Jay Rockefeller: “Mr. Chief Justice, I rise today to announce, or simply declare, that I will vote not guilty on both articles of…”

“Mr. Chief Justice, I rise today to announce, or simply declare, that I will vote not guilty on both articles of impeachment and to urge my colleagues to spare the country the injustice of removing a President who has been twice elected to his office by the American people, and whom they continue to trust to lead them. As a Senator, I have taken my trial oath very, very seriously. For my part, I have listened intently to the presentations, carefully considered the evidence, read everything that I could get my hands on, and thought about those matters carefully. I have read, and reread, the key language of our Constitution, and thought long and hard about the words of our Founding Fathers. In fact, the Constitution, in many ways, came alive for me for the first time. I am humbled by the wisdom and foresight of our founders as I struggle through some of the most profound questions that our democracy can present to us. What is the balance of power between the three branches of Government? How do we measure public trust, and under what circumstances may the Senate exercise its most devastating power--the power to overturn a popular election, and a power, therefore, to remove a President from office? As I confront these questions, I am acutely conscious of the terrible disappointment of our Nation in the personal and public behavior of our President. No one of us would defend his actions. No one of us would say that he is free of serious fault.…”