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

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up H. Res. 918 and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 918

Resolved, That the Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary are directed to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, including as set forth in the memorandum issued by the Chairs of the Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and Judiciary of the House of Representatives, entitled ``Impeachment Inquiry'', dated September 27, 2023. SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIVE PROCEEDINGS BY THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

For the purpose of continuing the investigation described in the first section of this resolution, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability is authorized to conduct proceedings pursuant to this resolution as follows:

(1) The chair of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability may designate an open hearing or hearings pursuant to this section.

(2) Notwithstanding clause 2(j)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, upon recognition by the chair for such purpose under this paragraph during any hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1), the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal specified periods of longer than five minutes, as determined by the chair. The time available for each period of questioning under this paragraph shall be equal for the chair and the ranking minority member. The chair may confer recognition for multiple periods of such questioning, but each period of questioning shall not exceed 90 minutes in the aggregate. Only the chair and ranking minority member, or an employee of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability if yielded to by the chair or ranking minority member, may question witnesses during such periods of questioning. At the conclusion of questioning pursuant to this paragraph, the committee shall proceed with questioning under the five- minute rule pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(A) of rule XI.

(3) To allow for full evaluation of minority witness requests, the ranking minority member may submit to the chair, in writing, any requests for witness testimony relevant to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution within 72 hours after notice is given for the first hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1). Any such request shall be accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance of the testimony of each requested witness to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution.

(4)(A) The ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability is authorized, with the concurrence of the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, to require, as deemed necessary to the investigation--

(i) by subpoena or otherwise--

(I) the attendance and testimony of any person (including at a taking of a deposition); and

(II) the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents; and

(ii) by interrogatory, the furnishing of information.

(B) In the case that the chair declines to concur in a proposed action of the ranking minority member pursuant to subparagraph (A), the ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the committee for decision the question whether such authority shall be so exercised and the chair shall convene the committee promptly to render that decision, subject to the notice procedures for a committee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI.

(C) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be signed by the ranking minority member, and may be served by any person designated by the ranking minority member.

(5) The chair is authorized to make publicly available in electronic form the transcripts of depositions conducted by the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in furtherance of the investigation described in the first section of this resolution, with appropriate redactions for classified and other sensitive information.

(6) The Committee on Oversight and Accountability may issue a report setting forth its findings and any recommendations and appending any information and materials the Committee on Oversight and Accountability may deem appropriate with respect to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution. The chair may transmit such report and appendices, along with any supplemental, minority, additional, or dissenting views filed pursuant to clause 2(l) of rule XI, to the Committee on the Judiciary and make such report publicly available in electronic form, with appropriate redactions to protect classified and other sensitive information. Any report prepared under this paragraph may be prepared in consultation with the chairs of the Committees on Ways and Means and on the Judiciary. SEC. 3. INVESTIGATIVE PROCEEDINGS BY THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS.

For the purpose of continuing the investigation described in the first section of this resolution, the Committee on Ways and Means is authorized to conduct proceedings pursuant to this resolution as follows:

(1) The chair of the Committee on Ways and Means may designate an open hearing or hearings pursuant to this section.

(2) Notwithstanding clause 2(j)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, upon recognition by the chair for such purpose under this paragraph during any hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1), the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal specified periods of longer than five minutes, as determined by the chair. The time available for each period of questioning under this paragraph shall be equal for the chair and the ranking minority member. The chair may confer recognition for multiple periods of such questioning, but each period of questioning shall not exceed 90 minutes in the aggregate. Only the chair and ranking minority member, or an employee of the Committee on Ways and Means if yielded to by the chair or ranking minority member, may question witnesses during such periods of questioning. At the conclusion of questioning pursuant to this paragraph, the committee shall proceed with questioning under the five-minute rule pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(A) of rule XI.

(3) To allow for full evaluation of minority witness requests, the ranking minority member may submit to the chair, in writing, any requests for witness testimony relevant to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution within 72 hours after notice is given for the first hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1). Any such request shall be accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance of the testimony of each requested witness to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution.

(4)(A) The ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means is authorized, with the concurrence of the chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, to require, as deemed necessary to the investigation--

(i) by subpoena or otherwise--

(I) the attendance and testimony of any person (including at a taking of a deposition); and

(II) the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents; and

(ii) by interrogatory, the furnishing of information.

(B) In the case that the chair declines to concur in a proposed action of the ranking minority member pursuant to subparagraph (A), the ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the committee for decision the question whether such authority shall be so exercised and the chair shall convene the committee promptly to render that decision, subject to the notice procedures for a committee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI.

(C) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be signed by the ranking minority member, and may be served by any person designated by the ranking minority member.

(5) The chair is authorized to make publicly available in electronic form the transcripts of depositions conducted by the Committee on Ways and Means in furtherance of the investigation described in the first section of this resolution, with appropriate redactions for classified and other sensitive information.

(6) The Committee on Ways and Means may issue a report setting forth its findings and any recommendations and appending any information and materials the Committee on Ways and Means may deem appropriate with respect to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution. The chair may transmit such report and appendices, along with any supplemental, minority, additional, or dissenting views filed pursuant to clause 2(l) of rule XI, to the Committee on the Judiciary and make such report publicly available in electronic form, with appropriate redactions to protect classified and other sensitive information. Any report prepared under this paragraph may be prepared in consultation with the chairs of the Committees on Oversight and Accountability and on the Judiciary. SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIVE PROCEEDINGS BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY.

For the purpose of continuing the investigation described in the first section of this resolution, the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to conduct proceedings pursuant to this resolution as follows:

(1) The chair of the Committee on the Judiciary may designate an open hearing or hearings pursuant to this section.

(2) Notwithstanding clause 2(j)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, upon recognition by the chair for such purpose under this paragraph during any hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1), the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal specified periods of longer than five minutes, as determined by the chair. The time available for each period of questioning under this paragraph shall be equal for the chair and the ranking minority member. The chair may confer recognition for multiple periods of such questioning, but each period of questioning shall not exceed 90 minutes in the aggregate. Only the chair and ranking minority member, or an employee of the Committee on the Judiciary if yielded to by the chair or ranking minority member, may question witnesses during such periods of questioning. At the conclusion of questioning pursuant to this paragraph, the committee shall proceed with questioning under the five-minute rule pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(A) of rule XI.

(3) To allow for full evaluation of minority witness requests, the ranking minority member may submit to the chair, in writing, any requests for witness testimony relevant to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution within 72 hours after notice is given for the first hearing designated pursuant to paragraph (1). Any such request shall be accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance of the testimony of each requested witness to the investigation described in the first section of this resolution.

(4)(A) The ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized, with the concurrence of the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, to require, as deemed necessary to the investigation--

(i) by subpoena or otherwise--

(I) the attendance and testimony of any person (including at a taking of a deposition); and

(II) the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents; and

(ii) by interrogatory, the furnishing of information.

(B) In the case that the chair declines to concur in a proposed action of the ranking minority member pursuant to subparagraph (A), the ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the committee for decision the question whether such authority shall be so exercised and the chair shall convene the committee promptly to render that decision, subject to the notice procedures for a committee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI.

(C) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be signed by the ranking minority member, and may be served by any person designated by the ranking minority member.

(5) The chair is authorized to make publicly available in electronic form the transcripts of depositions conducted by the Committee on the Judiciary in furtherance of the investigation described in the first section of this resolution, with appropriate redactions for classified and other sensitive information. SEC. 5. IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY PROCEDURES IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY.

(a) The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to conduct proceedings relating to the impeachment inquiry described in the first section of this resolution pursuant to the procedures submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee on Rules, including such procedures as to allow for the participation of the President and his counsel.

(b) The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to promulgate additional procedures as it deems necessary for the fair and efficient conduct of committee hearings held pursuant to this resolution, provided that the additional procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures referenced in subsection (a), the Rules of the Committee, and the Rules of the House.

(c)(1) The ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized, with the concurrence of the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, to require, as deemed necessary to the investigation--

(A) by subpoena or otherwise--

(i) the attendance and testimony of any person (including at a taking of a deposition); and

(ii) the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents; and

(B) by interrogatory, the furnishing of information.

(2) In the case that the chair declines to concur in a proposed action of the ranking minority member pursuant to paragraph (1), the ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the committee for decision the question whether such authority shall be so exercised and the chair shall convene the committee promptly to render that decision, subject to the notice procedures for a committee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI.

(3) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be signed by the ranking minority member, and may be served by any person designated by the ranking minority member.

(d) The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to report to the House of Representatives resolutions, articles of impeachment, or other recommendations. SEC. 6. ADOPTION OF HOUSE RESOLUTION 917.

House Resolution 917 is hereby adopted.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

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Mr. COLE. Res. 918.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, today is a sad day for myself, for the institution, and most of all for the American people. My duty today is one I do not relish. I am sure that every other Member of this institution feels the same way.

Yesterday, the Rules Committee met and reported out a measure under our original jurisdiction. H. Res. 918 formalizes an inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach the President of the United States.

Three months ago, at the direction of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, three committees--those of Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary--began this impeachment inquiry.

Over the succeeding months, the committees have done their work and have done it well. The inquiry is now at an inflection point. The three committees are nearing the end of their investigations. The White House has chosen this moment to stonewall and resist the legitimate investigative powers of the House.

Mr. Speaker, while I do not believe the House must hold a vote on the floor to initiate an impeachment inquiry, doing so may be said to be best practice.

We are taking up today's resolution that will formalize the impeachment inquiry that has already begun. This will ensure not only that the inquiry has the full authority of the House but also that the House can enforce its subpoenas and ensure that the Biden administration can no longer refuse to cooperate with the investigation.

I will briefly describe the procedures for this inquiry. The resolution tasks three committees--Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary--with continuing their current inquiries. It establishes procedures for conducting hearings and calling and questioning witnesses. It grants the minority equal time to question witnesses and the right to request their own witnesses.

At the conclusion of their proceedings, it provides for the Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Ways and Means to transmit their findings and supporting documents to the Committee on the Judiciary, which is the committee that traditionally considers impeachment matters. It gives the President the right to participate in the proceedings before the Committee on the Judiciary.

Finally, the resolution authorizes the Committee on the Judiciary to transmit to the House resolutions, Articles of Impeachment, or other recommendations.

The procedures we are adopting today closely parallel those the Democrats created in 2019. In fact, H. Res. 660 from the 116th Congress was our guide. After all, those procedures are now a precedent of the House.

Mr. Speaker, impeachment, especially impeachment of a President, is a starkly serious matter. It is something that no Member of the House should want to do. The House has rights and obligations under the Constitution. We are charged with providing the oversight of the executive branch, and we are the sole institution in the country granted the awesome power of impeachment. It is a power that must be used selectively and wisely, and only after full deliberation.

With today's resolution, we are ensuring that the House will be able to complete its inquiry. We will secure the evidence we need and uncover the facts we need to make that full and fair determination.

Only at the end of the road can we make a decision on how to proceed. I take no joy in today's resolution, but I know the House will do its duty. We owe our committees, the institution, and the Constitution no less.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), who is the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

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Mr. COLE. Just for the Record, all these amendments are on the website of the Rules Committee. It is not like they are mysteriously hidden someplace. They are in plain view on the website of the Rules Committee.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I do.

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot today, heard a lot about Donald Trump. We have had ad infinitum insults to the majority. We have had pejorative language. We have had pounding on the table.

Why? Simply because we want to empower three committees in Congress to do what the White House asked us to do; that is, to have a formal vote on the floor before they fully cooperate. That is all we are doing.

If my friends are so confident--again, as one of my colleagues mentioned from the Rules Committee--what are you worried about? It is an investigation. It is open.

We hardly talked about what the resolution is about, which is how we are going to proceed.

How are we going to proceed? Almost exactly as my friends proceeded in 2019. Their playbook, their play, their approach. There is nothing unfair that we are asking to be done.

Since September, the House has been engaged in an impeachment inquiry, examining whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to exercise its constitutional power to impeach the President of the United States.

Today's resolution simply formalizes that inquiry and grants the House full authority to enforce its subpoenas--subpoenas that have been denied as recently as today.

My friends have some pretty experienced lawyers on their side. Most of them will tell you it is better to have a deposition before you have a hearing, let alone a trial.

All we are trying to do is get the needed people who have been blocked or refused to cooperate to come in and testify under oath before Congress.

The resolution follows closely, again, as I said, the procedures established in 2019. It empowers the three committees to continue their existing inquiries. At the end of the inquiry, it provides for the Committee on the Judiciary, the traditional impeachment committee, to report to the House resolutions, Articles of Impeachment, or other recommendations.

It is deeply unfortunate that we are here, Mr. Speaker, but today's resolution will ensure that the House can fulfill its obligations under the Constitution. So it is with respect for the Constitution, for this institution, and for this great Nation that we proceed. That is all we are trying to do today. We had very little discussion of that, but we ought to entertain that.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to remind everybody of a few facts.

We have millions of dollars from foreign entities that have flowed towards shell companies that we didn't even know existed until the investigations uncovered them. We have whistleblowers, public servants of long standing that have come in and told us their efforts to investigate either Hunter Biden or the wider schemes that have been obstructed.

We have lots of things to be concerned about. Our committees need to be empowered with the tools that are required to pursue the truth and then come back and tell us what they found and have a recommendation as to how we should proceed. That is all today is about.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to yet another shameful effort to erode the founding principles of our democracy.

This resolution is a pitiful attempt to continue the politicization of our government's ability to function once those who are duly elected to serve seek to govern.

Impeachment is not a punishment, sought to be inflicted when one branch of government merely disagrees with or dislikes what a coordinate branch has done.

It is a serious remedy designed to prevent abuses of power and is designed to ensure that ours remains a government of, by, and for the people.

This is about the duty of the President of the United States--you do not impeach people because you disagree with their approach to their service to the country or to the provisions on their policy. We do not impeach people on that basis.

No, this resolution does not provide any meaningful or sincere effort to protect the American people.

Rather, this resolution sets forth nothing more than a partisan fishing expedition and should be rebuked as such.

Impeachment is serious, yet here we are engaged in a baseless political stunt to impeach our current President.

The U.S. Constitution governs the order of our nation, and it dictates the work of the Congress.

Article I details the powers of the House and the exercising of these powers as they relate to the coordinate, coequal branches of government, codified in Articles II and Articles III: three equal branches of government coexisting and cohesively working to provide oversight to the respective actions of the Congress, the Executive and Judiciary.

Specifically, Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 indicates that the ``House of Representatives . . . shall have the sole power of impeachment.'' Article II states that the ``The President . . . shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' Article II also requires that the ``President take care that the laws are faithfully executed.''

That language is stark and clear--and throughout our history it has been used in varying periods where the assessment was that the law has been breached.

Sometimes Congresses are concerned that the weight and view of the American people should be considered. Sometimes they are moved by the urgency of the matter.

This has worked, with challenges of course, since 1789, yet the outright abuse of our constitution to use impeachment as a political tool is an abomination of our congressional duties.

As constitutional scholars have long laid out the historical guardrails and mandates upon which must heed, I would like to point to a few salient remarks from the September 28, 2023, Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing entitled ``The Basis for the Impeachment Inquiry of President Joseph R. Biden'' as reminders for us all here today.

In the testimony of Michael J. Gerhardt, Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he highlighted the clear warning from Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, and what he foresaw in the dangers of trivializing impeachment through petty partisanship.

As quoted in Alexander Hamilton, No. 65, the Federalist Papers (1961), he states that impeachment may ``agitate the passions of the whole community , and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused. In many cases it will connect itself with pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the relative strength of the parties, than by the demonstrations of innocence or guilt.''

As Professor Gerhardt noted, ``in other words, an impeachment proceeding, including the initiation of an impeachment inquiry, must rise above petty partisanship in order to ensure its legitimacy.

And as aptly stated in the testimony of Johnathon Turley, Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University School of Law, in highlighting the carefully crafted powers vested in the House of Representatives pursuant to Art. I, Sec. 2, cl. 5. is that:

``The Framers debated and crafted this standard and process to avoid an `anything goes' mentality. That was the reason our Framers opposed the `maladministration' standards as too malleable and indeterminate. While we continue to have passionate and good-faith debates over the meaning of the high crimes and misdemeanors standard, it is not intended to give the House carte blanche for any impulsive impeachment theory.''

Nearly fifty years ago, my predecessor Barbara Jordan of Texas's 18th Congressional District, declared, in the first presidential impeachment inquiry in more than a century, that:

``My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.'' She noted ``those are impeachable `who behave amiss or betray their public trust'' (quoting from the North Carolina ratification convention).

In this vein, we should not be here today in efforts to betray and diminish our Constitution and rule of law.

The unsubstantiated accusations, that the President of the United States has abused his powers and that his conduct is in dereliction of his duties as President, flatly outrageous.

When the Framers of our Constitution designed our government, they bifurcated power between the federal and state governments, and divided among the branches.

They vested in Congress the capacity to make the laws, and in the Executive the power to faithfully execute those laws.

Because the House enjoyed a natural superiority, as most representative of the passions of the populace, the Framers vested in the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment and made the Senate the judges.

Yet, entirely unlike the incredulous and now confirmed illegality of President Trump's behavior while in office, President Biden has certainly not earned the same stain of impeachment from the House of Representatives and his conduct absolutely does not merit conviction and removal from office by the Senate.

When the Founders inserted the Impeachment Clause in Article I, Section 2, Clause 5, they did so to preserve our democracy, protect the American people, and to prevent the abuses and excesses of the Chief Executive.

The Constitution has served our nation well for over two hundred years.

Yes, in order to keep faith with the Framers and with our future, we must preserve, protect and defend that Constitution and all its provisions.

This impeachment resolution, however, is not one that is within the national interest but a disgrace to our government and its entrusted duties.

My Republican colleagues are sadly focused on the wrong priorities.

The American people want us to focus on helping their families, not attacking the President and his family.

This so-called ``impeachment inquiry'' is just an extreme political stunt.

President Biden is a good and honorable man who has spent his life serving the American people.

Extreme House Republicans are pushing these lies to try to smear him for political purposes.

They have been investigating President Biden all year--obtaining tens of thousands of pages of documents and dozens of hours of witness testimony--but have found no evidence of wrongdoing by the President.

In fact, over and over again, Republicans' own witnesses and documents have embarrassed them by debunking their ridiculous allegations.

They now want to waste time on the House floor voting on this extreme stunt, instead of focusing on advancing important priorities like Ukraine aid or doing their job to avoid a government shutdown in a few weeks.

No vote will make this baseless fishing expedition legitimate.

They have proven all year just how illegitimate this impeachment stunt is.

All a vote would do is put every Republican who supports it on record pushing an extreme agenda.

This is not what Congress should be focused on.

Democrats and President Biden will stay focused on putting people over politics.

As such, I ask my colleagues to vote no on this shameful resolution.

The material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as follows:

An amendment to H. Res. 918 Offered by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 7. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 12) to protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide abortion services. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 8. C1ause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 12.
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