Holding Power Accountable

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the congresswoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to affirm a simple truth: Congress is a coequal branch of government, not a ceremonial afterthought, not merely a suggestion box, and not someone that is along for the ride. We are constitutionally equal with our powers delineated in Article I of the United States Constitution.

Yet, under the Trump administration, we have witnessed a disturbing pattern: a blatant disregard for the constitutional role of Congress and its vital duty of oversight. Subpoenas are ignored. Testimony is blocked. Oversight is treated not as a safeguard and not as a constitutional role or duty of democracy but as an inconvenience of power, an inconvenience of having the audacity to do our jobs and to make sure, yes, sir, that you are doing yours, because that is a part of our responsibility.

It is what we take our oath of office for. It is what the Constitution and the Framers of the United States Constitution envisioned when they set out some 237 years ago to write the United States Constitution, that no one body would become so powerful that it could do as it pleases without any checks or balances.

Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. This is not about partisan politics. It is about the preservation of our Republic.

When an administration past, present, or future believes it can operate without oversight or accountability, then democracy begins to erode.

Congress has both the authority and the obligation to shine light into the darkest corners of our government. Oversight is not obstruction, it is our constitutional duty.

We owe it to the American people to ask hard questions, to demand honest answers, and to ensure that no one--I mean no one--not even the President, is above the law. That is not defiance, that is democracy.

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