Questions to the Senate

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. And still I rise, Mr. Speaker, and I rise today because I have a question. I have a question for posterity. I have a question for those who reside and dwell within the Senate. I have a question, but I also have a predicate for the question.

The predicate is this: Knowing what you know, knowing that the National Security Advisor was in the room with the President, knowing that he has indicated that there were concerns within him with reference to the President's dealings with other countries, heads of state, knowing that he took his consternation to the Attorney General of the United States of America, knowing that the Attorney General expressed some concerns as well, knowing what you know, that the National Security Advisor, not just another person in the room but the person who advises the President on concerns with reference to our security, knowing this, how can you possibly thwart efforts to have the National Security Advisor give testimony before the Senate in the impeachment trial?

I have another question. This question is one for eternity.

Knowing that the hands of history are writing your legacy, knowing that future generations, that your grandchildren, that the people who will look to you for leadership will read what the hands of history will record, knowing that history will afford you the opportunity to be on the right side, the right side of history, how can you possibly decide that you will conduct yourself in a trial for the ages such that history will record that you were on the wrong side of history?

My dear friends, this is bigger than you. It is bigger than all of us. This is about the country we love and government we have.

We have a great opportunity to do justice in the Senate, and the only way we can do justice is to have witnesses testify.

I said before that I believe that there would be 51 Senators who would vote to have witnesses. Today, I am absolutely confident that there will be 51 or more Senators who will move to have witnesses present themselves and give testimony. To do otherwise would allow the greatest country in the world to have history record that, when we had the opportunity to stand up for the Constitution, some of us turned our backs and looked the other way.

This is your time, Senate. This is your time, Members of the great deliberative body. I beg that you will do what you must and have witnesses present themselves so that we will have history record that we did the right and just thing.

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