Pelosi Remarks at Press Event with Congressman Castro and House Democrats on the Privileged Resolution to Terminate President Trump’s Emergency Declaration
Contact: Speaker's Press Office, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Congressman Castro and House Democrats at a press event on the Privileged Resolution to terminate President Trump's emergency declaration. Below are the Speaker's remarks:
Speaker Pelosi. Good afternoon everyone.
We gather here this afternoon about a matter of utmost importance to our country. Every one of us – every Member of Congress, every official across the country – in serving in office, takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. To support and defend it.
The Constitution, which begins with our beautiful ‘We the people' – the Preamble to the Constitution, declaring our purpose. The words immediately following the Preamble: Article I, the legislative branch. The beauty of the Constitution, the heart and the soul of the Constitution, is the separation of power of co-equal branches of government to be a balance of power.
To achieve that purpose, the founders were very visionary. Many beautiful things came, followed that – the Bill of Rights and the rest – but what they wanted to do was to be sure that we did not have a monarchy, but we had three distinct branches of government: a check and balance one to the other. And, because the text of the Constitution spells out the responsibilities of each, giving the Congress of the United States, among other powers, the power of the purse.
The President's power grab usurps that responsibility and fundamentally violates the balance of power envisioned by our Founders. To defend our democracy, the House will pass Congressman Castro's privileged resolution to terminate the emergency declaration tomorrow.
I salute Congressman Castro for his work leading up to the moment, so that we are ready. And, he is Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He is a distinguished Member of Congress from the State of Texas, which has the longest border with Mexico. But, this isn't about the border, this is about the Constitution of the United States.
This is not about politics. It's not about partisanship. It's about patriotism.
And so, again, once we pass this resolution, we will send it over to the Senate.
All Members, as I've said, have taken the oath of office. We would be delinquent in our duties if we did not resist, if we did not fight back to overturn the President's declaration. To not do that would be to abandon our own responsibilities. We do not intend to do that.
With that, I am pleased to yield to the distinguished gentleman from Texas. The gentleman who, again, has been working on this for a while. And he has – he made sure we were ready.
Before I bring him on though, I want to say the distinguished Chairman on the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Nadler is in the Rules Committee on this very subject or other subjects because we have a busy week.
But Mr. Castro will be followed by Leader Hoyer, Whip Clyburn and Madeleine Dean, a member of our Freshman Class and an expert on our Constitution from Pennsylvania.
Now, it is my privilege to yield to the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Castro.
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Thank you so much. Beautiful, beautiful.
Again, with appreciation to the author of this privileged resolution – Chairman Castro. And with recognition of the support that he has gathered for it and so many of our Members showing up, even before we have voted on the Floor of the House.
Let me just say, and Mr. Hoyer referenced going to the border, I too was at the border this weekend with Mr. Cuellar in Laredo. And I tell you this for this reason, in Laredo each year – and I've been there three times – they have the most beautiful celebration of Washington's birthday. George and Martha both. And it's a multi-day observance of what our founding father and mother presented to our country.
To see – 96 percent of Laredo is Hispanic. To see the pride of heritage and the deep patriotism, side by side, just strengthening each other is a joy that I wish that all of the country could behold. The patriotism of the people at the border, which we consider a community with a border going through it.
What the President is saying about the border is mythology. It's not reality, but this is not about the wall. Whatever you think about the wall, think about the Constitution of the United States. Our colleagues have talked about believing our Members were doing this – I know that they will.
I know that our Republican colleagues care about the Constitution of the United States. I know that they believe in the separation of powers. I know that they don't want a President, Republican or Democrat, to usurp the powers of the institution in which we serve. I know that they are committed to strengthening the Congress of the United States, which is the institution we all serve, as part of the separation of powers, the checks and balances, the strengths we all bring in the People's House and in the Senate as well.
So, I thank all of my colleagues for signing on, for the leadership of Congressman Joaquin Castro. Do you still have the beard? He still has the beard.
[Laughter]
In any event, this is a historic moment for our country. Perhaps it affords us the opportunity for all Americans to have civics lesson about the Constitution of the United States, the protections therein including freedom of the press which is our strength – the guardian of the gate of our democracy.
Thank you all for being here. Thank you to our colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Castro.
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