Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, first, let me thank my friend from South Dakota for his wonderful words on Thanksgiving.

I was going to conclude with Thanksgiving, but I will start with it. It is a great holiday. It is a great American holiday. I love it, and my family loves it. I was born on Thanksgiving Day. My new grandson was born on November 24, so he will have birthdays on Thanksgiving as well. This year, for the first time, the Schumers will celebrate with four generations, because my parents, who also served in the Army Air Force in World War II--my dad, 96, and my mom, 91--will be there with their little great-grandson, Noah. We are blessed.

Thanksgiving is family and food. What could be better than that? They are two great parts of the holiday. I will not carve the turkey like Thune does because it would get all screwed up, but I can dole out the mashed potatoes--I am good at that--which is probably what they will have me do. It is a great holiday, and we do have a great deal to thank God and the country for.

The wonderful thing about Thanksgiving is, from its origins during the Civil War--one of the worst, most horrible times in America, with so much death and mayhem and division--people were still grateful for America, and we are today. It is an amazing place. My father was an exterminator, and I am a U.S. Senator. What an amazing country this is, and we should never stop trying to make it better. I try to do that every day. I am thankful that I live in a country in which you can try to make it better.

I am thankful for many, many things--family, with our new addition this year. Iris and I are so happy about that. We have great kids and a great daughter-in-law and son-in-law. There is just a lot to be thankful for, and it is nice to take a pause, amidst all the fighting and partisanship here, to be grateful. Impeachment

Madam President, now, on some more legislative, Senatorial, governmental subjects, the Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, provided some of the most significant testimony yesterday in the House impeachment inquiry to date.

Ambassador Sondland asserted a ``quid pro quo,'' linking the offer of a White House meeting--an official act--in exchange for Ukrainian officials' announcing an investigation into Burisma and the 2016 elections. President Trump tried to rebut that quid pro quo by saying he told Sondland on the phone there was no quid pro quo. Donald Trump is not known for telling the truth, particularly when his own self- interest is at stake. So it doesn't stand up very well compared to Sondland's words.

Sondland went on to testify to his understanding that President Trump's suspension of military aid to Ukraine was also conditioned on the announcement of these same investigations. Those investigations, of course, had nothing to do with national security or any other interests of the United States. On the contrary, they were solely in President Trump's personal, political interests.

Ambassador Sondland also testified that Secretary Pompeo, Secretary Perry, Chief of Staff Mulvaney, and other senior advisers to those individuals were well aware of these activities and the connection between White House policy and requests from the President to have Ukraine announce investigations that would be politically advantageous to President Trump.

Let me repeat: Those individuals I just mentioned--Pompeo, Perry, Mulvaney, and a few of their senior advisers--were identified by Ambassador Sondland as having information and knowledge of the events that are central to this impeachment inquiry. All of them are currently refusing to testify, are defying subpoenas from the House of Representatives, and, in some cases, are challenging those subpoenas in court.

This morning, I would strongly urge the courts that have jurisdiction over these cases to quickly resolve them. The individuals named in these subpoenas are fact witnesses in the pending House impeachment inquiry. In addition, these officials and others are withholding evidence in the form of documents that are, unquestionably, material to the impeachment inquiry. Ambassador Sondland's testimony demonstrated even more pointedly why it is so essential that the witnesses who have been summoned must comply and why the courts should promptly enforce House subpoenas in the pending cases.

When I hear the courts say that in 5 weeks or in 6 weeks, they will have court hearings or decisions--I have never practiced in these Washington courts; I have a law degree, but I am not a practicing lawyer--I don't understand, and I think Americans don't understand why the courts take so long when there is such an important issue before them. All of the judges have a responsibility to make decisions quickly and soon so that if they agree that these people should be compelled to testify--and I don't know what the decisions will be--that their testimony would be received in a timely manner.

We have two groups of people at the moment. One group is testifying under oath in the House inquiry that there was a ``quid pro quo'' and substantial wrongdoing. Another group is denying any wrongdoing but is refusing to comply with subpoenas or to testify under oath. If these individuals feel they have exculpatory evidence to provide or that the testimony provided to the House is incorrect, they should testify under oath. Otherwise, the American people will rightly wonder why they refuse to do so.

Let me just repeat what I said in the last few days: If Donald Trump tweets away at how wrong these witnesses are, let him come before the committee, under oath, and testify to what he tweets. Speaker Pelosi has said she would welcome President Trump's coming and testifying. President Trump has not been silent on these issues. He has been tweeting away--ridiculing the witnesses and saying what they have said is wrong. Well, if he is right, has nothing to hide, and wants to convince the American people and the House of Representatives, let him come under oath and tell his side of the story. When he doesn't come under oath--and he can do it tomorrow or in the next few days--the American people will ask: Mr. President, what are you hiding? What are you not telling the truth about? Appropriations

Madam President, on appropriations, later today, the Senate is set to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 20, which will send it to the President's desk. I am optimistic that the passage of the continuing resolution today will be something from which Congress can build--a sign that appropriators from both sides of the aisle will be ready to work together to settle government funding by the end of the calendar year.

With another month's time at our disposal, the appropriations process can now go down one of two paths. On the first path, President Trump stays out of our way and gives Congress the space to work together and find agreement. On the second path, President Trump stomps his feet, makes impossible demands, and prevents his party--the Republicans--from coming to a fair arrangement.

The first path leads to a bipartisan deal on appropriations and guaranteed, long-term funding for both Republican and Democratic priorities. The second path leads, as we all know, to another Trump government shutdown. I hope the passage of the continuing resolution will be the first step down the bipartisan path that will lead to successful agreement by the end of the year. Hong Kong

Madam President, on Hong Kong, 2 days ago, the Senate passed legislation, by unanimous consent, committing the United States to stand with the brave citizens of Hong Kong, who are now engaged in a fierce struggle to defend their civil and human rights. Last night, the House of Representatives followed suit by a vote of 417 to 1. Only a short time ago, I took part in a bipartisan signing ceremony for the legislation. Now it will head straight to the President's desk. Congress has just sent an unmistakable message to the Chinese Communist Party that the United States stands with the people of Hong Kong.

President Xi, the U.S. Government has spoken. This legislation represents what America really thinks about your policies toward Hong Kong, not what President Trump may whisper in your ear. This legislation shows what Americans think about the Chinese Communist Party's treatment of Hong Kong.

I would say to President Xi and to the Chinese leadership, the Communist Party leadership: You cannot be a great nation when you oppose freedom, deny civil liberties, and brutally suppress your own people from one end of China to the other, as the Chinese Communist Party has done to the people of Hong Kong, to the Uighurs, and to the millions of citizens whose voices have been silenced and whose rights have been trampled on by the Chinese Government.

To the people of China, we stand with you in freedom.

To the students and young people in Hong Kong, we stand with you.

To the Uighurs, who simply want to practice their religion, we stand with you.

I believe that freedom will prevail and that the Chinese system will either change or it will fail. History is not kind to those who peddle in autocracy and suppression.

I thank all of my colleagues. This was one of the rare, fine, bipartisan moments on the floor of the Senate. Our colleagues on both sides of the aisle--the Senators from Florida and Idaho, Messrs. Rubio and Risch; the Senators from Maryland and New Jersey, Messrs. Cardin and Menendez; as well as Senator Merkley and Senator Cornyn--all worked hard to put together a very strong bill, and we came together. This has been an important bipartisan moment. It goes to show how Congress is still capable of doing big things.

As we enter the Thanksgiving break, we should think about the other issues we could debate, about the other bipartisan bills on which we could vote, those of lowering the cost of prescription drugs, of securing our elections, of helping our veterans, and more. Passing bipartisan legislation should be the rule, not the exception.

It has been several weeks since we have had a real debate and a vote on any legislation in this Chamber. I hope that in the final weeks of this year, Leader McConnell will begin to listen to the pleas from both sides of the aisle to get the Senate working again.

A happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

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