The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S5777-S5778 on Oct. 15, 2019.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, over the past month, evidence has emerged that the President of the United States pressured a foreign leader to investigate one of his leading political rivals. A whistleblower inside the intelligence community first raised alarms that the President applied pressure on Ukrainian President Zelensky that would benefit President Trump politically. The President himself then released a memorandum of his conversation with President Zelensky, which demonstrably validated the whistleblower's concerns.
In the weeks that followed, the House has received testimony from a number of State Department officials who have filled in additional pieces to this very troubling puzzle. Rudy Giuliani's efforts to dig up dirt on the President's political rivals were well known within the State Department and the National Security Council. The Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, was heavily involved with Mr. Giuliani, and we continue to receive additional information about Mr. Sondland's participation. His scheduled testimony in the coming days will undoubtedly be relevant and important.
Amidst all of this, the White House has engaged in stonewalling and outright defiance of congressional prerogatives. The State Department instructed its officials not to comply with congressional subpoenas, the White House has refused to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry, and the President has publicly and repeatedly sought to bully and intimidate the whistleblower.
As additional facts are unearthed, we have a responsibility to consider them with the best interest of our country in mind. The whistleblower was doing a courageous and patriotic act and must be protected. He must be protected. The Constitution made Congress a coequal branch of government. That role must be respected. The matter at the heart of the inquiry concerns the very integrity of our democratic elections, and it must be investigated thoroughly, completely, and in a nonpartisan manner.
Our Founding Fathers feared foreign interference in our elections and considered it one of the greatest threats facing our fledgling Republic. Once again, the wisdom of the Founding Fathers shines through. If a foreign country can meddle in or affect the outcome of our elections, Americans will quickly lose faith in our democracy. If Russia or China or Iran controls our elections, what the heck do we vote for? So the alleged offense by the President is clearly serious enough to warrant an investigation by Congress, and that is exactly what the House of Representatives is doing in its impeachment inquiry, and it must continue unimpeded.
We can do two things, and we must do them. We can protect the Constitution and take action to help average working families at the same time. Here in the Senate, we can do both: protect the Constitution and help average working families. It is not either-or. It is not one or the other.
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