[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 82 (Thursday, May 15, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2096-H2098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROUD TO BE AN UNBOUGHT, UNBOSSED, LIBERATED DEMOCRAT
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Green
of Texas was recognized for 30 minutes.)
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise, Madam Speaker,
proud to be an unbought, unbossed, liberated Democrat. I am proud also
to have friends, and tonight I will thank a couple of my friends who
have helped me with an endeavor that I believe is necessary and that is
going to generate a movement that will make a difference in the lives
of the people of this country.
Tonight, I will start by thanking my friend, attorney John Bonifaz, a
lawyer par excellence, a person who has been involved with the movement
to impeach and who has, through his organization, Free Speech For
People, they have collected more than 500,000 signatures for
impeachment.
These are the people who are at the genesis of this movement, and I
thank all of them for what they are doing.
I also thank another friend, a lawyer as well, but a great consumer
advocate, a protector of rights for people who we consider consumers,
and that, of course, is the attorney Ralph Nader. The great Ralph
Nader. While I missed his last birthday, I heard it was quite a
celebration. He is 91 years young, and I am grateful to him for all
that he has done. He has done things that have benefited people when it
comes to safety with automobiles, safety with consumer products,
generally speaking.
I thank them both for what they have done in this effort to impeach
and to inspire me to do the things that I will do and call to your
attention.
Madam Speaker, I also make note that on this evening, I have filed
Articles of Impeachment. The articles are H. Res. 415. I say articles.
There is really but one article within this resolution.
I will not read the resolution. There will be an appropriate time to
read it. This is not that time, but I do want to call to your attention
the fact that I have been censured not silenced, and I say this because
I will be presenting this resolution, but I have many more things to
say about the effort that we are embarking upon and because this effort
is so important to us, I will be talking about it a good deal of the
time in the future. I am censured but I am not silenced.
I am, at this moment, bringing to the attention of everyone the
countdown to impeachment. The countdown begins tonight with a message
that I have for my colleagues, for the press, for the public, and for
all who are interested in this topic. This message will be sent to
persons. It will be published. It will be on my website. It will be
available to those who desire to know the essence of it.
The message reads with a reference, and the reference is: ``My reason
for impeaching the President: The threat that we said Donald John Trump
posed to democracy prior to his being sworn in on January 20, 2025, has
become our reality.''
``To whom it may concern:
``I pen this communique with a heavy heart, driven by a conscience
that will not allow me to ignore my well-founded, strong preelection
condemnation of Donald John Trump as a threat to American democracy
that has now become our reality.''
{time} 1900
Currently, I am among the many who denounced President Trump as an
authoritarian, defined by Merriam Webster as ``of, relating to, or
favoring a concentration of power in a leader or an elite not
constitutionally responsible to the people.''
I am among those who have pointed out President Trump's failure to
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution by flouting
constitutional law, as well as the orders of Federal courts, including
the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
I am among those who strongly denounce the President's dangerous
flouting of separation of powers and undermining the independence of
the Federal judiciary by calling for the impeachment of Federal judges
who rule against him rather than appealing the decisions, as was
explained to all by Chief Justice John Roberts on March 18, 2025.
I am among the throngs who know that the President violates the Fifth
Amendment constitutional right to due process when he condones the
deportation by our Justice Department of anyone residing in the United
States of America to another country without providing them with
constitutionally mandated legal process owed to present evidence of why
they shouldn't be deported.
Regrettably, the President is doing the above things that I just
mentioned in tandem with expressions of American citizens being
deported while condoning the potential suspension of the great writ of
habeas corpus, another fundamental constitutional right.
I cannot in good conscience, as a Member of Congress, having said
what I have said, knowing what I know, wait until the next election to
deal with authoritarian President Donald John Trump's pre-election
threat to American democracy that has become a post-election assault on
our government.
The President has devolved American democracy into authoritarianism
with himself as the authoritarian. Authoritarian President Donald John
Trump is the problem. The threat of impeachment can act as a deterrent.
Should that fail, actual impeachment becomes the solution.
Having presented Articles of Impeachment that laid the foundation for
President Trump's prior impeachments, which contributed to his
Presidential defeat, I am compelled by my moral imperative, driven by
my conscience to act again.
In Federalist No. 65 of the 85 articles of essays contained within
the Federalist Papers, written to promote the ratification of the
Constitution, the great Alexander Hamilton explains that the subject of
the Senate's jurisdiction for trials of impeachment are those offenses
which proceed from the misconduct of public men or, in other words,
from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature
which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they
relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to society itself.
Contrary to what many status quo personalities may have you believe
and would have you believe, there is no requirement for the existence
of a constitutional crisis before impeaching for high crimes and
misdemeanors.
Because of the importance of this statement, I shall repeat it.
Contrary to what many status quo personalities would have us believe,
there is no requirement for the existence of a constitutional crisis
before impeaching for high crimes and misdemeanors.
In fact, in 1868, President Andrew Johnson was impeached for speaking
ill of Congress in Article 10 of the Articles of Impeachment against
him. Federal Judge John Pickering became the first person convicted by
the Senate. He was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in
1803 for misconduct as a judge and for intoxication. He was impeached
and convicted under the same constitutional law that all Presidents
have been impeached under.
Typically, there has been no constitutional crisis associated with
Articles of Impeachment. I have to repeat this because there seems to
be the notion that you must wait for the constitutional crisis before
you can initiate impeachment.
[[Page H2097]]
Typically, there has been no constitutional crisis associated with
Articles of Impeachment, although a constitutional crisis can exist
without any crime having been committed.
An authoritarian does not have to commit a codified statutory offense
to be impeached. I raise this point because there are many people who
are of the opinion that there must be some statutory, criminal law that
has been violated before one can be impeached. That is not the case,
not the case at all.
The constitutional law that authoritarian President Trump would have
Congress use to impeach a Federal judge for ruling against him, that
would be Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, is
the same law that has been used and can be used to impeach him again
for making his threats to democracy a reality. I will use that law
again.
Former President Gerald Ford was right--he was right then and now--
when he proclaimed that an impeachable offense is whatever a majority
of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in
history. Whatever a majority of the House of Representatives consider
it to be at a given moment in history.
For edification purposes, the Members of the House who vote on
impeachment are not given any instructions, as you might expect a jury
to be given. No one can tell them what the definition is such that they
must honor what they are told. People can suggest but, ultimately, they
are the judges of what impeachment is, and the standard that they use
they need not reveal to anyone.
Waiting for a constitutional crisis to impeach can be the forerunner
to tanks on American streets. Acting now, with my single vote to
impeach, can function as a wake-up call to impeach as well as deter an
authoritarian President and avert a constitutional crisis.
I believe in the power of one. I believe that one person can make a
difference. I believe that one person who has the ability to take a
stand to make a difference, I believe that that one person should.
Acting now, as was done before, can also become a part of the genesis
of a public movement similar to that which led to authoritarian Donald
Trump's prior impeachments and defeat at the polls in 2020, the
Presidential election year when he was defeated.
I said acting now could become the genesis of a public movement. That
is the movement that my good friends with Free Speech for People have
initiated, the movement that people across the country are engaged in
and talking about.
I don't claim that what we are doing tonight is the genesis. I think
it is a part, but I don't think it is the genesis. As such, I would say
to persons who would tell me: Well, he won't run again, why would you
impeach? To them, I would say: Because he doesn't have to have another
term within this term of office. I believe that he can be impeached for
what he has done immediately. Whether he will be or not will be a
decision for this Congress, but I believe that he can be and should be.
Although he won't run again, Members of Congress who aid and abet
America's devolution into authoritarianism will. This bears repeating
as well.
Although he won't run again, Members of Congress who aid and abet
America's devolution into authoritarianism will. I have not asked nor
will I ask any Members of Congress to stand with me. I encourage all
Members to vote their conscience.
As for me, I stand where I have always stood on the question of
impeachment which, of course, is a question of conscience for me.
Because it is a question of conscience, even when the odds are against
me, my position is, it is better for me to stand alone than not stand
at all. If I have to, it won't be the first time.
I believe that it is a question of conscience because it impacts the
entire country. It impacts the lives of people within the country. The
act that would bring us to the point of impeaching is something that
impacts society in a negative way, impacts the lives of people in an
adverse way. I believe this is a question of conscience. Because I
believe it is a question of conscience, I don't tell others how they
should conduct themselves, and I have not had any Members tell me how I
should conduct myself. I believe that how I conduct myself in terms of
trying to do what I perceive to be the right thing is something that is
between me and my conscience.
As a Member of Congress, I consider these actions by authoritarian
President Trump harmful to society and impeachable: condoning the
flouting of Federal court orders, flouting the separation of powers,
undermining the independence of the Federal judiciary, and flouting the
constitutional mandate of due process, all of which have devolved our
democracy into authoritarianism.
I opposed authoritarian President Donald Trump's behavior that made
him a threat to our democracy prior to his election and have witnessed
that threat become a reality. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience
fail to take action that the Constitution provides to protect the
American people.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed such questions of conscience
when he proclaimed cowardice will ask the question when you are
confronting these questions of conscience. This is what he said,
``Cowardice asks the question, `Is it safe?''' Is this the safe thing
for me to do? Can I get hurt physically by doing this? Is it safe for
me to traverse my neighborhood, to move across the country? Is it safe
for me to do it? Cowardice asks this question.
He goes on to say, ``Expediency asks the question, `Is it politic?'''
Is this good for politics? Will this help me to ascend to some lofty
position or will this bring me down? Will this be something that can
hurt my career? This is what Dr. King is saying: ``Is it politic?''
Madam Speaker, then he said: ``Vanity asks the question: `Is it
popular?'''
{time} 1915
Will I lose the smiles that I am greeted with? Will the people who
normally carry on conversations avoid me? Will they seek to make me a
pariah simply because I have done what I believe to be right? I am not
telling anybody else what they must do.
This is what Dr. King was saying. Is it popular?
Then, he goes on to say that conscience asks the question, and I say
this is the ultimate question: ``But conscience asks the question: `Is
it right?' ''
Then, he closes with the crescendo: ``There comes a time when one
must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular.''
One must take it because conscience dictates, and conscience tells
one that it is right. I understand that my stance may be neither safe,
nor politic, nor popular, but I honor the wisdom of Dr. King and take
my stance because my conscience says it is right.
It is not unusual for the U.S. House of Representatives to vote
multiple times before passing important legislation. Although the first
vote is not always the victorious vote, it is not always the final
vote. It can be a foundational vote. It can be the vote that can lay
the predicate for things to come.
I have filed and will make H. Res. 415, the Articles of Impeachment,
available to the press, the public, and all who would desire to know
what is contained herein.
I will call for a vote to impeach authoritarian Donald John Trump at
a time to be determined, knowing that the American people don't expect
me to always win. I am going to elaborate on this before I finish this
sentence.
The American people don't expect me--I don't speak for anybody else.
This is my belief. I don't believe that the American people expect me
to always win. They do want to know that on the great issues of my
time, when there was great challenge and controversy, they want to know
where I stood and where I stand.
They want to know: Am I willing to fight for the people whom I
represent? Am I willing to take a stand for people I will never meet
and greet but do it because it is not only the right thing but the
righteous thing?
Madam Speaker, the American people don't expect me to always win. I
sometimes measure my friendships by the people who are willing to
fight, fight even when the odds are against you, fight even when you
know that you are not likely to be victorious.
I think there is something about people who are willing to take up a
cause
[[Page H2098]]
because they know it is a cause worthy and worthwhile and a cause that
can make a difference in the lives of people.
I may not win, but I will know that I took a stand for righteousness
and that I made a difference. Maybe not at that moment, but in the long
run, the difference will be made.
The American people don't expect me to always win. However, I do
believe they expect me to always fight, and I don't mean in a
pugilistic fashion with fisticuffs. I mean to stand up and be counted
on the great issues of my time and their time, our time, on the issues
that confront the Nation and, indeed, the world.
I am honored that the American people have allowed me to have this
position. I am not going to allow posterity to look back upon my tenure
in Congress and say that when we had the opportunity--or I had the
opportunity--to take a stand for justice even when it might cost me a
career, cause me a lack of popularity, cause me a lack of safety. I
want people to know that I took the stand that could make a difference.
Madam Speaker, I want my friends to know that I appreciate all of
them who have stood with me over this journey. I want my staff to know
that I appreciate them greatly for standing with me. In fact, we stand
together.
I have a great staff. I have people who are committed not to work.
They are committed to a cause. They are committed to the cause that we
extoll when we say the Pledge of Allegiance: liberty and justice for
all.
They are committed to a cause of making sure that we maintain
government of the people, by the people, for the people.
They are committed to a cause that says William Cullen Bryant is
right, that truth crushed to Earth shall rise again. They understand
that when we do these things, people will say bad things and ugly
things. They understand that truth crushed to Earth shall rise again.
This is a great staff.
They appreciate Carlyle. They appreciate his wisdom when he said that
no lie can live forever. Let them say what they may. Let others do what
they may. We will do what we must and take a stand for liberty and
justice for all.
I have a great team, and I want them to know how much I appreciate
and thank them for what they do. This morning, I had two members of my
team come in at 8 o'clock a.m. Some would say that is not really early,
but it is when they are still with me at this hour, after 7 o'clock,
nearly 7:30. They are still over in the office, working. I have a great
team. I thank my team.
I also thank the people who serve right here on the floor. I thank
all of them for their kindness, courtesy, and willingness to help
persons who are trying to find their way. I thank the court reporters
and the clerks.
I thank the Parliamentarian for being a person who is true to his
mission. He sides neither with Democrats nor Republicans, nor anybody,
but always gives us the information as the rules permit him to provide
it. I thank him and all the people in that office.
Madam Speaker, I thank you. This, for me, is a historic moment. I
thank you for the time that I have.
To the persons who work in the cloak room, let me not forget them.
They are always gracious and kind. I thank all of you and the Sergeant
at Arms.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
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