MAJORITY WHIP JIM CLYBURN (S.C.) FLOOR REMARKS AHEAD OF IMPEACHMENT VOTE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn delivered the following remarks today on the Floor in advance of the U.S. House of Representatives voting on two articles of impeachment against the President of the United States:



"Madam Speaker, I rise today feeling the full weight of my duty, as a member of this august body, reflecting upon our oath of office to 'support and defend the Constitution, against all enemies foreign and domestic.' It is my sincere belief that under the circumstances that bring us here today, there is only one path for us to take to fulfill that oath.

"Thomas Paine, in the first of his series of pamphlets entitled The American Crisis, published 243 years ago tomorrow, intoned that 'these are the times that try men’s souls; The summer soldiers and sunshine patriots will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but, he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.'

"These words were written at a time when our Founders were rebelling against the tyrannical rule of the British monarchy. Today we have a President who seems to believe he is a king or above the law. Paine warned us that 'so unlimited a power can belong only to God Almighty.'

"My faith leads me to take very seriously the final words of our oath to faithfully discharge the duties of the office, 'so help me God.'

"Madam Speaker; Three days ago, I joined with a bi-partisan delegation of our colleagues celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

"We laid wreaths at the memorials of Generals George Patton and Anthony McAuliffe. We visited foxholes that were occupied by some brave soldiers who fought in some of the worst winter weather ever visited upon a battlefield. And we visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery, the final resting place of thousands of them and General George Patton.

"They were not summer soldiers in their efforts - 75 years ago – too preserve the Republic, and we must not be sunshine patriots today in our efforts to protect the Constitution upon which this great Republic stands.

"While our fight is not in the trenches of battlefields, but in the hallowed halls of this Congress, our duty is no less patriotic."
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CONTACT:
Hope Derrick, Hope.Derrick@mail.house.gov, 202-226-3210
Ryan Daniels, Ryan.Daniels@mail.house.gov