Impeachment
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JONES. Mr. President, on the day I was sworn in as a United States Senator, I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Just last month, at the beginning of the impeachment trial, I took a second oath to do fair and impartial justice, according to the same Constitution I swore to protect.
As I took the oath and throughout the impeachment trial, I couldn't help but think of my father. As many of you know, I lost my dad over the holiday recess. While so many were arguing over whether or not the Speaker of the House should send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, I was struggling with watching him slip away, while only occasionally trying to weigh in with my voice to be heard about the need for witnesses in the upcoming impeachment trial. My dad was a great man, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who did his best to instill in me the values of right and wrong as I grew up in Fairfield, AL. He was also a fierce patriot who loved this country. Although, fortunately, he was never called on to do so, I firmly believe he would have placed his country even above his family because he knew and understood fully what America and the freedoms and liberties that come with her mean to everyone in this great country and, significantly, to people around the world.
I know he would have put his country before any allegiance to any political party or even to any President. He was on the younger side of that ``greatest generation'' who joined the Navy at age 17 to serve our great military. That service and love of country shaped him into the man of principle that he was, instilling in me those same principles. In thinking of him, his patriotism, his principles, and how he raised me, I am reminded of Robert Kennedy's words that were mentioned in this trial:
Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.
Candidly, to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I fear that moral courage, country before party is a rare commodity these days. We can write about it and talk about it in speeches and in the media, but it is harder to put into action when political careers may be on the line. Nowhere is the dilemma more difficult than in an impeachment of the President of the United States. Very early on in this process, I implored my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in both Houses of Congress, to stay out of their political and partisan corners. Many did, but so many did not. Even the media continually view this entire process through partisan, political eyes and how it may or may not affect an election. That is unfortunate. The country deserves better, and we must find a way to move beyond such partisan divides.
The solemn oaths that I have taken have been my guides during what has been a difficult time for the country, my State, and for me personally. I did not run for the Senate hoping to participate in the impeachment trial of a duly elected President, but I cannot and will not shrink from my duty to defend the Constitution and to do impartial justice.
In keeping with my oath as Senator and my oath to do impartial justice, I resolved that throughout this process, I would keep an open mind, to consider the evidence without regard to political affiliation, and to hear all of the evidence before making a final decision on either charge against the President. I believe that my votes later today will reflect that commitment.
With the eyes of history upon us, I am acutely aware of the precedents that this impeachment trial will set for future Presidencies and Congresses. Unfortunately, I do not believe that those precedents are good ones. I am particularly concerned that we have now set a precedent that the Senate does not have to go forward with witnesses or review documents, even when those witnesses have firsthand information and the documents would allow us to test not just the credibility of witnesses but also test the words of counsel of both parties.
It is my firm belief that the American people deserve more. In short, witnesses and documents would provide the Senate and the American people with a more complete picture of the truth. I believe the American people deserve nothing less.
That is not to say, however, that there is not sufficient evidence in which to render a judgment. There is. As a trial lawyer, I once explained this process to a jury as like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. When you open the box and spread all the pieces on the table, it is just an incoherent jumble. But one by one, you hold those pieces up, and you hold them next to each other and see what fits and what doesn't. Even if, as was often the case in my house growing up, you are missing a few pieces--even important ones--you more often than not see the picture.
As I have said many times, I believe the American people deserve to see a completed puzzle, a picture with all of the pieces--pieces in the form of documents and witnesses with relevant, firsthand information, which would have provided valuable context, corroboration, or contradiction to that which we have heard. But even with missing pieces, our common sense and life's experiences allow us to see the picture as it comes into full view.
Throughout the trial, one piece of evidence continued to stand out for me. It was the President's statement that under the Constitution, ``we have Article II, and I can do anything I want.'' That seems to capture this President's belief about the Presidency; that he has unbridled power, unchecked by Congress or the Judiciary or anyone else. That view, dangerous as it is, explains the President's actions toward Ukraine and Congress.
The sum of what we have seen and heard is, unfortunately, a picture of a President who has abused the great power of his office for personal gain--a picture of a President who has placed his personal interest well above the interests of the Nation and, in so doing, threatened our national security, the security of our European allies, and the security of Ukraine. The evidence clearly proves that the President used the weight of his office and the weight of the U.S. Government to seek to coerce a foreign government to interfere in our election for his personal political benefit. His actions were more than simply inappropriate; they were an abuse of power.
When I was a lawyer for the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, there was a saying that the chairman of the inquiry commission and one of Alabama's great judges, Randall Cole, used to say about judges who strayed from the canons of ethics. He would say that the judge ``left his post.''
Sadly, President Trump left his post with regard to the withholding of military aid to Ukraine and a White House visit for the new Ukrainian President, and in so doing, he took the great powers of the Office of the President of the United States with him. Impeachment is the only check on such Presidential wrongdoing.
The second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, gave me more pause. I have struggled to understand the House's strategy in their failure to fully pursue documents and witnesses and wished that they had done more. However, after careful consideration of the evidence developed in the hearings, the public disclosures, the legal precedents, and the trial, I believe that the President deliberately and unconstitutionally obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with the investigation in any way. While I am sensitive to protecting the privileges and immunities afforded to the President and his advisers, I believe it is critical to our constitutional structure that we also protect the authorities of the Congress of the United States. Here it was clear from the outset that the President had no intention whatsoever of accommodating Congress when he blocked both witnesses and documents from being produced. In addition, he engaged in a course of conduct to threaten potential witnesses and smear the reputations of the civil servants who did come forward and provide testimony.
The President's actions demonstrate a belief that he is above the law, that Congress has no power whatsoever in questioning or examining his actions, and that all who do so, do so at their peril. That belief, unprecedented in the history of this country, simply must not be permitted to stand. To do otherwise risks guaranteeing that no future whistleblower or witness will ever come forward, and no future President, Republican or Democrat, will be subject to congressional oversight as mandated by the Constitution even when the President has so clearly abused his office and violated the public trust.
Accordingly, I will vote to convict the President on both Articles of Impeachment. In doing so, I am mindful that in a democracy there is nothing more sacred than the right to vote and respecting the will of the people. But I am also mindful that when our Founders wrote the Constitution, they envisioned a time or at least a possibility that our democracy would be more damaged if we fail to impeach and remove a President. Such is the moment in history that we face today.
The gravity of this moment, the seriousness of the charges, and the implication for future Presidencies and Congress have all contributed to the difficulty at which I arrived at my decision.
I am mindful that I am standing at a desk that once was used by John F. Kennedy, who famously wrote ``Profiles in Courage,'' and there will be so many who simply look at what I am doing today and say that it is a profile in courage. It is not. It is simply a matter of right and wrong, where doing right is not a courageous act; it is simply following your oath.
This has been a divisive time for our country, but I think it has nonetheless been an important constitutional process for us to follow. As this chapter of history draws to a close, one thing is clear to me. As I have said before, our country deserves better than this. They deserve better from the President, and they deserve better from the Congress. We must find a way to come together, to set aside partisan differences, and to focus on what we have in common as Americans.
While so much is going in our favor these days, we still face great challenges, both domestically and internationally. But it remains my firm belief that united we can conquer them and remain the greatest hope for the people around the world.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source