Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, the majority on the House Intelligence Committee released a report on the evidence it has examined thus far in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. The report asserted that the inquiry has ``uncovered a months-long effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election,'' going on to say that the ``President placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States.''

Those are extremely serious charges, and the conduct they describe is undoubtedly worthy of congressional investigation, which is precisely what the House impeachment inquiry is designed to do.

Whatever your party affiliation, it is up to us in Congress--and particularly in the Senate--to examine the evidence, remain impartial, and treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves. But at the moment, too many Members of the President's party are stretching the bounds of truth in an attempt to defend the President's behavior. Certain Members on the other side have parroted the fiction invented by Vladimir Putin's intelligence services that Ukraine, not just Putin, interfered in the 2016 elections. One Member repeated this falsehood, recanted on live television, and then went back to making similar comments a few days later.

Yesterday, Leader McConnell, when asked to set the record straight, said that it was a matter for the intelligence committees to look into.

Well, Leader McConnell, the intelligence committees have looked at it. In fact, according to reports, the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee investigated the allegations that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election and found no evidence to support the claims. The Republican-led Intelligence Committee found no evidence, and Leader McConnell and so many of our Republican friends, in febrile obeisance to Donald Trump and his falsehoods and lies, have refused to even rebut that.

It is a dark day for America when a foreign leader who is our enemy can spread a false truth and is either defended or there is a lack of rebuttal from our Republican colleagues. What the heck is going on here in this America?

David Hale, the No. 3 official at President Trump's State Department, was asked by Senator Menendez yesterday whether he was aware of any evidence of Ukrainian interference in 2016. He said: I am not. He was not aware. Fiona Hill, another Trump appointee and a former NSC official, testified under oath that it was ``a fictional narrative.''

There is no doubt that the idea of Ukrainian interference in 2016 is a hoax perpetrated by Putin's intelligence services, echoed by FOX News and acolytes of President Trump's, who similarly have shown no regard for truth--none.

The fact that Republican Senators are repeating and amplifying this fiction or playing coy about it, as Leader McConnell is, is just wrong for America, wrong for the future of our country--a turning point, a dark point, in our history. And in my view, it shows the extreme depths--the febrile depths--to which certain Members on the other side will stoop to provide cover to a President accused of serious wrongdoing--a President who almost no American believes is credible any longer. Appropriations

Mr. President, on another matter where we could use some bipartisanship, in 16 days, funding for the government will expire. We have several important pieces in place to avoid a shutdown, including the recent agreement on allocations known as 302(b)s. Several sticking points remain, but overall, this is good news because I believe, left to our own devices, Congress could work through the final issues and make sure the government stays open.

However, a report came out yesterday suggesting President Trump may refuse to sign any funding agreement without securing funding for his border wall first. If all of this seems a little familiar, it is because it is. Nearly a year ago exactly, the President torpedoed bipartisan negotiations by demanding the very same thing--funding for his border wall--and the result was the longest government shutdown in history.

Funding for a border wall was a nonstarter for Democrats then, and it remains a nonstarter for Democrats now. The votes did not exist even within the President's own party then, and they have not materialized now.

We had hoped the President had learned his lesson, but it appears that exactly a year after losing this same battle, the President is considering a repeat of history and another Trump shutdown.

I hope cooler heads will prevail--I believe they will--but I would warn President Trump and my Republican colleagues, the last Trump shutdown was terrible for the American people and terrible for Republicans. It is in all of our interests to keep the President away from the appropriations process and avoid another Trump shutdown before Christmas. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Mr. President, finally, on SNAP, today the Trump administration announced it had completed a new rule that would potentially throw hundreds of thousands of needy Americans off food assistance.

Let me repeat. Hundreds of thousands of people who need food and have struggled to find employment would be kicked off Federal food assistance under a new Trump administration rule.

Right now, there are about 37 million Americans who receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The vast majority of them work, but they don't earn enough to feed their families, and those who don't qualify for assistance for 3 months out of every 3 years.

Under the new rule, the Trump administration would trample on States' abilities to request waivers to these strict time limits in areas of great unemployment. Nearly every State in the Union has requested a waiver at one point or another.

The Trump administration is driving the vulnerable into hunger just as the Christmas season approaches. It is heartless, it is cruel, and it exposes a deep and shameful cruelness and hypocrisy in this administration.

One of the Trump administration's justifications for these cuts is that they will save the government money. Well, 2 years ago this very month, the Trump administration blew a more than trillion-dollar hole in our deficit with a gargantuan tax cut for corporations and the ultra-rich. The Trump administration argued it was money well spent. Now, the same administration says we have to pinch pennies when it comes to helping the hungry, particularly around Christmastime? This makes the Grinch look charitable. The same Trump administration that has steered millions of dollars to wealthy agribusinesses and foreign- owned entities is now saying they need to save money by cutting off food aid to poor families who need it. This is jarring hypocrisy, and it shows clear as day where this administration's priorities clearly lie--with the rich and powerful, not the most vulnerable members of our society.

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