[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5649]
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT
RECEIVED ON AUGUST 12, 2019, BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE TRANSMITTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE SELECT
COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE SENATE AND THE PERMANENT SELECT
COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in August a public servant inside the
intelligence community found the conduct of the President of the United
States alarming enough to file an official whistleblower complaint. The
inspector general of the intelligence community found this
whistleblower complaint both credible and urgent. By law, the Director
of National Intelligence must forward such a complaint to the
congressional intelligence committees within 7 days of receiving it.
Congress has been informed by the inspector general of the intelligence
community in writing that the Trump administration is preventing that
complaint from being sent to the relevant committees in Congress.
Those are the facts. The situation they describe is unacceptable. We
know that the executive branch is blocking the legislative branch--a
coequal branch of our government--from performing its constitutional
oversight duties. The fact that the whistleblower complaint concerns
our national security, our foreign policy, and potential misconduct by
the President makes the situation even more serious.
In a short time, I will ask my colleagues' consent to pass a simple
resolution. It essentially says ``that the whistleblower complaint
received on August 12, 2019, by the Inspector General of the
Intelligence Community shall be transmitted immediately to the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.''
I cannot imagine any legitimate or straight-faced reason for an
objection to this unanimous consent request. The only reason for any
Senator to object would be to shield the President's conduct from
scrutiny by the public and the representatives they elect to represent
them; that is, to protect the President from accountability.
In a moment, I hope this resolution will pass without a single
dissenting Senator, and it should.
The request, despite its noncontroversial nature, speaks to the
issues that go back to the founding days of our Republic: checks and
balances, the separation of powers, and the constitutional duty of the
President and the executive branch to faithfully execute the laws of
the United States. The Senate, today--right now--should speak with one
unified voice to reaffirm those time-honored principles and defend the
grand traditions of our democracy.
Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent
that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 325, submitted
earlier today.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 325) expressing the sense of the
Senate that the whistleblower complaint received on August
12, 2019, by the Inspector General of the Intelligence
Community should be transmitted immediately to the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, reserving the right to object, all of
us share the concern for protecting whistleblowers who use appropriate,
established channels to raise legitimate concerns. The Senate's
obligation is to treat such allegations in a responsible and deliberate
manner, to avoid racing to judgment based on media leaks, and to not
fuel media speculation with reckless accusations.
There is much we do not know about the complaint lodged with the
intelligence community's inspector general, including whether the
complaint involves intelligence activities at all.
Before the Democratic leader elected to go to the media yesterday,
the chairman and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence had already been working together in a bipartisan manner--
free from politicization--to get more information from both the Acting
Director of National Intelligence and the intelligence community's
inspector general. Given the progress the committee was making, I don't
believe this made-for-TV moment was actually necessary. I would have
preferred the committee be allowed to do its work in a quiet and
methodical manner. It doesn't serve the committee or its goals to
litigate its business here on the floor or for the television cameras.
Nevertheless, I agree that the DNI should make additional information
available to the committee so it can evaluate the complaint consistent
with the statute and other procedures that exist to safeguard
classified and sensitive information.
I also want to express my appreciation for President Trump's
announcement that the White House will release tomorrow the ``complete,
fully-declassified, and unredacted transcript of [his] phone
conversation with President Zelensky.'' I hope this will help to
refocus the conversation away from reckless speculation and back toward
the facts.
So, stipulating that our objective here is simply to conduct the kind
of bipartisan oversight of intelligence matters that the committee has
successfully conducted in the past, I have no objection to the
Senator's request.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, three brief points. First, this
resolution is not aimed at the Senate Intelligence Committees. Senators
Burr and Warner do a diligent job in trying to figure out what is going
on. It is aimed at a thus far recalcitrant executive branch which has
blocked the ability for the committees to see the complaint even though
law requires it.
Second, it is welcomed that we can join together to do our job of
oversight. I want to thank the majority leader for not blocking this
request, because I think every one of us in this Chamber realizes the
importance of oversight and the need to prevent an overreaching
executive from going that far. Getting the transcript is a good step,
but it is the complaint we need.
That is the gravamen of this resolution. It is the whistleblower's
complaint, not the transcript, that we need and are asking for in this
resolution.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be
agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon
the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 325) was agreed to.
(The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted
Resolutions.'')
____________________
[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5666]
SENATE RESOLUTION 325--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE
WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT RECEIVED ON AUGUST 12, 2019, BY THE INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE TRANSMITTED IMMEDIATELY
TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE SENATE AND THE PERMANENT
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. SCHUMER submitted the following resolution; which was considered
and agreed to:
S. Res. 325
Resolved, That--
(1) the whistleblower complaint received on August 12,
2019, by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
shall be transmitted immediately to the Select Committee on
Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and
the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House
of Representatives should be allowed to evaluate the
complaint in a deliberate and bipartisan manner consistent
with applicable statutes and processes in order to safeguard
classified and sensitive information.
____________________
