GREATEST LIVING THREAT TO OUR REPUBLIC

GREATEST LIVING THREAT TO OUR REPUBLIC

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2025)] [House] [Pages H703-H704] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] GREATEST LIVING THREAT TO OUR REPUBLIC The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bresnahan). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) for 30 minutes. Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. I rise, Mr. Speaker, today, in the name of liberty and justice for all, in the name of government of the people, by the people, for the people. I rise to remind us of the words of Ben Franklin. He reminded us that we have a republic if we can keep it. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to warn all of the greatest living threat to our Republic. I rise to explain how we must deter this threat or we must remove it. I rise to explain how the consequences of doing nothing can be harmful to all that we hold dear. Mr. Speaker, our greatest living threat is a President who defies court orders. Our greatest living threat is a President who defies court orders. One can but only imagine what America would be like today if President Eisenhower had defied the order of the court in Brown v. Board of Education. It was Brown v. Board of Education that desegregated society to the extent that it is, that integrated it to the extent that it is, that probably has given me a means by which I can stand here in the House of Representatives. Brown v. Board of Education was a seminal moment in time. It was a moment in time which has changed time from the point of its announcements to [[Page H704]] this very day. Brown v. Board of Education has made a difference in my life and in the lives of many others. I am so grateful that President Eisenhower--who was reluctant, who was not a fan of Brown v. Board of Education, who didn't really want to deal with the great racial issues of his time. I am glad that he did not defy the court. There are things that he could have done to prevent Brown from being fully realized. Quite frankly, it has not been fully realized to this day. A President who defies court orders is the greatest threat to American democracy because that President has the ability to not only defy court orders but in so doing to become the final arbiter of what the law is. That President assumes an inordinate amount of power. That President will destroy what we know as the three branches of government, because that President will no longer recognize the judiciary and what the judiciary has been allowed to do since Marbury v. Madison. That President, Mr. Speaker, will become a person who is not only above the law, but that President will become the law, if we allow a President to defy court orders. What we must do to prevent this? We can prevent a President from defying court orders with impeachment, impeachment in two senses of the word. One, it can act as a deterrent. The other is it can act as a means of removal. If a President defies a court order, we can remove him, but let's not go there just now. Let's talk about deterrence. I learned from the last time I engaged in this impeachment process of the value of deterrence, impeachment as a deterrent. Here is how it works. If a President believes that he will be impeached for defying a court order, because he will in effect become the law of the land, we will no longer be a land where laws govern but a land where a man governs or a woman governs, a person governs. We are a land of laws, and we want to remain such. If a President defies a court order and if he knows this, that we can deter him or we can impeach him, he can opt to take advantage of the warning of deterrence. This is what I learned. This President or any President can be deterred if the President believes that impeachment is a remedy. If the President does not believe that impeachment is a remedy, then he can go on and defy the court's orders. If he believes that impeachment is there as a possible remedy, then he will not. {time} 1300 I say it can be a deterrence. I say it can be a deterrence if the President believes that we will impeach. I believe that if a President knows that we will impeach, then he may back off, and he may back down. I believe that this President knows that I will bring Articles of Impeachment against him. He knows that I have no fear of him as many others do. I believe he understands that those who fear him will cower. They are pusillanimous. I am not a pusillanimous politician. I will not kneel; I will not bend; and I will not break. I will stand for liberty and justice for all. Mr. President, you know that if you cross the line and if you defy court orders, then there is one Member of Congress who has pledged to bring Articles of Impeachment against you. Let that deter you, Mr. President. Don't go forward, Mr. President. Don't believe what the Vice President is telling you about defiance of court orders. Don't believe those around you who are trying to convince you that you can do this with impunity. Mr. President, you have been made immune to some laws, but you are not immune to impeachment. Impeachment is the final straw that can break the back of the camel who happens to decide that he is going to continue with his ruthless, reckless orders and defy even the courts of this country. No President--no President--should ever defy court orders because, at that point, that President becomes a dictator. We in this country have decided that we have a republic, and we want to keep it. If we are going to keep this Republic, then we must use impeachment as a deterrence, which means that this President has to know that it is there for him and that we will use it against him, impeachment as a deterrence. Now, let's move to impeachment as a form of removal. If a President defies a court order or court orders, then that President has committed an impeachable act. It is an impeachable act to defy your oath of office to execute the laws, to honor the laws of the United States, and to protect the Constitution. You are charged with the responsibility of defending the Constitution. If you do this, Mr. President, then you will now have committed an impeachable act. The question is not whether you will be impeached by way of a resolution being presented and not whether a resolution will be presented because you know that I am going to present that resolution. I am telling you now that I will present the resolution. If you defy court orders, then I will present resolutions to impeach you. I will present the resolution. Now, the question is: Will the Congress act? What will the Congress do? I believe that even some of the most conservative Members of Congress will recognize that we don't want a dictatorship and that if we don't act, then we will have a dictatorship. The consequences of our inaction and the consequences of our failure to impeach and convict would be a dictatorship. I don't believe that the Congress of the United States of America and I don't believe that the Senate of the United States of America will stand by and watch a dictatorship develop while they are in office. This is our watch. I don't believe that, on our watch, we have such persons who are going to simply stand by. There may be some, but I believe there will be enough to impeach, and I believe there will be enough to convict. That is because no one in this country, I believe, wants a dictatorship. If there are some who want it, then you don't know what you are asking for. Mr. Speaker, this is an alarm. I am warning our country. I want you to know that we are this close to a dictatorship because we have a President who is seriously considering, it seems, disobeying court orders. That is the line. That is the line in the dirt. That is the Rubicon. If you cross this line in the dirt, you will have moved into the area of impeachment, and I assure you, Articles of Impeachment will be brought against you. Mr. President, you are a Goliath. You have been made to be above the law in certain cases. You are a Goliath. There is nothing on the planet like you, it seems, because you happen to be armed with the nuclear weapons that are capable of changing life on Earth as we know it or obliterating all life on Earth. You are armed with the mightiest Army. You are armed, Mr. President, and you are dangerous if you decide you are going to move forward and deny court orders. You are a Goliath, but I will let you know now, Mr. President, that there are Davids among us. There are Davids, Mr. President. There are 435 Davids. The question is, will these Davids use their slings to bring you down with impeachment? That is the only question. I believe the Davids among us will do this. I believe that there is a majority on a given day when impeachment is brought who will vote to impeach. These are the Davids that will save this country. They will preserve the Republic. They will continue to have the justice that we understand we should have through the courts. They are the persons who are on watch, and they understand that this is their watch, Mr. Speaker. I would pray that the President would not move forward. I would pray that he will back down from his notion of defying court orders. I also know that if he does, the Davids of the Congress of the United States of America will bring him down. Mr. Speaker, I am one of those Davids. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President and to direct their remarks to the Chair and not to a perceived viewing audience. ____________________