[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E121-E122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IMPEACHING ALEJANDRO NICHOLAS MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, 
                    FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 6, 2024

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, this extreme MAGA 
Republican stunt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is baseless. The 
Democratic staff of the Committee on Homeland Security thoroughly 
documented the many failures of fact and law in the articles of 
impeachment contained in H. Res. 863. I include in the Record the key 
findings and introduction of the Democratic staff report. The full 
report can be found online at https://democratshomeland.house.gov/
download/homelanddemimpeachmentreportfinal.

                                   Committee on Homeland Security,


                                        Minority Staff Report,

                                                 January 29, 2024.


                              key findings

       Republicans are abusing Congress' impeachment power. 
     Impeachment is an extraordinary remedy under the United 
     States Constitution. It is not a tool for policy or political 
     differences, and constitutional scholars and even some 
     Republicans agree. The Framers never intended for the 
     legislative branch to wield its impeachment power to extort 
     policy changes from the executive branch, and they certainly 
     did not intend for the impeachment power to be used to 
     placate extreme factions of Congress.
       The Republicans' impeachment scheme is a sham. Republicans' 
     baseless investigation into Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is a 
     politically motivated sham to appease extreme MAGA Members 
     and partisan special interest groups. This impeachment has 
     never been about Secretary Mayorkas' record, as the effort 
     began not long after he was confirmed. In their rush to reach 
     a predetermined outcome, House Republicans have failed to 
     provide the most basic due process considerations to 
     Secretary Mayorkas.
       Secretary Mayorkas is upholding the law and honoring the 
     public trust. Secretary Mayorkas has not violated the law, 
     let alone committed ``high Crimes and Misdemeanors''--the 
     Constitutional standard for

[[Page E122]]

     impeachment. Secretary Mayorkas is carrying out President 
     Biden's policies in good faith within resource constraints. 
     He is following the law and has been responsive to Congress 
     and the American people.
       Republicans are sabotaging Secretary Mayorkas' efforts to 
     secure the border. The Biden administration--including 
     Secretary Mayorkas--is working to solve the challenges at our 
     border in an orderly, humane, and lawful way. Secretary 
     Mayorkas has implemented new initiatives to stop dangerous 
     drugs from entering our communities; cracked down on 
     smugglers and cartels; and increased personnel, technology, 
     and infrastructure at our borders. Unfortunately, Republicans 
     are intentionally sabotaging these efforts by voting against 
     necessary funding because they prefer a political wedge issue 
     to policy solutions.
       Republicans are perpetuating challenges at the border to 
     help re-elect Donald Trump. Republicans are using Secretary 
     Mayorkas as a scapegoat for the longstanding challenges at 
     our southern border. They are playing the political blame-
     game to deflect attention from their failure to take 
     meaningful action on border security and immigration 
     legislation and provide necessary border security funding. 
     Republicans should stop this sham effort and instead work 
     with Democrats to enact border and immigration legislation 
     and provide the Department of Homeland Security the funding 
     it needs to carry out its mission.


                            I. INTRODUCTION

       Since its formation in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 
     September 11, 2001, the Committee on Homeland Security (the 
     Committee) has distinguished itself through dedication to 
     serious legislative and oversight work under the leadership 
     of chairmen from both parties. The frantic, partisan rush to 
     consider House Resolution 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas 
     Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and 
     misdemeanors, represents a betrayal of that hard-earned 
     legacy.
       Sadly, in the 118th Congress, the willingness of 
     Republicans to waste their credibility on political stunts 
     comes as no surprise. MAGA Republicans have wasted their 
     opportunity to make progress on immigration and border 
     security policy. The challenges at our borders are real--but 
     Republicans have failed even to engage in a conversation 
     about bipartisan legislation to address them. They have 
     failed to provide necessary funding requested by the 
     Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They have failed to 
     provide resources for officers and agents at the border, 
     failed to fund the immigration judges necessary to handle the 
     influx of asylum claims, and failed to condemn the cruel and 
     deceptive acts of State and local Republicans who look to 
     score cheap political points by treating migrants as less 
     than human.
       To distract from this abject failure and appease the most 
     extreme elements of the Republican Conference, Republican 
     leadership launched a baseless impeachment investigation into 
     Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. This 
     impeachment is without precedent, without basis in the law, 
     and a total waste of time. Among its many fatal flaws, this 
     wholly partisan impeachment effort:
       Fails to articulate any charge that might constitute 
     ``Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.''
       Fails to provide evidence to support the charges, such as 
     they are.
       Fails to name the proper target for impeachment in a policy 
     dispute with the executive branch, if indeed a policy dispute 
     is ever grounds for impeachment.
       Fails to provide due process to Secretary Mayorkas.
       Fails to address any of the real challenges at our Nation's 
     borders.
       Perhaps this shoddy effort is what Democrats should have 
     expected months ago, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of 
     Georgia insisted to her leadership that ``[s]omebody needs to 
     be impeached,'' without specifying any particular target or 
     reason for the impeachment.


                       REPUBLICAN ABUSE OF POWER

       Instead of working to find commonsense, bipartisan 
     solutions to address immigration reform and border security--
     which are necessarily and inextricably intertwined--
     Republicans have, from the very earliest days of Secretary 
     Mayorkas' time in office, turned to character assassination. 
     Although their inability and unwillingness to enact new 
     policy is to blame, Republicans are angry that the Biden 
     administration has implemented its own border security and 
     immigration policies to enforce the law commensurate with the 
     resources provided by Congress. Secretary Mayorkas is 
     carrying out those policies, as is his duty.
       This report documents the failed basis for this sham 
     impeachment effort and provides the facts behind the Biden 
     administration's efforts to address the challenges at the 
     southern border in an orderly and humane way, consistent with 
     the law.

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