Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 25, 1974 (2/2)
Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 25, 1974 (2/2)
[01.26.03--continued speech by Rep. MANN, D-SC] And then his lawyer, Mr. Shapiro: "I have represented witnesses before congressional committees for something like 20 years in times perhaps as unhappy as these, with passions perhaps high as they are in these times. This is the most impressive committee performance it has ever been my pleasure to witness, both in terms of treatment of the witness, and the attention of the members of the committee, in connection with the questions that were asked, and the kind of consideration Chair has shown to other members of the committee and to the witness' the counsel, and I say as a citizen wholly apart from Mr. Colson's counsel and I want to separate that, you are very impressive people and I think you are doing a very impressive job." Now, what of these people that they are talking about this co tee. It is not a. group of volunteers. It is the Judiciary Committee of the, House of Representatives and the average tenure on this committee is probably 6 years. We have different backgrounds. different biases, conscious or unconscious. Different philosophies I am persuaded that the search for the truth is paramount of us and that each has the courage to vote for that truth because, like beauty, it is in the eyes and the heart and the conscience of the seeker. This is a big country and we, represent a cross section of that country. It is with some concern that I have been aware over these weeks of the detractors of this committee, those, who would attempt to discredit this committee, for whatever motivation, those who would fire the fuels of emotion that are based largely on a confusion that exists in our country today concerning the separation of powers and concerning the role of a Representative, in this Government of ours. Do yet in the United States the people still govern? Do they govern through elected representatives? In this era of power that our goverernmental system has brought us to in the -world where our involvement in foreign trade and foreign affairs puts the President out in front as the symbol of our -national pride and as the bearer of our flag, and here we have in the House of Representatives 435 voices speaking on behalf of different constituencies with no public relations man employed by the House of Representatives, and I wonder if the people want their elected Representatives to fulfill their oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. you want us to exercise the duty and responsibility of the power impeachment, whether that means conviction or exculpation? You know, some of the things that cause me to wonder are the that keep coming back to me, "oh, it is just politics," or, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Are we so morally bankrupt that we would accept a past course wrongdoing or that we would decide that the system that we have is incapable of sustaining a system of law because we aren't perfect? There has been one perfect to whom one of those statements is attributed. But our country has grown strong because men have died for the system. You will hear "the system" used by each of us but we have built our country on the Constitution and that system contemplates and that system has resulted in men putting that system above their own political careers. That system has been defended on battlefields and statesmen have ended their careers on behalf of the system and have either passed into oblivion or into immortality. We have all read of the role of Edmund G. Ross in the Johnson impeachment and how he voted his conscience. Did we also know that about 20 years later he said that he would hope that his vote would not be construed as being in derogation of that constitutional power of impeachment, and that at a proper time on some future day some Congress would have the courage to fulfill its duty. How much I would have like to have had all of the evidence and I say now we are here, we are ready to receive additional evidence. It is not too late. How much I would have liked to have heard on the transcripts, let's do it because it is good for our country. I have expressed no prejudgment. I am entitled to the thoughts, the arguments of my colleagues on this committee. I am entitled to the time remaining to me to study the evidence, and when I vote, I do not ask that everyone agree with my vote, although I would hope that before they disagree that they would recognize my role and their responsibility to know the facts as I know them. But I would ask that they attribute to me and to every member of this committee compliance our oath, sincerity and conviction because it has been said that this verdict--and I use the wrong word, because I would not through egotistic exercise deprive the Senate of the United States of trying a proper case and reaching a proper verdict, and let us not on this committee fall into the trap of saying we are determining the guilt or innocence of the President--will determine whether or not the American people are entitled to a trial in an open forum which trial YOU have not had these past 9, 10, or 11 weeks or these past 6 months. Let. us not usurp unto ourselves the final judgments but perform our function to determine whether or not there is clear and convincing evidence' of impeachable conduct upon which the President of the United States shall be called upon to have the opportunity [01.35.55--TAPE OUT]