[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2797-S2798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

  REFORMING INTELLIGENCE AND SECURING AMERICA ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--
                               Continued

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 7888, 
which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 365, H.R. 7888, a bill to 
     reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.


                          Mayorkas Impeachment

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this afternoon, Senators will come to the 
floor and be sworn in as jurors in the impeachment trial of Secretary 
Mayorkas. Yesterday, the Senate received the impeachment House 
managers, who read the two articles against the Secretary.
  Today, the trial will commence, and we will be in our seats as jurors 
for the third time in 4 years. But this time, Senators will preside as 
jurors in the least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized 
impeachment trial ever in the history of the United States.
  The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high 
standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse 
by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous 
precedent for the future.
  For the sake of the Senate's integrity and to protect impeachment for 
those rare cases we truly need it, Senators should dismiss today's 
charges.
  So, when we convene in trial today, to accommodate the wishes of our 
Republican Senate colleagues, I will seek an agreement for a period of 
debate time that would allow Republicans to offer a vote on trial 
resolutions, allow for Republicans to offer points of order, and then 
move to dismiss.
  Let's not kid ourselves about what is going on today: The impeachment 
of Alejandro Mayorkas has nothing to do with high crimes and 
misdemeanors and everything to do with helping Donald Trump on the 
campaign trail.
  Secretary Mayorkas has not been accused of treason or accepting 
bribes or unlawfully attacking our elections or anything of the sort. 
He has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. He did not blackmail a 
foreign power to dig dirt on a political opponent, nor did he incite a 
violent mob to wage an insurrection against the peaceful transfer of 
power.
  Instead, the hard right wants to exploit the supremely serious matter 
of impeachment for the sake of cable news hits and content for social 
media. This is an illegitimate and profane abuse of the U.S. 
Constitution.

[[Page S2798]]

  The Framers were clear: Impeachment should never be used to settle 
policy disagreements. Legal scholars from across the ideological 
spectrum have agreed to the same for decades. Even the Wall Street 
Journal editorial board, the darling of the conservative 
intelligentsia, argued a few months ago that ``a policy dispute doesn't 
qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor.''
  If our House Republicans want to have a debate about the border, 
Democrats are glad to have it. But instead of wasting time on 
impeachment, we should debate bipartisan legislation to secure our 
border once and for all.
  In fact, that is precisely what we tried to do in this Chamber just a 
few months ago. I worked with a handful of Democrats and Republicans to 
draft the strongest border security bill to come before the Congress in 
decades, before Donald Trump and the hard right killed it in its 
tracks. It was everything that Republicans could have wanted and more: 
a bill to hire more Border Patrol agents, reform asylum, fight the 
fentanyl crisis, and create brandnew powers for the President to close 
the border. It was strong, strong stuff.
  The National Border Patrol Council, the Chamber of Commerce, and the 
ultraconservative Wall Street Journal editorial board all threw their 
support behind our bipartisan bill. If both Chambers would have voted 
on it, I am certain it would have passed and be signed by the 
President.
  But that is precisely why Donald Trump and the hard right were afraid 
of it. Instead of providing a solution to the border, Donald Trump and 
his MAGA radicals want to exploit the border for political gain. And, 
today, with this trial, MAGA radicals want to likewise exploit our 
Constitution and try to gain an edge on the campaign trail.
  It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly 
partisan exercise, one that both conservative and liberal legal 
scholars agree fails to meet the high standard demanded by impeachment.
  So I will say it again: Impeachment should never--never--be used to 
settle policy disagreements. That would set a disastrous precedent for 
the Congress and could throw our system of checks and balances into 
endless cycles of chaos.


                                  FISA

  Mr. President, now on Senate business, the Senate might be stuck 
addressing the House's bogus impeachment charges, but that doesn't 
erase the fact that we have a lot of work to do in the Congress in the 
upcoming days.
  Before April 19, the Senate must come to an agreement on FISA 
reauthorization. Last night, I filed cloture on the motion to proceed 
to the House-passed FISA bill, and that vote is set to take place 
tomorrow.
  Democrats and Republicans are going to have to reach an agreement if 
we want to get FISA reauthorization done before the deadline. 
Otherwise, this very important tool for ensuring our national security 
is going to lapse, and that would be unacceptable. The House has not 
made our jobs any easier with this bogus impeachment trial, but that 
doesn't let us off the hook to work together quickly to get FISA 
reauthorization done.


                 National Security Supplemental Funding

  Mr. President, on another important matter, we are still waiting to 
see how Speaker Johnson and House Republicans will proceed on the 
national security supplemental package. One way or another, I hope--I 
fervently hope--that we can finally finish the job in the next couple 
of days, but that is not certain and will depend a lot on what the 
House does. The entire world is waiting to see what House Republicans 
will do about aid to Ukraine, aid to Israel, humanitarian assistance, 
and aid to the Indo-Pacific.
  Putin is watching closely to see if America will step up and show 
strength or slink away from a friend in need.
  And for anyone who thinks the war in Ukraine is just a regional 
conflict in Eastern Europe, the Chinese Communist Party would beg to 
differ. If President Xi sees America waffle in helping Ukraine, he may 
conclude that we will similarly get cold feet in the Indo-Pacific.
  Congress must finish the work on the supplemental once and for all. 
The time for waiting and delay has long been over. I urge House 
Republicans to continue working in a bipartisan spirit to get this aid 
passed. The security of America, of our friends abroad, and of Western 
democracy itself demands that we act.


                             Steel Tariffs

  Mr. President, later today, President Biden will call for the 
tripling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China. This is a 
strong and decisive response to continued unfair trade practices by 
China.
  I have long been a loud and fervent advocate of higher tariffs on 
Chinese steel and aluminum imports for years. When I first became 
Senator, I saw for myself how unfair Chinese practices were carving 
away at American production and American jobs. The deck has long been 
stacked against U.S. steel and aluminum workers for years because of 
the Chinese Government.
  For China, the equation is simple. They overproduce steel and 
aluminum with the help of subsidies and low-cost labor, and then flood 
markets with these cheap products and dominate any competition and reap 
the profits. American businesses end up falling further and further 
behind.
  Critically, the President is also calling for action to prevent 
companies from routing steel and aluminum imports through Mexico in an 
attempt to circumvent the tariffs.
  There is perhaps no industry that has felt the impact of China's 
unfair trade practices than shipbuilding. The United States was once a 
global leader, but now we produce less than one percent of the world's 
commercial ships. Over the last two decades, China has dramatically 
increased its dominance of the shipbuilding industry, putting American 
businesses and workers at risk and jeopardizing our national security.
  So the President's announcement today is a welcome step to getting 
American steel and aluminum businesses back on a level playing field 
with China. I can assure you, there is no shortage of American 
businesses ready to step up and compete in the global market.
  In my home State of New York, union steelworkers, in places like 
Western New York and Massena, helped forge the steel and aluminum that 
built America's bridges and buildings. And they stand ready, alongside 
other manufacturing powerhouse communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 
elsewhere who built America from the ground up.
  So I commend the President for his strong and decisive call to triple 
the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China. And Democrats 
will keep working to bring American businesses and workers back on 
level with the world.


                    Remembering Daniel Robert Graham

  Finally, Mr. President, today, we are mourning a colleague and former 
Member of this Chamber, Bob Graham, who passed away, yesterday, at the 
age of 87.
  Bob and I only served for a few years, but it didn't take long to 
realize he was a man of great integrity. He was a devoted public 
servant who dedicated his entire life to his beloved Florida, from the 
State legislature to the Governor's mansion, to the halls of the U.S. 
Senate.
  Our prayers are with his family and his loved ones.

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