[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
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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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