c-span.org. house democrats also holding a briefing with reporters and we will have that for you in its entirety in just a couple of minutes. right now, though, here's a look at some of the floor debate from earlier today prior to the vote on the rules for the impeachment resolution. >> i take no joy in contemplate impeachment of a president because in contemplating it, we must acknowledge a threat to our constitution and the values that bind us not only as members of congress but as americans. we've tried to work within traditional means to get to the bottom of serious allegations of misconduct so that we can deliver the truth to the american people. committees have called witnesses and requested evidence only to be stonewalled. the president's defenders have tried to distract the american people by falsely claiming to have been excluded from the investigation while their stunts and smears have hindered the constitutional process. this resolution outlines ground

rules for the house as we move forward, granting the same or greater due process rights to the president and the minority as they themselves drafted when they were in the majority. we will have open hearings. they can question witnesses. they can propose subpoenas. they can present evidence. i am proud to sponsor this resolution. our constitution requires it and our democracy depends on it. with that, i yield back. >> gentleman from oklahoma. >> thank you very much, madam speaker. i yield two minutes to my good friend distinguished republican ranking member the house judiciary committee from the state of georgia mr. collins. >> gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker. no matter what is said by the other side today this is a dark day and a cloud has fallen on this house. it has been falling for ten months and it is showing itself today. what we are seeing is this. if the gentleman who the friend of mine from the rules committee

would actually want to talk about where these the same rules as clinton and nixon, then we would have had a much longer period of debate, because he knows and i know it is not. there are similarities, some better, some not, but they are not the same. the problem i'm having here is the resolution before us today is not about transparency, it's about control. it's not about fairness, it's about winning. you know how i know this? because the how the abilities of the transferring from intel committee to the judiciary committee will be had, and no time frame. and maybe we didn't know how to properly ask in rules committee, and i will tell you that we know properly how to use rules 2e that we were told by one of the committees that we could not have access because the parliamentarian said no, and this is false and it needs to stop. this house is developing and

shredding procedures everyday, and if the members of the minority and the majority cannot have the rights they are given, then we are in a sad situation. in the haste to put it together, they did not exempt the rule 211e, and it was known in the nixon and clinton impeachment, and we didn't exempt it this time, because we are in such a hurry to impeach this president that we don't give a darn. and so i have a question, we have been here 200-plus years as a committee, and our committee has been neutered and our committee who handles impeachment, and we have been sidelined and our chairman have been sidelined and i am sideline and so bad that they had have to have the rules committee write the presidential due process and give it to us, and i -- >> you have no more time.

>> i yield 15 additional seconds. >> i don't know what happened to the committee, but due process only kicks in for the judiciary of the presidency and not this closed door hearings of adam schiff and this a travesty and no one should vote for this and this is a sad day and the curtain isp coing down on this house, because the majority has no idea about process and procedure, they are simply after the president and i yield back. >> gentleman from massachusetts. >> madam speaker, i get it the friends from the other sides of the aisle want to talk about process, process, and none of them want to talk about the president's conduct and that is speaking volumes. i would like to yield one minute to the gentleman of florida and another distinguished member mr. hastings. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, chairman and i thank the ranking member cole for the manner in which you are shepherding us through the difficult process. madam speaker, it is time for the american people to see how

the administration put our national security on the auction block in exchange for political favors. at the heart of this scandal is the white house's decision to slam the brakes on nearly $400 million of military aid for ukraine. military aid for a vital partner. military aid that was desperately needed to beat back russian aggression. military aid that was key to our own national security and essential in keeping an adversary at bay. we know what our ukrainian friends thought about this. they were horrified. the facts are clear. i will talk national security experts, and viewed it as grave and dangerous mistake. and as we have seen time and time again, from the trump administration, this decision played right into vladimir putin's hands.

>> i yield an additional 20 seconds. >> i support pushing ahead in the inquiry, because i swore an oath to defend the constitution against america's enemies, and the american people deserve the facts of how this abuse of power betrayed our national security and put our country at risk. >> gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oklahoma. >> thank you, madam speaker, and i will yield as i must respond to my friend mr. mcgovern, and we are debating the process here, because that is what this is, and it is a process resolution to impeach the president of the united states. you did not accept a single amendment last night and you did not confer with us, and that is why we are talk process and it is unfair process and with that i yield to the member of the rules committee ms.lessko.

>> this process a sham. this motion to legitimate is a sham. this is entitled the open and transparent investigative transparent proceedings on intelligence and the process set forth in this resolution is far from open, and far from transparent, and in fact, it is the exact opposite. the resolution continues the closed door meetings that blocks entry to members of congress and prohibits the president's due process rights. and it merely authorizes but it does not require chairman schiff to make transcripts public. last night the republicans offered 17 amendments to add some fairness into the process, but democrats rejected them all. i had an amendment to ensure the minority witnesses could call an equal number of witnesses as the

majority. democrats said no. i had amendment to require the intel chairman to turn over exculpatory materials to the judiciary committee, and democrats shot it down. i had amendment to give ranking members of the same authority as chairman to submit material fos judiciary committee, and democrats rejected that, too. the process set forth by this resolution violates basic standards of fairness. i urge opposition to this resolution and i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentle lady yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. >> i recognize myself, and the gentle lady wants to talk about sham process, and let's talk about a sham process, instead of recognizing the constitutional duties of the congress, the white house has ignored our duly authorized subpoenas with well key documents and prevented

witnesses from testifying and trying to disparage members of congress -- and i yield myself another five seconds -- and disparaging members under the constitution of the united states. article one gives the house the right to investigate the president and we are taking the our responsibility seriously. madam speaker, i would like to yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, the chairman of the caucus mr. jeffries. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> the house impeachment inquiry is about abuse of power. it is about betrayal. it is about corruption. it is about national security. it is about the undermining of our elections. it is about defengd oding our democracy for the people. the house is a separate and co-equal branch of government. we don't work for this president

or any president. we work for the american people. we have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out of control executive branch. our job is to ask difficult questions on behalf of the american people. what we are doing right here is consistent with the words of james madison who in federalist 51 said that the house should be a rival to the executive branch, and why did madison use the word rival? because the foun ders did not want a king. they did not want a dictator. they did not want a monarch, but they wanted a democracy and that is what we are defending right now, and no one is above the law. >> gentleman from oklahoma. >> thank you very much, madam speaker, i yield two minutes to my good friend and distinguished conference chair for the republican party, ms. cheney from wyoming. >> the gentle lady is recognized

for two minutes. >> thank you and thank you to the republican leader for the rules committee for yielding to me. and madam speaker we have a heard a desire and desperation from my colleagues thoron the o side of the aisle that this nation take this body seriously, then they need to start acting like they take themselves seriously here, and when we are here discussing this grave and solemn obligation to addressing impeachment we know madam speaker what a serious process would look like, and we have seen it before with members on both sides of the aisle in the impeachment of a president, and serious and reflects the dignity of the body and the importance of the constitution and that the opposite of what we have seen so far, and no matter what my colleagues say about this legislation, and no matter what my colleagues say about the process they have been engaged to date, it is absolutely the case that it has been a secret process that has denied rights to the minority, and that has

involved leaking selectively the things that the majority would like to have leaked in which the rights have been absolutely denied, and they cannot fix it. they cannot fix a tainted record or tainted process, and by now suddenly pretending to be opening it up. madam speaker, one other time, every time i hear my colleagues talk about efforts to undermine national security for political gain i can't help but think of what they are doing precisely this morning when we are facing the threats that we are facing as a nation, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, speaker pelosi and chairman schiff and others take what is arguably the single most important national security committee in this body, the house intelligence body, and they tell the house intelligence body to turn away from the threats, and do not focus on the oversight or the challenges that we face, and instead, we are going to consume you in a political partisan process to impeach the president of the united states.

madam speaker, my colleagues on the democratic side of the aisle will be held accountable by history for what they are doing. >> i yield another 15 seconds to close, madam speaker. >> they will be held accountable by history for what they are doing, and they have no right to talk about the threats of the nation if they are diverting the full attention and resources and focus of the house intelligence committee on to a sham political process ran by chairman schiff and speaker pelosi. i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman from massachusetts. >> madam speaker, i am delighted to yield one minute to the gentleman from florida, the distinguished member of the rules committee, ms. shalala. >> madam speaker, having been through this before, i know how painful the impeachments can be and i'm not alone in saying that supporting this continuing inquiry is not a decision that any of us makes lightly, and none of us has ever hoped to

investigate our own president for obstructing justice and regardless of the political ideology, we understand our constitutional duty and it is with profound sadness and disappointment that we have to continue this investigation. the accusations that the house is investigating go straight to the heart of the constitution. our constitution endows us with the authority and the duty to hold our colleagues in the federal government accountable if they fail to act in the best interests of our nation. i don't think that anyone here believes that the domestic politics should interfere with foreign policy and i hope that we will all vote to continue the investigation simply so that we can be clear on all of the facts. more than anything, i am confident that all of us possess a capacity for fairness and a commitment to doing what is right for the country we love. i yield back. >> gentleman from oklahoma. >> thank you, madam speaker, i yield one minute to distinguished republican ranking

member on the house ways and means committee mr. brady from texas. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, madam speaker. the impeachment and the removal of a president is a important matter and to let a small group in washington to overturn the will of the entire american people. above all americans believe in fairness and when accused to do right process, and this sham impeachment is neither. it is secret and impart san and conducted behind closed doors all with one goal in mind to take down president trump by any means necessary. i will not legitimate this unfair and unprecedented charade with this vote today. speaker pelosi and chairman schiff abandoned the due process it was guaranteed in the clinton impeachment, and i know because i was here in congress for it. there is simply no cause for this impeachment inquiry, and

none. it is shameful to create a constitutional crisis for purely partisan reasons. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. gentleman from massachusetts. >> i am proud to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california of the house intelligence committee, mr. schiff. >> i rise in support of house resolution 660. i do not rise in pleasure with the events that take it necessary. i rise in strong support of the resolution, but di do with the task before us is a solemn one, and how each member of the chamber approaches the vote this morning and the days and the weeks ahead may be the most important service as members of congress that we will ever pay to the country and the constitution that we all love and have pledged to defend. for the past several weeks, the intelligence committee, the oversight committee and the foreign affairs committee have

engaged in an intensive investigation, and that work which is conducted with the equal opportunities for both parties to question witnesses has added a great deal to the understanding of the president's conduct as evident in the july 25 call record and the events that both preceded and followed that call. that work has necessarily occurred behind closed doors, and this is because we have had the task of finding the task ourselves without the benefit of the investigation that the justice department declined to undertake. and despite the attempts to obstruct, we have interviewed numerous witnesses and provided important testimony about the efforts to secure political favors from ukraine who have provided important testimony about the efforts to secure efforts from ukraine, and we have looked at texts messages of the key members to show how political interests was placed at the forefront of the foreign

policy of ukraine. this is going to set the next phase of our investigation and one in which the american people will have the opportunity to hear from the witnesses firsthand. we will continue to conduct this inquiry with the seriousness of purposeness that our task des deser deserves, because it is our duty and no one is above the law. madam speaker, i urge passage of the law, and yield back. >> the gentleman from oklahoma. >> thank you, madam speaker, i yield one minute to my great friend from texas, mr. babbitt. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. what began as a rallying cry we will impeach the expletive president is now the majority flagship initiative. and what a shame and a waste of time in the people's house. my view, our president was doing the job ensuring that if the

taxpayer jobs from my constituents and yours was going to the other side of the world it would be paired with a commitment to crackdown on corruption at all levels and no matter who someone's daddy is or who their political ambitions are. we all know that this is inevitable from the moment that donald j. trump was elected the ends of harassment and impeachment have been waiting for the means. they think they have found them. they are wrong. there is however one small measure that we can take as one house to bring a shred of dignity to the disgraceful proceedings. we can stand and be counted one by one and announce the yea or the nay, and with that i have a parliamentary inquiry. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. >> madam speaker, i am proud to yield one moment to the speaker

ms. pelosi. >> the gentle lady is recognized for one minute. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank you madam speaker for the recognition. i want to begin my remarks by some of the most beautiful words in our country's history, we the people of the united states in order to form a more perfect union establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and prosperity and to ordain this constitution of the united states. it goes on immediately to establish article i, the legislative branch. article ii, the executive branch, and article iii, the

judiciary, and the genius of the separation of powers and three co-equal branchs of government to be a check and balance on each other. and it is to that we take the oath of office. we gathered here on the opening day with our families gathered round to proudly raise our hand and defend the constitution of the united states. and that is exactly what we are doing today. sadly, this is not any cause for any glee or comfort. this is something that is very solemn, and it is something prayerful. we had to gather so much information to take us to this next step. again, this is a solemn occasion and i doubt that anybody in this place or anybody that you know comes to congress to take the

oath of office, comes to congress to impeach the president of the united states, unless his actions are jeopardizing our honoring our oath of office. so i am grateful to our committee chairs for all of the careful and thoughtful investigation they have been doing as this inquiry has proceeded. and today, the house takes the next step forward as we establish the procedures for open hearings,n coducted by the house intelligence committee so that the public can see the facts for themselves. this resolution ensures transparency, advancing public disclosure of the depositioned transcripts and outlining the procedure of the evidence to the judiciary committee to use in its proceedings and enables public hearings to set out procedures for witnesses and the continuing precedent of giving the minority the same rights in

questioning the witnesses as the majority. which has been true at every step of this inquiry despite what you might hear full mol mi nating there. and so, with the submitting of his case for testimony, and attending the hearings and raising objections to testimony given, cross-examining the witnesses and more. and contrary to what you may have heard today, we give more opportunity to his case than was given to other presidents before, and thank you, mr. chairman, for making that point so clearly. and these actions, this process, these open hearings are seeking the truth and making it available to the american people will inform congress on the very difficult decisions that we will have to make in the future as to

whether to impeach the president. that decision has not been made. that is what the inquiry will investigate and then we can make the decision based on the truth. i don't know why the republicans are afraid of the truth. every member should support allowing the american people to hear the facts for themselves. that is really what this vote is about. what it is about the truth, and what is at stake. what is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy. i proudly stand next to the flag and i thank the gentleman from new york for providing it for us. this flag so many have fought and died for this flag which stands for our democracy. when benjamin franklin came out of independence hall and you have heard this over and over, on september 17th, 1787, the day

our constitution was adopted, he came out of independence hall and people said to him, dr. franklin, what do we have a monarchy or a republic? and he said, as you know, he said a republic, if we can keep it. if we can keep it. and this constitution is the blueprint for the republican and not a monarchy, but when we have a president who says that article ii says that i can do whatever i want, and that is in defiance of the separation of powers, and this is not what our constitution says. so what is at stake is our democracy. what are we fighting for? defending our democracy for the people. you know that in the early days of our revolution thomas paine

said that the times have found us. the times found our founders to declare independence from a monarchy. to fight a war of independence and to write our founding documents and thank god they made them amendable to always be expanding freedom, and the genius, and again the genius of that constitution was the separation of powers. any usurping of that power is a violation of our oath of office. so, proudly, you all, and we all raised our hand to protect and defend and support the constitution of the united states. that's what this vote is about today, and we think that the times have found our founders and the times have found others in the course of our history to protect our democracy and to keep our country united and at times found each and every one of us in this room and in our country to pay attention to how we protect and defend the

constitution of the united states. honoring the vision of our founders to establish the independence of our country contrary to the principle and honoring the men and women in uniform who are fighting for our freedom and our democracy, and honoring the aspirations of our children so that no president whoever he or she could be in the future could decide that article ii says that they can do whatever they want. however, let us honor the oath of office and defend the democracy and have a good vote today and clarity, clarity as to how we proceed, and why we proceed, and again, doing so in a way that honors the constitution. we must honor the constitution and how we do this. we must respect the institution

that we serve, and we must heed the further words of our founders e plurbis uno one. they knew that we must be unifying. so hopefully as we are going forward for this with the purpose of the clarity and the clarity of procedure, and a clarity of fact, a clarity of truth, and it is about the truth, and it is about the constitution. we will do so in a way that brings people together that is healing rather than dividing and that is how we will honor our oath of office. i urge and i vote, and i yield back the balance of my time. [ applause ] >> the gentle lady yields back. well, a short time ago the house democrat leaders held a briefing with the report toers

talk abo -- with the reporters to talk about the approval of the inquiry into impeaching president trump. this is about 25 minutes. >> all right. are we ready? all right. this is a sad and somber time in the united states history of america for the fourth time in history we are compelled with allegations of presidential wrongdoing that we are engaging in a impeachment inquiry and while none of us ran for office for impeachment, all of us agree that we have put into a fair series of procedures to govern how this goes for ward. these proceedings were guided by the previous precedents of impeachment, and also provide

presidential counsel and not provided for in previous impeachments, and we will hear about the allegations of president trump's abuse of power. i am proud of the rules committee and even though it is getting somewhat contentious last night, i want to say that i am proud of the way that all members, republicans and democrats conducted themselves. there was no livestreaming narration in the mark-up and nobody stormed the committee and nobody seized the microphone and people behaved in a way that is respectful of the institution and thank you for ranking member tom cole and the other republicans as well. i want to thank the committee chairs here for their hard work to uncover the truth on behalf of the american people. this vote is a victory for -- it is a victory not for any of us, but on behalf of to constituents who sent us here, and demand

that we follow the facts and uphold the oath. i want to thank the courageous civil servants who have come to testify so far, and many of them in the constra dictions to be silence and many at risk to their own career. i truly believe in 100 years historians are going to be looking back to judge us at the decision made today. at the end of the day, this resolution is not about donald trump or about any of us, but it is about the constitution and about our country and now i am happy to yield to the distinguished gentleman the head of the intelligence committee adam schiff. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding. this is a solemn day in the history of the country when the president's misconduct has compelled us to move forward with impeachment inquiry. the resolution sets out the procedures going forward with the impeachment process and the founding fathers understood that a leader might take hold of the

oval office, and who would sacrifice the national security and who would fail to defend the constitution and who would place his political interests above the country. they understood that might happen. and they provided a mechanism to deal with it, and that mechanism is called peyton manni ed impea and we take no joy going down this road of impeachment inquiry, but neither do we shrink from it. the resolution from the perspective of the intelligence committee is setting out open procedures for how to conduct the open hearings. in the depositions that have been conducted thus far, we have used a format that we believe is conducive to the fact-finding process. those procedures now will be incorporated into the open hearings in which staff counsel will be permitted for lengthy periods of time to do sustained questions for up to 25 minutes per side.

followed by member questioning. we have used this i think to great success for both parties during the course of the depositions, and where in the depositions we have alternated one hour for the majority and one hour for the minority and 45 for the majority and 45 for the minority, and in those depositions, over 100 members have been eligible to participate. i should tell you that notwithstanding those that have complained about lack of access to the depositions, most of the members who have been permitted to attend have failed to attend. they have not made use of the ability to attend each and every deposition. but those who have on both sides of the aisle have had an equal opportunity to question the witnesses, and when we move into the open session, both parties will have an equal opportunity to question any witnesses that are called. the resolution will also permit me as the chair to release the transcripts and begin releasing

the transcripts of the depositions, and you will see when they are released just what equal opportunity members both parties have had. we recognize the seriousness of this undertaking. we recognize that we have been compelled by the circumstances to move forward. when a president abuses his or her office, and when a president sacrifices the national interests, and when a president refuses to defend the constitution, and does so for the purpose of advancing a personal or political agenda, the founders provided the remedy. i make no prejudgment as to whether that remedy will be warranted when we finish these hearings. i will wait until all of the facts are put forward.

we will undertake this duty with the seriousness it deserves and to the best of our ability and i yield to the chairman of the judiciary committee mr. nadler. >> thank you very much. no person, republican or democrat, president or anyone else, should be permitted to jeopardize america's security and reputation for self-serving political purposes. no president, and no official can defend an ally of the united states do anything in particular to help his or her political ambitions as a condition of receiving help from our country. if after a fair and thorough inquiry, the allegations against president trump are found to be true, they would represent the profound offense against the constitution, and against the people of the country.

it is the duty of the house to vindicate the constitution, and to make it crystal clear to future presidents that this kind of conduct if proven is an affront to the great public that placed their trust in him or her. this resolution that we pass today lays the groundwork for the open hearings in the intelligence committee and the judiciary committee, and the house and the public must see all of the evidence for themselves. the resolution makes clear the ample safeguards in the process that will be given and that will be adhered to. the resolution is necessary to ensure that the constitutional order remains intact for future generations. what we have seen allegations of conduct on many levels if proven to be true are a challenge to the democratic order to

democratic norms that we depend, we must hand this country to our children with its democracy in as good of shape as when it was handed to us. we simply have no choice, because no one can be above the law, and we must enforce that. i will now yield to the chairman of the foreign affairs committee mr. engle. >> thank you. i'm chairman engle of the foreign affairs committee. we have been working on the impeachment inquiry, and so far we have been seeing damning evidence that the president abused the power and jeopardized our national security to help his own political fortunes. he pressed for another round of foreign interference in an american election. it is what the framers feared

the most. today, we have laid the groundwork for the next open phase of the investigation. moving ahead, the foreign affairs committee will continue to support this effort, because we know that the administration's abuse of power resulted in our foreign policy being subverted and our diplomats smeared, sidelined and harassed. we cannot stand for that. i am glad that the resolution that we pass today is going to be providing for an open and fair process to allow the american people to hear from the witnesses, and see the evidence and understand the troubling story of what the president and his allies did. they deserve to know the facts, and they soon will. thank you. and now, it is my pleasure to call on caroline maloney the acting chair of the oversight committee. >> thank you. >> i will be brief. i have just two points. first, i want to commend my colleagues for their diligent

work, and this is a very grave matter. and as they have shown, we are acting deliberately and thoroughly and without delay. secondly, i wanted to remind everyone of the words of our beloved former chairman elijah cummings, and in quote he said that we are fighting for the soul of democracy, end quote. that is our core mission under the constitution. we cannot allow a president or any president to extort foreign countries and to interfering with our democracy. we cannot allow the president to withhold critical military aid that we have in congress provided in order to counter russian aggression. and we cannot allow the president to ignore duly authorized subpoenas, and

prevent witnesses from testifying and covering up wrongdoing, and obstructing congress. this is a fundamental corruption of the constitution and abuse of power, and a breach of the oath of office. thank you, and i yield now to the chairman of the caucus hakeem jeffries. >> thank you, congresswoman maloney, and i thank the distinguished chairs for their diligent work throughout this process. this is not a celebratory moment here in the capital city. this is a solemn moment, a sober moment, and it is a serious moment. none of us came to congress to impeach this president or any president. but duty now requires that we

investigate the serious wrongdoing that is hiding in plain sight. this is a moment for every single member of the house of representatives to put principle over party. to put the constitution above corruption. to put democracy above dereliction of duty. this is not a moment, and this impeachment inquiry is not about democrats versus republicans. it is not about the left versus the right. it is not about progressives versus conservatives, the impeachment inquiry about right versus wrong. we have a constitutional responsibility to follow the facts and apply the law, and be guided by the constitution and

present the evidence of wrongdoing to the american corruption. it is about national security. it is about integrity and it is about defending the democracy for the people. with that, we have an opportunity to take handful of questions. first row. >> any chairman who would like to speak, in light of the information that you have gotten from the witnesses behind closed doors are you prepared to expand on the ukraine scandal and any witnesses that you would like to have publicly? >> the process set forth from speaker pelosi from the very beginning is that we are operating under an impeachment inquiry umbrella where there are six committees of relevant jurisdiction to explore the wrongdoing that is existing coming out of 1600 pennsylvania

avenue and at the end of the process make recommendations to the chair and the judiciary committee with a continued focus on the trump ukraine scandal. the abuse of power. the solicitation of foreign interference in the 2020 election, and that inquiry will of course be led by chairman adam schiff and the intel committee, because it relates to a matter of national security. >> but to expand on the question, we are not going to speculate on that now, but we will see what happens. >> and any witnesses before the public? >> we won't speculate on that now. >> and can you go to mic, sir. passed when can the american people expect open hearings and as early as the week after? >> that you should really ask chairman schiff, and it depends on the speed with which the

speed with which things go there, and i can't answer that question. >> and how crucial is john bolton's testimony in building the public case that you hope to build against the president? >> again, you should ask chairman schiff that, but obvious any testimony is important especially from someone so crucially located. >> front row. >> chairman, you say that you have the right to impose appropriate remedies that you determine that the president is unlawfully blocking witnesses, and what do you mean by that? >> well, it is elementary that we are one party to a litigation unlawfully blocks the investigation, as this president has been doing, although we hope he won't continue doing that, and you may have to take some steps or draw adverse inferences or other things, we will have to see. >> what punishments are you considering? >> i am not considering anything at the moment, we will have to wait to see what happens.

>> third row. >> how do you interpret the way that the republicans voted this morning and the fact that two democrats voted with them? >> i interpret that the republicans are ignoring evidence that they don't want to see a proper investigation. period. that all i can draw. >> last question. last question. >> and a couple of questions. >> go ahead. >> all right. two questions then. first one, chairman nadler, how long do you think that the house judiciary is going to need once you receive the reports and it is important for the american public to understand the time line here if at all possible, and for you who -- >> sorry? >> for everyone here, this bill has more ability for the president once this reaches the judiciary committee than the intelligence committee and this is something that the republicans have a problem with. why have those different

abilities for the president in judiciary than intelligence? >> well, the first question is the time line. i don't know. we don't know. it depends on obviously how many witness, et cetera. i can't speculate on that. the second question is remember that the intelligence committee is doing a basic investigative job, and job that in past impeachments was done by the starr commission or the urban committee, et cetera, and once it is going to judiciary, it is a different stage and a different stage and it is not the initial fact-finding stage and it is proper that the president have more recourse at that point. now, remember, the minority, the republicans, they have the same rights to call witnesses, to examine witnesses, et cetera, intel and same rights in judiciary, but once it is going to judiciary, if we are carrying on the impeachment, and if there has been a recommendation for an

impeachment that we are carrying out that investigation, that inquiry at that point, then the president ought to have more rights that on in the initial fact-finding stage. >> the president yesterday directed his republican defenders to focus on substance. that is what the house democrats have been doing, and we invite the republican colleagues pursuant to the direction of the president to do the same. what is this all about? congress on a bipartisan basis allocated $391 million to ukraine in military and economic assistance, because we deemed it in our national security interests. ukraine right now is under attack from the russian-backed separatists. ukraine is a friend, and russia is a foe.

ukraine is a democracy, and russia is a dictatorship. the united states may very well be the only thing standing between vladimir putin and ukraine being completely overrun by russia as part of his fantasy to reconstruct what he views as the glory days of the soviet union. in that context, congress allocated the $391 million in a bipartisan fashion. in february, the administration wrote to congress and said that the aide is -- the aid is on the way, and it never showed up. then in may, the trump department of defense wrote to congress again. and said that the aid is on the way. in that letter said all necessary preconditions have been met by the new ukrainian

government, including the implementation of anti-corruption protocols. that is in the letter that was sent by trump's department of defense in may. yet the aid never showed up. twice during the summer mitch mcconnell called up the trump administration and said, where's the aid? mitch mcconnell couldn't get a good answer. and then on july 18th, at the white house, the office of the management and the budget holds a meeting and mulvaney is there apparently where they say that the reason that the aid has not been released is at the explicit direction of the president of the united states of america. on july 25th, one week later we understand why, and his own words do us a favor though, and pressuring a foreign government to target an american citizen

for political gain and thereby soliciting foreign interference of the 2020 election while withholding this aid for a vulnerable ukraine, and mr. president, this is the substance of the matter, and that is what we are going focus on moving forward. thank you. >> thank you, and let me add to that, and say that foreign aid is very important component of what we do around the world in order to keep america really at the top of the world. and the money that the congress allocated for foreign aid was not the president's personal pinata that he can use however he wants. be withholding that money, he is taking an asset of the united states, and not a personal asset, but of the united states and withholding it to try to coerce the leader of another country to help him in his

political election. i mean, if that is not crazy, then i don't know what is. so, this is really just cannot stand. foreign aid is not the president's personal pinata to do what he wants with it. the congress appropriates it, and ukraine is in a very important crossroads right now. and so this is a very, very serious matter. and it is not simply a matter of the president talking to a leader of the foreign country, and it is a matter of taking the american money that the congress allocated for foreign aid for a country to withhold it and say to that leader, i am not going to give it to you unless you do what i need you to do. that is an absolute disgrace and this is one of the reasons that we are here. >> thank you very much.

the u.s. house today approved the rules for the ongoing impeachment inquiry of president trump and that vote was 232-196. the measure lays out the next steps for the impeachment investigation in the coming weeks, and it was mostly a party line vote, but two democrats voted against the measure, collin peterson of minnesota and jeff van drew of new jersey, and former republican member jason amash voted yes with other democrats. the house is not in session next week, and they will be back november 12