Now is the Time for Congress to Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud American, and I rise because I love my country.

Mr. Speaker, as I stand here today, I would call to the attention of those who are within the view of what we are doing the fact that we are now some 35 days since the Mueller report has been made public. It was released before that, but it has been made public some 35 days.

This means that, for 35 days now, this administration has been above the law if we allow the genesis of the start to be the date that the report was issued to the public, made public.

The Mueller report is clear: The President was not exonerated when it comes to obstruction of justice. The Mueller report, in essence, has given this Congress the opportunity to fulfill its constitutional responsibility. That responsibility is to take up the cause of justice.

The Framers of the Constitution intended for the Congress of the United States of America to be the place where the balance of power is maintained. We are the check on the President, such that we can maintain the balance of power. It was never intended that there be a concentration of power within the executive branch to the extent that it is being concentrated by virtue of the actions of this President.

Allow me to explain.

This President has refused to honor subpoenas.

He has encouraged witnesses not to appear.

He has encouraged persons to avoid the responsibility that they have as holders of public trust, the Secretary of the Treasury to produce documents.

He is engaging and is encouraging others to engage in a coverup. This is a coverup. We, the Members of this august body, have a duty and a responsibility not to allow this coverup to continue.

When we took our oath of office, we said, by and through that oath, that we would defend this Constitution. Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution accords us the power to check the President so as to maintain the balance of power. When we refuse to do so or if we decline to do so or if we just don't, for whatever reasons, do so, we are not living up to our responsibilities.

Article II, Section 4 deals with impeachment. It is time for this Congress to start the impeachment process. I have been very adamant about this. I stand where I have stood now for more than 2 years. I have been said to be the voice of impeachment in the Congress. I am not the voice. The Members of this body will be the voice of impeachment when and if we take it up, and I assure you we will. If nobody else does, I will.

But the point is, this is our moment. This is what we have been mandated to do, to bring impeachment before the House of Representatives, especially given that we said we would wait until the Mueller report was finished, and then we would act.

Well, time has lapsed, and this is the time for us to act. We are the Members who can make the difference. This is the Congress of the United States of America.

Let me add this. I know these are difficult times for a good many persons and there are those who question whether we should do this given what the Senate may do. Well, we do a lot of things knowing that the Senate will not act as we would have them act. We send bills to the Senate quite routinely knowing that the Senate will reject these bills.

But it is our responsibility to act, and we then allow the Senate to do its job. If the Senate chooses not to, that is on the Senate. The House will have performed its responsibility.

So let us not be guided by political expediency, the question of whether the Senate is going to act. Let us stand on the moral imperative that we have to act.

Some have said that the soul of the country is at risk. Well, the truth is this, before the soul of the country is lost, the soul of the House of Representatives will be lost if we do not act on this moral imperative.

This is what we must do to maintain the House of Representatives' integrity and its prowess as a coequal branch of the government, which some say has a little bit more authority than the executive by virtue of its having a check on the executive.

Mr. Speaker, each day that I come, I will show the amount of time that has lapsed during which this administration is engaged in a coverup and is above the law.

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