Directing Certain Committees to Continue Ongoing Investigations Into Whether Sufficient Grounds Exist for the Impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 31, 2019
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, the House impeachment inquiry is about abuse of power. It is about betrayal. It is about corruption. It is about national security. It is about the undermining of our elections. It is about defending our democracy for the people.

The House is a separate and coequal branch of government. We don't work for this President or any President. We work for the American people. We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. Our job is to ask difficult questions on behalf of the American people.

What we are doing right here is consistent with the words of James Madison who, in Federalist 51, said the House should be a rival to the executive branch. Why did Madison use the word ``rival''? The Founders didn't want a king. They didn't want a dictator. They didn't want a monarch. They wanted a democracy, and that is exactly what we are defending right now. No one is above the law.

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