Conflict.
Ms. HARRIS. Mr. President, when the Framers wrote the Constitution,
they didn't think someone like me would serve as a U.S. Senator, but
they did envision someone like Donald Trump being President of the
United States, someone who thinks he is above the law and that rules
don't apply to him. So they made sure our democracy had the tool of
impeachment to stop that kind of abuse of power.
The House managers have clearly laid out a compelling case and
evidence of Donald Trump's misconduct. They have shown that the
President of the United States of America withheld military aid and a
coveted White House meeting for his political gain. He wanted a foreign
country to announce--not actually conduct, announce--an investigation
into his political rivals. Then he refused to comply with congressional
investigations into his misconduct. Unfortunately, a majority of U.S.
Senators, even those who concede that what Donald Trump did was wrong,
are nonetheless going to refuse to hold him accountable.
The Senate trial of Donald Trump has been a miscarriage of justice.
Donald Trump is going to get away with abusing his position of power
for personal gain, abusing his position of power to stop Congress from
looking into his misconduct and falsely claim he has been exonerated.
He is going to escape accountability because a majority of Senators
have decided to let him. They voted repeatedly to block key evidence
like witnesses and documents that could have shed light on the full
truth.
We must recognize that still in America there are two systems of
justice--one for the powerful and another for everyone else. So let's
speak the truth about what our two systems of justice actually mean in
the real world. It means that in our country too many people walk into
courthouses and face systemic bias. Too often they lack adequate legal
representation, whether they are overworked, underpaid, or both. It
means that a young man named Emmett Till was falsely accused and then
murdered, but his murderer didn't have to spend a day in jail. It means
that four young Black men have their lives taken and turned upside-down
after being falsely accused of a crime in Groveland, FL. It means that,
right now, too many people in America are sitting in jail without
having yet been convicted of a crime but simply because they cannot
afford bail. And it means that future Presidents of the United States
will remember that the U.S. Senate failed to hold Donald Trump
accountable, and they will be emboldened to abuse their power knowing
there will be no consequence.
Donald Trump knows all this better than anybody. He may not
acknowledge that we have two systems of justice, but he knows the
institutions in this country, be it the courts or the Senate, are set
up to protect powerful people like him. He told us as much when,
regarding the sexual assault of women, he said, ``When you're a star,
they let you do it. You can do anything.'' He said that article II of
the U.S. Constitution gives him, as President, the right to do whatever
he wants.
Trump has shown us through his words and actions that he thinks he is
above the law. And when the American people see the President acting as
though he is above the law, it understandably leaves them feeling
distrustful of our system of justice, distrustful of our democracy.
When the U.S. Senate refuses to hold him accountable, it reinforces
that loss of trust in our system.
Now, I am under no illusion that this body is poised to hold this
President accountable, but despite the conduct of the U.S. Senate in
this impeachment trial, the American people must continue to strive
toward the more perfect Union that our Constitution promises. It is
going to take all of us--in every State, every town, everywhere--to
continue fighting for the best of who we
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are as a country. We each have an important role to play in fighting
for those words inscribed on the U.S. Supreme Court building: ``Equal
Justice Under Law.''
Frederick Douglass, who I, like many, consider to be one of the
Founders of our Nation, wrote that ``the whole history of the progress
of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august
claims have been born of earnest struggle.''
The impeachment of Donald Trump has been one of those earnest
struggles for liberty, and this fight, like so many before it, has been
a fight against tyranny. This struggle has not been an easy one, and it
has left too many people across our Nation feeling cynical. For too
many people, this trial confirmed something they have always known,
that the real power in this country lies not with them but with just a
few people who advance their own interests at the expense of others'
needs. For many, the injustice in this trial is yet another example of
the way that our system of justice has worked or, more accurately,
failed to work.
But here is the thing. Frederick Douglass also told us that ``if
there is no struggle, there is no progress.'' He went on to say:
``Power concedes nothing without a demand.'' And he said: ``It never
did, and it never will.''
In order to wrestle power away from the few people at the very top
who abuse their power, the American people are going to have to fight
for the voice of the people and the power of the people. We must go
into the darkness to shine a light, and we cannot be deterred and we
cannot be overwhelmed and we cannot ever give up on our country.
We cannot ever give up on the ideals that are the foundation for our
system of democracy. We can never give up on the meaning of true
justice. And it is part of our history, our past, clearly, our present,
and our future that, in order to make these values real, in order to
make the promise of our country real, we can never take it for granted.
There will be moments in time, in history, where we experience
incredible disappointment, but the greatest disappointment of all will
be if we give up. We cannot ever give up fighting for who we know we
are, and we must always see who we can be, unburdened by who we have
been. That is the strength of our Nation.
So, after the Senate votes today, Donald Trump will want the American
people to feel cynical. He will want us not to care. He will want us to
think that he is all powerful and we have no power, but we are not
going to let him get away with that.
We are not going to give him what he wants because the true power and
potential of the United States of America resides not with the
President but with the people--all the people.
So, in our long struggle for justice, I will do my part by voting to
convict this lawless President and remove him from office, and I urge
my colleagues to join me on the right side of history.
I yield the floor
![[Image: Fraud_election.jpg]](https://www.sott.net/image/s29/588710/full/Fraud_election.jpg)
