Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to consider and vote on four articles of impeachment against United States District Judge G. Thomas Porteous. Thanks go to Congressman Schiff and Congressman Goodlatte for the way they have worked together in overseeing the Impeachment Task Force's very thorough inquiry into a number of serious allegations involving Judge Porteous. They have set an outstanding example of how an inquiry like this can in fact be conducted in a bipartisan manner. The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the sole power to impeach a sitting Federal judge. This is a very serious power which Congress does not take lightly. Impeachment by the House constitutes one of the few checks on the judiciary and is to be used only in instances when a judge betrays his office or proves unfit to hold that position of trust. In fact, only 14 Federal judges have been impeached by the House in our entire Nation's history, with four of these occurring in the past 24 years. After an extensive investigation and a series of hearings by the Impeachment Task Force, clear and convincing evidence has been developed involving a number of different actions by Judge Porteous that make him unfit to serve as a Federal judge. The report, which accompanies the articles of impeachment, sets forth in detail the various incidents of improper conduct by Judge Porteous. Though judges rule on the law, they are not above the law.…”