Today, Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04) offered remarks on the House floor during the debate on articles of impeachment. Her remarks were as follows:
"Madame Speaker,
Words matter.
We’ve heard many words over the course of these last weeks.
Still, what strikes me are the words that are missing from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle — a gaping hole in the conversation, the words they cannot or will not mouth, defending a President’s conduct. Conduct that threatens our constitutional order.
And so Madame Speaker, I ask,
— When is it ever right for a President to coerce a foreign power to interfere in our elections?
— When is it ever right for a President to intimidate a foreign leader into announcing false investigations against a political rival?
— When is it ever right for that President to withhold congressionally appropriated aid to that country — at the expense of its national security and our own?
— And when is it ever right for a President to block a co-equal branch of government from investigating this scheme to cheat an election?
The answer, of course, is Never.
But that word does not come “trippingly from the tongue” of those who are making the choice to stand behind a man whose behavior is not worthy of their tortured words.
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By our vote today, we are speaking to future Presidents — and most importantly, to future generations.
We are declaring that:
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we will not tolerate foreign interference in our presidential elections – Americans alone will determine the outcome; and
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we will not permit a President to order the complete defiance of a co-equal branch of government.
Regardless of the outcome of this impeachment, the President’s tenure will end — and this body and our grandchildren will be left with what we did here today.
Ours is a generational duty, and about the love of country — and lifting our Constitution to its gravest protections, and highest aspirations.
Our Democracy is a matter of conscience, and by voting to safeguard our Constitution, mine is clear."
Rep. Madeleine Dean is a mother, grandmother, attorney, professor, former four-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and U.S. Representative for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania.
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