[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E121-E122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMPEACHING ALEJANDRO NICHOLAS MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY,
FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
______
speech of
HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, this extreme MAGA
Republican stunt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is baseless. The
Democratic staff of the Committee on Homeland Security thoroughly
documented the many failures of fact and law in the articles of
impeachment contained in H. Res. 863. I include in the Record the key
findings and introduction of the Democratic staff report. The full
report can be found online at https://democratshomeland.house.gov/
download/homelanddemimpeachmentreportfinal.
Committee on Homeland Security,
Minority Staff Report,
January 29, 2024.
key findings
Republicans are abusing Congress' impeachment power.
Impeachment is an extraordinary remedy under the United
States Constitution. It is not a tool for policy or political
differences, and constitutional scholars and even some
Republicans agree. The Framers never intended for the
legislative branch to wield its impeachment power to extort
policy changes from the executive branch, and they certainly
did not intend for the impeachment power to be used to
placate extreme factions of Congress.
The Republicans' impeachment scheme is a sham. Republicans'
baseless investigation into Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is a
politically motivated sham to appease extreme MAGA Members
and partisan special interest groups. This impeachment has
never been about Secretary Mayorkas' record, as the effort
began not long after he was confirmed. In their rush to reach
a predetermined outcome, House Republicans have failed to
provide the most basic due process considerations to
Secretary Mayorkas.
Secretary Mayorkas is upholding the law and honoring the
public trust. Secretary Mayorkas has not violated the law,
let alone committed ``high Crimes and Misdemeanors''--the
Constitutional standard for
[[Page E122]]
impeachment. Secretary Mayorkas is carrying out President
Biden's policies in good faith within resource constraints.
He is following the law and has been responsive to Congress
and the American people.
Republicans are sabotaging Secretary Mayorkas' efforts to
secure the border. The Biden administration--including
Secretary Mayorkas--is working to solve the challenges at our
border in an orderly, humane, and lawful way. Secretary
Mayorkas has implemented new initiatives to stop dangerous
drugs from entering our communities; cracked down on
smugglers and cartels; and increased personnel, technology,
and infrastructure at our borders. Unfortunately, Republicans
are intentionally sabotaging these efforts by voting against
necessary funding because they prefer a political wedge issue
to policy solutions.
Republicans are perpetuating challenges at the border to
help re-elect Donald Trump. Republicans are using Secretary
Mayorkas as a scapegoat for the longstanding challenges at
our southern border. They are playing the political blame-
game to deflect attention from their failure to take
meaningful action on border security and immigration
legislation and provide necessary border security funding.
Republicans should stop this sham effort and instead work
with Democrats to enact border and immigration legislation
and provide the Department of Homeland Security the funding
it needs to carry out its mission.
I. INTRODUCTION
Since its formation in the wake of the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, the Committee on Homeland Security (the
Committee) has distinguished itself through dedication to
serious legislative and oversight work under the leadership
of chairmen from both parties. The frantic, partisan rush to
consider House Resolution 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas
Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and
misdemeanors, represents a betrayal of that hard-earned
legacy.
Sadly, in the 118th Congress, the willingness of
Republicans to waste their credibility on political stunts
comes as no surprise. MAGA Republicans have wasted their
opportunity to make progress on immigration and border
security policy. The challenges at our borders are real--but
Republicans have failed even to engage in a conversation
about bipartisan legislation to address them. They have
failed to provide necessary funding requested by the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They have failed to
provide resources for officers and agents at the border,
failed to fund the immigration judges necessary to handle the
influx of asylum claims, and failed to condemn the cruel and
deceptive acts of State and local Republicans who look to
score cheap political points by treating migrants as less
than human.
To distract from this abject failure and appease the most
extreme elements of the Republican Conference, Republican
leadership launched a baseless impeachment investigation into
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. This
impeachment is without precedent, without basis in the law,
and a total waste of time. Among its many fatal flaws, this
wholly partisan impeachment effort:
Fails to articulate any charge that might constitute
``Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.''
Fails to provide evidence to support the charges, such as
they are.
Fails to name the proper target for impeachment in a policy
dispute with the executive branch, if indeed a policy dispute
is ever grounds for impeachment.
Fails to provide due process to Secretary Mayorkas.
Fails to address any of the real challenges at our Nation's
borders.
Perhaps this shoddy effort is what Democrats should have
expected months ago, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of
Georgia insisted to her leadership that ``[s]omebody needs to
be impeached,'' without specifying any particular target or
reason for the impeachment.
REPUBLICAN ABUSE OF POWER
Instead of working to find commonsense, bipartisan
solutions to address immigration reform and border security--
which are necessarily and inextricably intertwined--
Republicans have, from the very earliest days of Secretary
Mayorkas' time in office, turned to character assassination.
Although their inability and unwillingness to enact new
policy is to blame, Republicans are angry that the Biden
administration has implemented its own border security and
immigration policies to enforce the law commensurate with the
resources provided by Congress. Secretary Mayorkas is
carrying out those policies, as is his duty.
This report documents the failed basis for this sham
impeachment effort and provides the facts behind the Biden
administration's efforts to address the challenges at the
southern border in an orderly and humane way, consistent with
the law.
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