Darlene Hooley: “I am sick at heart as I stand before this body today. I believe in this institution of self-government and that good…”

“I am sick at heart as I stand before this body today. I believe in this institution of self-government and that good people can disagree on issues and that we must respect that disagreement. But I believe in order to have legitimate self-government that the process of making institution's decisions must be fair, and I am frustrated with a process that is not fair and that will not allow some of us to vote our conscience, a vote on censure. Under the guise of rebuilding the public trust, this body is tearing it down. The vast majority of Americans are also frustrated by the process. They want this to be over with and they have expressed their support for a bipartisan solution, a vote on censure. What they do not want is for us to make a decision of this historical magnitude purely on a partisan basis. It is very clear to me that the President's actions were wrong. But I do not believe that they rise to the level of crimes against the state that the Constitution requires in order to impeach. We are not voting to protect our democracy from clear abuses of power. We are voting on misleading and lying statements relating to a private matter. It is wrong. It is reprehensible. But it is not impeachable.”