[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14389-14390]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           A PERILOUS MOMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Comstock). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Gallego) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, our country is facing a perilous moment. 
In my district, parents are reassuring frightened children that 
everything will be all right. That is what parents do. Our job as 
Members of Congress is to do the best we can to make sure that those 
reassurances come true.
  Madam Speaker, I was born and raised in Chicago. In 2000, I voted for 
the first time in my life. I voted for Barack Obama to serve in this 
Chamber. While he did not win that election, I was inspired by his 
message of reform, change, and hope. Throughout his life and career, 
Barack Obama has always tried to bring people together. Even in a 
highly polarized and tumultuous time, he has always tried to rise above 
and bridge those divisions and to be a unifying force for good.
  This is who Barack Obama is. This is who he was at Harvard Law 
School. This is who he was as a community organizer in Chicago. This is 
who he was as a State senator, and as our President.
  Right now, President Obama is discharging his constitutional 
obligation

[[Page 14390]]

to orchestrate an orderly transition of power to a new President. I 
understand and I respect why, under those circumstances, he has chosen 
to emphasize a message of national unity. I understand and respect why 
Hillary Clinton, who, despite the painful knowledge that she received 
more votes than her opponent, is doing the same.
  But I feel that I have an obligation at this moment, as do many of my 
colleagues in this House--I have a duty--to tell the truth about Donald 
Trump. We cannot treat him like any other politician or like any other 
Republican because he is not. Trump represents something much more 
dangerous; and while none of us want this to be the case, we have a 
duty to treat him like the threat that he is--a threat to our values, a 
threat to our people, and a threat to our national identity.
  Donald Trump is 70 years old, and it is unrealistic to expect him to 
change at this moment in time. Donald Trump is a sexual predator who 
brags about grabbing women without their consent. To date, he has been 
accused of sexual assault by nearly a dozen women. Donald Trump is a 
demagogue. His political mentor was Roy Cohn, Senator Joseph McCarthy's 
right-hand man. No surprise that Donald Trump burst onto the national 
conservative scene by peddling a racist birther conspiracy, questioning 
whether President Obama was even an American.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind Members to refrain 
from engaging in personalities toward the President-elect.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Duly noted.
  Donald Trump is a bigot. Even Paul Ryan called Donald Trump's words, 
when attacking a Federal judge of Mexican descent, the ``textbook 
definition of racism.'' Donald Trump is a liar. Senator Ted Cruz called 
him a pathological liar who is completely amoral to boot. Most of all, 
Donald Trump is a con artist.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is again reminded to observe 
the decorum of the House and reminds Members to refrain from engaging 
in personalities toward the President-elect.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Duly noted.
  Next month, Donald Trump is going on trial for fraud related to the 
fake university that bore his name. A series of exposes in The 
Washington Post have revealed the systematic misuse of funds at the 
fake charity he established. In Atlantic City, he enriched himself at 
the expense of creditors, investors, workers, and suppliers while 
running multiple casinos into bankruptcy.
  Every one of us in Congress--every single one of us in Congress--
knows who Donald Trump is. It does not matter what he says today or 
what he does tomorrow. His whole life and his whole campaign speak to 
who he is and to what kind of President he will be for our country.
  We should be horrified because it is horrifying. The man who boasted, 
I alone will fix this, will fix nothing. He has broken us apart. 
Millions of Americans are living in fear because he has threatened 
them--Muslims, Latinos, African Americans, women, the disabled, the 
LGBT community, and more.
  Donald Trump will be our next President. We here in Congress must 
oppose his agenda. We must oppose his efforts to increase his power. 
Anything that makes Donald Trump more powerful makes him more 
dangerous.
  Look at who Donald Trump is. Look at the life he has led. Look at the 
campaign he ran. No one should be under any illusions. Never more in my 
lifetime have we needed strong, aggressive, innovative, strategic 
leadership from the Democratic Party and the progressive movement that 
fuels it. Donald Trump will not be an ordinary President. Rather than 
helping him protect the country, we must protect the country from the 
new President.
  Madam Speaker, this is unchartered territory.
  In the days since his election, Trump has attacked the right to 
protest. He has attacked The New York Times for its critical coverage. 
He announced that Steve Bannon, a White nationalist racist, will serve 
as his senior adviser in his White House. He has committed to deporting 
2 to 3 million immigrants immediately. His team has threatened legal 
action against a Senator who criticized him; and on the campaign trail, 
he threatened to use the regulatory powers of the Federal Government to 
retaliate against his critics.
  Despite his promise to drain the swamp of corruption in Washington, 
he is stacking his transition team with corporate lobbyists. Trump is 
preparing to install foxes to watch the people's henhouse.
  Last but by no means least, he has refused to engage in any 
meaningful financial disclosures or to take any steps to effectively 
mitigate the conflicts of interest inherent in the President of the 
United States and also being the head of an opaque network of privately 
held companies. We don't know who he owes money to, and we don't know 
who is paying him. He has installed his children and heirs to manage 
his company even while they serve as top advisers to his transition.
  Given everything we know about Donald Trump and everything we don't 
know, I was alarmed by the words of senior leaders from both the 
progressive and centrist wings of the Democratic Party regarding their 
openness to working with Donald Trump on infrastructure. Under ordinary 
circumstances, we would welcome a plan to invest in America's 
infrastructure even if that plan came from the other side of the 
aisle--especially if it came from the other side of the aisle. But 
Donald Trump is not an ordinary politician. He is a con artist. He has 
refused to give the American people reason to believe that he is not in 
this to enrich himself.
  In fact, he has bucked tradition by maintaining his family's interest 
in a private corporation. Unfortunately, his infrastructure plan is 
really a privatization scheme.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair again reminds the gentleman to 
observe the decorum of the House. Members are to refrain from engaging 
in personalities toward the President-elect.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, duly noted.
  He is not reaching out. He is reaching his hand into America's 
pockets, and we must not let him do it.
  When President Obama took office, even Americans who didn't support 
him celebrated his election and what he said about our country, and we 
united in wishing him well. Here in Congress, however, Republicans 
announced that they would not lift a finger to help him lead our 
country.
  As Donald Trump takes office, even Americans who did reluctantly cast 
their votes for him worry about what his election says about our 
country. And if we are united, it is our fervent hope that he does not 
govern the way he has campaigned. Here in Congress, however, we cannot 
afford to give him the benefit of the doubt. We must not lift a finger 
to help him scam our country. We must, instead, put every effort into 
stopping him.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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