 I want to say thank you very much for coming, and I am delighted to be here. We're going to have a town hall meeting, and among other topics, and I'll start out, is the question of impeachment. But what I intend to do is talk for about 10 minutes, maybe a little less. And then I want to open it up for questions and comments, and we've got two microphones. And the hope is that people who want to ask a question or who want to make a comment will keep it to about a minute or a little bit more. So everybody who has a desire to speak will have an opportunity to speak. So let me talk about the town meeting and our decisions last week to say that I favor the current impeachment against the president. You know, it's amazing to be here in the House of Representatives in our state capital. The democracy that we have, it's very durable when you think about what this country is faced, what this state is faced. But it's also fragile. And it really rests on a couple of very simple propositions that are in our constitution. No person is above the law. Every individual is subject to the rule of law, and there are no exceptions for that. The president of the United States has the same responsibility to the law as you and I do. And second, it's embodied in our constitution that all of us are created equal. We're equally subject to the rule of law, but we equally have to respect that others are entitled to the protections of the law. And the two powers that go with being a member of the House of Representatives that I regard as the most significant is, one, the power of impeachment. The Constitution delegates in a somewhat undefined way that the members of the House of Representatives are given the authority through the Constitution and from you by being elected to exercise that authority for the impeachment of an elected president. And of course the second extraordinary power is the power to declare war. Something that has withered unfortunately in recent years. I have been very hesitant and reluctant to come out in favor of impeachment. And it's for pretty straightforward reasons. You know, we have elections and they have consequences. And I believe very strongly in respecting the outcome of any election. Because that's the voice of the people, that's the decision of the people. But I respect that, but I don't disregard the constitutional delegation of authority that the House of Representatives, when circumstances warrant, can take the action to proceed with impeachment. What I've seen with the conduct of President Trump that led me to this conclusion was a number of things. Number one, as I mentioned, above and beyond the reach of the law. Under our Constitution, with the separation of powers, the executive branch has significant authorities, but the legislative branch likewise does as well. And one of those authorities is to do oversight, to have accountability. Otherwise, when the president is completely unwilling to respond to congressional subpoenas to produce witnesses. Or to respond to congressional requests for documents. Whether it's Kellyanne Conway coming in, who we subpoenaed to come in. Because the inspector general, not somebody from Congress, determined that she was in violation of the Hatch Act. Or when we're trying to get documentation to find out what is the policy with respect to people at the border who are in the custody of the United States. And where seven children have died and we want to get to the bottom of it. The president has an obligation to be responsive, to let your representatives in Congress hold the administration to account and give you the facts. And there has been a decision on the part of the White House to essentially disregard any legitimate request from Congress. Secondly, and really very most disturbingly, our whole country is based on the proposition that all of us are equal. And a democracy depends on mutual trust and mutual respect. We have very challenging problems in contentious debates and we're in this chamber where many of those fierce debates took place. But none of us have the right, least of all the highest elected official in the country, to attack people because of who they are. We can have a fight about what you stand for. And I may get criticized by some of you tonight for what I stand for. That's fair and square. But no one has the right to tell a person that they should go back to where they came from. Because you don't like it. And no one can tell someone that they're not welcome because of their religion. No one can do that. Or their gender. Or their ethnic heritage. And to be talking about Hispanic Americans or Hispanics attempting to escape from really dire circumstances. And we can have a debate about what the response is at the border. But what we can't do is call destitute people who are seeking a request for some help that they're rapist and criminals and bad people. The reason I came to the conclusion I did last week and overcame really enormous reservation about taking this step because of my respect for the outcome of elections, whether I agreed with that outcome or not, was because I have become increasingly alarmed that the guardrails of our democracy are under attack. I'm concerned about that. And I've seen it how in this chamber and over across the way in the Senate chamber where I served for 13 years, we can have debates but we have to have mutual respect. And the guardrails of democracy require that whatever you believe it can't include attacking somebody because of who they are. That's off limits. I go back to Washington tomorrow, Wednesday, Mr. Mueller is going to come in to the Judiciary Committee and also to the Intelligence Committee on which I serve and read the Mueller report. My hope is that Mr. Mueller is going to have an opportunity to fluidly explain what's in there. But there is an immense amount of undisputed information about contacts between Trump campaign high-level officials and Russian officials whose goal was to subvert our election. And then there is significant information in there about the repeated and concerted efforts on the part of the Trump administration to derail that investigation. So all of these things that have gone on for the 30 months of President Trump has been the holder of the highest office in the land. It caused me, as I mentioned earlier, to conclude that our democracy in its guardrails, its safeguards, our constitutional order is in peril. And with the single voice that I have and the single vote that I have, I feel it's my obligation to tell Vermonters the conclusion I've reached. Whether some Vermonters agree or they don't. But this is the conclusion I have reached by being their first hand. And you don't need to be there to see what's happening, but being there, you're shocked day in and day out that there's not that respect for the Constitution that is so important in that we all share. So I'm going to stop here and let's open it up for questions and comments. And I say again, thank you all for coming. Do you want to start? Do you want to announce who you are and make your comment or ask your question? And by the way, the topic is whatever you want it to be. So my name is Miriam Hansen and I live in East Montpelier and I totally agree that Trump needs to be impeached. He has needed to be impeached for a very long time. The issue to me is going to be whether impeaching him and how we do it and when we do it is going to be strategic or reactive. What is most important to me is that we win in 2020 and there are no rules with this individual. So it seems to me very dangerous to go into impeachment early knowing the Senate will not impeach him and giving him the opportunity to play it the way he is able to play us. He's been playing us for 30 months now. You're shocked, I'm sure. I think we've all been shocked. I was shocked when he got elected. But if we do it, surely we will play into his hands and I'm very concerned that when I see everybody standing up in response to, you can't tell somebody to go back or you can't tell somebody accordingly. That is exactly what he does and it plays well with many people in this country. The only thing I care about is winning. You know, you have made a very good point and let me respond to that because I wrestled with that as well. Number one, I've always believed that whatever decision any of us made on impeachment, it had to be not based on politics and calculation, but ultimately based on what we thought the Constitution required. And that's not to dismiss that urgency of winning. But secondly, let me be candid because you're right about this. The man in charge of the Senate, Mitch McConnell. Well, let me tell you about it. You know, most of us go into politics or we show up here tonight because we care about getting something done. You don't have to be an office holder to think the reason you put the energy in is you want to get something done. Here's what he wanted to do. His goal when he was majority leader in Barack Obama was the president was to make him a one-term president. That was his goal. It wasn't to help the country. It was to make him a one-term president. Well, guess what? He's got a new goal. He wants to make Donald Trump a two-term president. All right? So we're going to have a problem there in the way that I see us having to do this. I've made my decision here about impeachment. But that is one very important issue and President Trump has an extraordinary ability to command attention with the latest tweet. But we've got to have an agenda. And, you know, we have a democratic majority in the House and I've been of this view since before the election. And let me just tell you some of the things that have passed. It doesn't necessarily get publicity because of the tweeter in chief. But so far, we've got two major bills that were inspired by things that were done in this legislature on prescription drugs, bringing down the cost. Energy efficiency, where we've got bipartisan support, net neutrality passed out of the House, sitting in the Senate. $15 minimum wage is what we passed last week. Gun safety. Gun safety. It's the first time we've got background checks. The Affordable Care Act improvements guaranteeing pre-existing conditions. Last week also, we cracked down on robocalls. They're driving people crazy. We passed in the House a resolution to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. All right? The Equality Act. Ensuring LGBTQ rights. The Violence Against Women's Act. We passed the DREAM Act so that people like Juan Conde, who's a medical student up at the University of Vermont, was brought here by his parents when he was eight years old and really knows no country other than this country, that he'd be allowed to stay here. That's all things that we have passed in the House. Now we've got Mitch McConnell. All right? I mean, what is he? No, seriously. Why do you not want to do these things? And he won't even let the Senate have a vote on these things. All right? And we've got more to do. We've got prescription drug price negotiation. We've got to build out our broadband. We need an infrastructure bill. We've got the Green New Deal. We've got climate change that we've got to take very, very seriously. So my approach here, it's tough to penetrate the media, is that we're there to pass public policy that Vermonters want and need. And we've got to be reinforcing that every single day. So if we have an impeachment inquiry, that's on its own. But don't let the pedal off the metal when it comes to pursuing these policies that we've been approaching. And I'll just be candid. It's tough to get those achievements covered. Those bills I just mentioned were all passed by the House of Representatives, and many of them, by the way, with bipartisan support. I'm working every day that I can with Republicans to help pass this legislation. I want to impeach the President for the reasons I mentioned, but I want to work with Republicans. I want to work with Democrats and anybody who wants to make some progress. Hello, my name is Teddy Wazizak from Barrie, and I agree with you that it's ultimately a constitutional issue, not a strategic issue on impeachment, although I also agree that we have to win in 2020. My question is based on your personal experience, how much does Nancy Pelosi understand that? Because I understand that she's waiting for impeachment to start when the fever is highest for impeachment. But I agree with you that it's a constitutional duty that we can't just ignore. I got to tell you, I've been really, really impressed with the leadership in Nancy Pelosi, okay? And she gets it, and she has a different job, because as the speaker, she's more than anyone else, the one who has to make the call. And she's got to take into account a lot of different factors. But one of the factors that she's always taken into account is what's the position, what's the view emerging in the caucus? And one of the reasons I spoke out is a way of giving another signal, another data point. But she takes her responsibility very seriously, and I have a lot of confidence in the job she's doing. Thanks. Yes, hi. Hi. My name's Mara Iverson. I'm from here in Montpelier, and I work for Vermont's only LGBT youth advocacy organization. I want you to know, like the last time I was in this space, every one of these seats was filled with a Vermont LGBT youth. That was in March for our Leadership Day, and they were being spoken to by representatives who are LGBT, and that was life-affirming and wonderful. And I have to tell you that the other story here is that I am terrified, and they are terrified. And I heard you just talk about LGBT rights, and obviously that's important to me. But I'm not even there right now, and neither are the kids. The kids are at, are we going to camps? Do I get to live my life past 30? So I just need you to know that some of us are life-afraid right now. Can you hear me? This is Sanae. She was talking about being afraid, and her LGBTQ brothers and sisters being afraid. And what I've noticed, and I've been serving the U.K. for so many years. It's different this year, this last two years. And in the past, there was a lot of engagement on issues. We felt very strongly they were worried, you know, when we went through the health care debate, about folks with single pay or public option, what's going to happen. It's different now. And nor is anxiety. It's not just the LGBTQ community. But everyone is insecure where the boundaries are collapsed. Where it's not just taken for granted that there's mutual respect. And you can't, in a family, you can't, in a small community, you can't, in a state, make progress on contentious issues. Without some boundaries, and those boundaries are mutual respect, mutual tolerance, to seek mutual understanding, to make progress. And that's what's under the soft end of the year. So I know you're afraid, but you're not alone in that fear. My name's Nicola Morris. I'm from Plainfield. And thank you for holding this town hall. My question concerns interference with the election. You talk about wanting to respect the results of an election and that that had been part of your reticence in calling for impeachment before. But there's been substantial evidence of interference in our election over the last two years, confirmed by the, and expanded by the Mueller report. So I'm wondering what you're thinking is about respecting the results of elections and how to protect our elections and how interference in elections will play out in terms of an impeachment inquiry. Thank you. Instead of fighting that, tonight, and enticing, you know, Russia, if you're listening, hacked Hillary's e-mails. And two hours later, they tried to, they tried to go into a server. And all our intelligence agencies acknowledged and stated explicitly that Russia was interfering. And in fact, the Trump campaign, one of the things they did, Manafort through Gates, provided a Russian operative with their, their polling data. Okay. Now I want to explain this a little bit. It wasn't the horse race question. It was what they called the trunels in a poll. And that is used when you're making social media or media purchases or rise or hits. You're going not just, and it was all in the target states. So it was all targeted towards the groups that the polling demonstrated might be the most susceptible to that misinformation. And that was done with the benefit of polling information produced by the Trump campaign. So yes, there is interference. What are we going to do about it? Well, we've got to protect the integrity of the ballot box. I think we've got to deal with the Supreme Court in some validation. It's an extreme gerrymandering. We have to get our social media companies to do that. It's an all-hands-on-deck. And we've got to make certain that our Secretary of State, and by the way, Jim Kynos has been a real leader in this. There's a paper trail. So it's really all on the above. Thank you for that question. We're going to fix my, thank you, thank you so much. My name is Sandy Trigger. I live in Harvard. And I'm just a couple, three, four things. I'm going to tell you this way. Thank you for the support of your engagement. The second thing I want to say is that I don't think it's just Trump. I don't think Pence needs to go to. Pence was receiving the presidential daily briefs from the day after the Republican National Convention in 2016. He knows everything. I make a joke. Pinsne, pence new. It's a new kind of glasses. Don't ever doubt that. I think that just a couple more things quickly. My first political memory is Watergate. My dad was in the military. He came back to the States in 72, 74 comes along and Nixon resigns. Gerald Ford pardons Nixon. And I thought then at the ripe old age of 10 or 11, and I think so now that it was a mistake. I think that I understand it was a hard decision and I didn't have to make it like Truman, right? But it was a wrong decision. He left us in the wake of an undermining of a basic core tenet of our country. And that is to say that no more kings. And by Nixon getting away with what he got away with, he was a king. And that's what we have right now. No more kings. Schoolhouse rock. So Trump and Pence hand in hand do it. And we have to do what's right. We have to do what's right because our children are looking to us. We win or we don't win. That's not the point. And I'm two quick more things. One, I've often been thinking about, well, what are we going to do after post-Trump stress disorder? And I'm on heart medicine and I take sleeping pills and I never did this before. I never had trouble sleeping in my life before this man was selected. And I believe that there will be a low in birth rates that we'll call the Trump slump. I think that there's going to be social security deaths. That statisticians 50 years from now are going to ascribe to the stress in this period of time. And who knows how much this all cost us? So I think that how we solve this is that we need to have what are like Truth and Reconciliation Commissions. And I've started a website, truthandreconciliation.us, with the intent of organizing events across the U.S. Assessment, education, information, opportunity, understanding. A-E-I-O-U. It's what we need to do. Great. And the last thing I wrote is that at some point I would love to talk to you about my experience where the town manager of Hardwick gave away my house without telling us because there's a big huge hole in Vermont state statutes. Okay. Be glad to do that. Thank you. I've got MTOR. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes. Hi, Representative. And hi, Vermonters. My name is Gianna. I was born and raised in Southeast Asia. I'm a resident of East Montpelier, and I'm a proud citizen of the United States of America. Thank you so much for your statement. I think it was particularly brave, and it may not be the majority at this moment. I agree he isn't fit for office. He consistently constructs alternative realities out of blatant lies. He questions the free press and our intelligence agencies, which leaves us all in this haze of confusion. He stokes divisions in this country's people. He's invited, as you mentioned, a foreign nation to meddle in our elections and has done nothing to protect future elections such that our democracy is being aggressively stolen from we the people. This shouldn't be a question of politics. We are a democracy built out of the diversity of many. We need a leader that respects the dignity of all and strengthens rather than undermines our fragile institutions. I am terrified for the future of this democracy and democracy around the world. You have my full support. Thank you. Thank you very much. Hi. My name is Cara. I'm Cara Montagu from Winooski. I agree with you that Trump is also divisive and has consistently attacked Americans who are different from him on the basis of their race, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnic origin. Thank you for your work. Thank you for your work in opposing his agenda. Winooski is the most racially diverse city in the state and an official refugee resettlement town. In opposing Trump's agenda and protecting our diverse town, will you join the majority, the majority of Winooski and Burlington voters who have consistently opposed the basing of the F-35 fighter jets at the Burlington airport because of concerns about harmful noise levels, toxic PFA's and the plane's stealth coatings, and most importantly concerns about increased nuclear threats to and from Vermont. Will you help us resist nuclear proliferation in Vermont? The F-35 basing decision has been made. I mean, we've got the air guard. We can say no. We can still resist it. Yeah. Right. Let me... Okay. Let me be clear on this. We've got an air guard. There's a new plane. The air guard needs planes. There was a process that I know you dispute, but did involve me whereby the air... the guard here was selected as the place to base the new fighter jet, the F-35. Well, let me finish on this. So that decision has been made. The question now, and I'm hearing from a lot of people who say just as you have, that they're concerned about the nuclear capability, there's no plans whatsoever for there to be any nuclear mission with that plane in Burlington, or in the Burlington Airport. Number two on the noise, which is real. In the imposition that poses on people in the vicinity and in the flight path, that's real. And Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders and I, along with local officials are doing everything we can to make sure that there is in the budget, not two years from now, but sooner rather than later, for there to be mitigation to address those issues, and that includes retrofitting the homes, and it also includes in some cases buyouts. But I did support the decision that was made to base the plane with the air guard in Burlington. I just think the majority of people living in the area have opposed it consistently. And for our democratic process, it feels like it's being dumped on us unwillingly. Right. Thank you. Thank you. My name is John Turner. I live here in Mount Piliar, Vermont. I am a... I will. I'm a white 73-year-old male who grew up on Long Island, and those are the only things I have in common with Donald Trump. I appreciate your desire to pursue what you want to pursue, but I would encourage you to look forward 60 months to the next election. My concern about doing impeachment here, having lived through the Nixon time and the Clinton time attempts, it will become a sideshow, it probably can't be pulled off. There's a third of this country that will vote for Donald Trump, as he himself said, if he shot somebody on TV in Times Square. There's a third of Americans, I probably would include myself, who will vote for anybody but Donald Trump. But there's a third of a lease of Americans, living in states like Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, those classic swing states that have to be won over. Right. And I think our focus needs to be, the man needs to be voted out of office in November of 2020 and that we need to do everything as a Democratic Party to ensure that happens. And that's going to require that we focus our attention on reaching out to white people in those states I mentioned, and swing them back to the Democratic Party in 2020. That's really well put. And I largely agree with you. I mean, first of all, and take some hope in this, the most important repudiation in the most important impeachment of President Trump is what voters can do. And think about the last election, 2018. That was essentially a referendum on whether people thought Trump was doing a good job or not. And the verdict is very clear. We've got a Democratic House. And by the way, with all the focus on the squad, there were many, many Democrats who won in districts that President Trump had won in 2016. So what that tells me is the people you're talking about figured out two things. Number one, Trump was all talk. What he was saying he would do for working people he failed to deliver on and didn't even make an attempt. And then second, we do have to focus on a legislative agenda. Now it's tough to penetrate the media on that. But I just went through a list of things that we passed in the House of Representatives and as I mentioned, with some bipartisan support. So the impeachment, whether what happens and how it takes its course is one thing. But it can never become an excuse for us in the House to fail, to have a very aggressive middle class agenda that helps poor people, that helps working people, that helps our economy. So I agree with that. Thank you. Yes. Sue Walbridge, Montpelier. I am a seventh generation Vermont or lifelong Montpelier resident. I am a proud descendant of Vermont U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator Justin Smith Morrill, a Republican. My cousins, brothers E.J. and Abel Morrill died in the Civil War to end slavery. I grew up knowing Republican Governor and U.S. Senator George Deacon. All these people were of great dignity. I believe they would be appalled of this Republican Party and Trump. We were taught that there are three branches of government to ensure checks and balances on all. President Trump has destroyed what our founding fathers created. He is narcissistic, meaning he lonely loves himself, not his country, not his base. A psychological examination, not clinical should be ordered. He is the most significant threat to our democracy. Alliances with Russia and North Korea autocrats, being a racist, mocking disabled, disbanding bonds we form with other world countries. No morals, no ethics, described strumped. He scammed people with a fake university and bankrupted many of his own companies. He abuses executive power. He is the worst model for our children with his bully tweets. He brought nepotism into the White House. He is responsible for military lives and yet he goes against the advice of his cabinet and he found a way to avoid going to war himself. We must impeach Trump for the illegal interference, both during this 2016 run for president and countless other opportunities he has participated in since becoming the president. This Republican Party is not the party of Lincoln. They are enabling this insecure man who acts like and has the vocabulary of a small child. Why? Because they are afraid of Trump and have no backbone. They only care about being re-elected to keep their perks. It will be on their shoulders of the weak-minded Republican senators for remaining silent and not standing up for this country. I am for impeachment. Thank you for being here. Thank you. You know, you could have my job. That was great. But I just want to make one comment just in moral, because it goes to the question of impeachment diverting us. Justin Morrill was from Stratford, Vermont and was a U.S. senator during the Civil War. And we may think we have it hard now, but I don't think none of us think really there was a more perilous time in our country than the Civil War. And while President Lincoln was prosecuting the Civil War, he was also working with Justin Morrill to establish the land-grant college system. That happened during the Civil War, and it was Justin Morrill leading the charge. So we can do tough things together. In fact, that's what Vermonters do, right? You just keep at it. Thank you. Jimmy. Hello, my name is James Lease from South Burlington, and I'm really glad you changed your mind about impeachment. That's really a fantastic thing. But Donald Trump, as everyone knows, right now is threatening to escalate or to attack for the first time I ran. It almost happened a few weeks ago. We're seeing much more tension in and around the Persian Gulf and the movement of ships towards Iran. And so here's something that's connected with impeachment. We have something we can do. It's going to be very hard to get impeachment. Okay, it could pass the House conceivably, but to get a conviction in the Senate will be very hard. But there's something one person can do right here in Vermont. That's you. By refusing to collaborate with Donald Trump in the basing of these F-35 jets in our state, by coming out against the basing under Donald Trump, why would we give him the gift of basing jets that he will be using, and our F-16s were called up many times for service in Iraq and in Syria and in all kinds of other Somalia. Look, we've got to stop the F-35 and arming Trump, and we can do that right here, and I'm hoping that's something you will do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for having us Town Hall. My name is Lynn Wild from Montpelier, and even though I look like one person, I'm standing here for four other people as well. They could not be here tonight, and they had some questions, so I'm going to give you three questions. The first one is, if impeachment does not result in a conviction, what will we do with what becomes of our current president and is already out of control behavior? That's the first question. The second question is, what can we do from here in Vermont as citizens to reunite families and to shut down the detention camps on the border? I can't think of anything more important to really exemplify who we are as a people than bringing those families back together. The third question is, what can we do to stop the unraveling of the sensible policies that are in place already to reverse climate collapse? Number one, actually number one, two and three. Elections have consequences. We have a president who, starting with climate change, denies science, and he's got a veto pen, and he's got a lot of collaborators in Mitch McConnell and others, and we are going to have to get somebody else in that office who is going to double down on the urgent need to address climate change. Second, the border? I went, I was one of the first members of Congress to go to the border. And it was a searing experience, and I could hear in your voice the enormous feeling you have about what's happening in your name and in my name to children and largely to women at that border. I went with Senator Wyden, and what we saw, talk about it a little bit. Was people in warehouses, they were like old Walmart warehouses, no windows, and then cages. They really are cages, and the most poignant thing I saw, they were separated by age, sometimes by gender, but we saw three brothers, and they must have been four, six and eight, and they have these tiny little mattresses that they're lying on, and it's freezing in there. It's really hot out in Texas, but when you go in, it's like a cooler. And these three kids didn't know where their father was. They came with their father, and they were spoon styled, you know, your kids do that, holding on to one another for dear life. And then we saw, it was about 11 at night, and we sat with 10 women who were from Honduras and Guatemala and told us their stories about coming up here. And one in particular told us about getting her daughter up at midnight. She was from Honduras and telling her, honey, we've got to go. And the reason they had to go is because the plan was that she was going to become the, quote, girlfriend of a gang leader. And her husband had already been killed by the gangs. And she came up here, and she was taken in one room and told she'll be right back, and when she came back, her daughter was gone. And she was begging us to help her find her daughter. And she also told about the trip up, where they got about two-thirds of the way up. And the mother got scared hearing all the stories about getting to the border. And she said to her daughter, honey, we've got to turn back, we've got to go home. And the daughter looked at her mother and said, Mom, I can't go back, we can't go back. And they came in at the crossing near Brownsville. And whether that mother and daughter have been reunited, I don't know. But what we've done is make it a crime for somebody to knock on the door and ask for help. That's not a crime. Now, let's be clear, there was a crisis at the border. But the answer to that crisis is to not make it a crime to ask for help. The answer to that crisis is not to separate children from their parents. The answer to that is not to have people not even have access to toothbrushes. And a serious president would work with us. You know, there are things we could do starting with aid to those triangle countries. Because people don't, a mother does not want to take her child on a thousand mile dangerous journey. People want to stay at home. And if what is being characterized by our president is a bunch of gang members and rapists, that affects how we experience them coming. They're desperate. We might not be able to help as much as we'd like, but that doesn't mean we treat them as mean as you would, rapists and criminals and MS-13 gang members. So we need to be working together on that, but it starts with the president, who's made it very clear that this is an issue that he sees as helping with his divisive strategy. That's what repels me the most. All of us are in politics, we care about things, but hopefully what we really care about is people. You know, when we're arguing for an issue, go ahead. With tremendous respect, I can't wait for the president to change his mind. What can I do? All right. Here's the question. What can you do? And what I'm seeing when I travel around, and it keeps me going, because in Washington, we're not going to get that immigration bill past the president. We're not going to get him to say, oh, climate change is real. We're not going to get him to reestablish our alliances. And what you can do is do things in your own community that build community. You know, I was with the Winniske, I was up in Winniske, but I'm talking about the F-13, and all the things that that community is doing with its schools, with revitalizing downtown, hearing Montpelier things that people are doing, community groups that get together and say, you know, right here, right now, I can try to do whatever is within reach to build community and to strengthen connections between me and my neighbors. That matters. And in fact, it's what's going on at the local level that makes, it's going to get us through what's a pretty dark time in Washington. And in fact, I'm pretty proud of what this legislature did this year. They passed a lot of good legislation. Oh, you know, you never get as much as you want, but it was based on a notion that we're in this together and that we've got to take a half step, a big step, maybe two steps forward. And it's worth the effort. So it matters. And what I want to reiterate is that no matter how dark you see what's going on in Washington, and as I acknowledge, it's not good what's going on in Washington, that cannot become an excuse for you to not act where you can in whatever way you can. So keep it up. Thank you. Yes. Hi. My name is Asa Skinder, and I'm from Montpelier. So from what I understand and see, it would seem as if you are a big supporter of climate and migrant justice, right? Speaking of the microphone, yeah. So I asked the representative if he is in fact a, you know, believes in climate and migrant justice, which... Yes. So how could you support bringing in the F-35, the United States military, is if it were a country, it would be in the top quarter of polluters in the world. We're in a climate emergency. We're seeing... The UN has told us we're seeing one new disaster every week from climate change. We're far above pre-industrial levels. We've set off climate feedback groups that we can't go back on. We're setting this. Our military-industrial complex is one of the biggest polluters in the world. Not only that, it's one of the world's biggest, you know, state-funded terrorism groups. How could you bring in the F-35 into Vermont? You know, it's clear, you've seen, you've heard from the people in this room, we don't want it, we are against it. Right. How does that happen? Well, I've given my answer in that, but if you're talking about climate change, any plane, whether it's military or commercial, it contributes to carbon emissions. Any car, whether it's a military vehicle or any other vehicle, and have a discussion about what's the proper role of the military. We need a military, but not like we have. No, I totally agree with that. And I think most Vermonters do. But on the question of the F-35, that plane was built. The planes that are coming here are not ones that I was promoting. The question then became where they were going to be based and the decision was made to base them here. I understand that, but we need to be pushing back on these issues wherever we can. Right. Emergency. So would you commit in the future making every effort you can to protect my future, unlike this? I will definitely commit to trying to help your future. I can't say I'll always agree with you, but I definitely will and my door's open. I'll answer the phone and I'll be glad to sit down with you. Thank you. I was glad to see you supported the resolution for a climate emergency last week. Right. Let's put action towards. Thank you. Thank you. It was very articulate. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here. Can you hear me? I can. That is cracked off now. Sorry. Can I do this? You can hear me. I broke it. I'm very serious about what I'm going to say. I could rattle off a lot of things. Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? I could rattle off quite a number of things. My name is Richard Chaplinsky. I live in Warren. I could rattle off a number of things that indicate that we're preparing for a war in Iran. I won't do that, but the biggest one is reactivating the base in Saudi Arabia, the Prince Sultan base, with several troops just recently. The other thing is some carriers are ready to deploy. Some are already there. And recently, President Trump has designated the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. That gives him the okay to go ahead without congressional approval to attack Iran, essentially, because the Revolutionary Guard is really part of their government. And it's done through the act that was passed quite a while back. And I know you're working on this, but it's the authorization for the use of military force. It gives Congress sort of gave its power away. And we really have to get that back. So I'm wondering what you're going to do to get that power back. And all indications are that the President will go to war while Iran recess this August. And I wonder if you have an emergency plan in Congress. What will Congress do when that happens? Well, Richard's right. I mean, as you remember when we started out, I said the two really awesome powers of the House are impeachment and authorization to go to war. And Richard's absolutely right. Congress has let that wither. And I've been a constant advocate to restore the requirement of authorization before there's any military action. I've got some good news from last week for actions that were taken in the House. We passed a bill that said the President cannot launch any military attack on Iran without first coming to Congress to get approval to do that. Because I share your concern. Now we've got that through the House. We've got Mitch McConnell in the Senate. All right? But what I can do as a member of the House is get it started there. Secondly, we condemned the Saudi war against the Houthis in Yemen. And we prohibited, again, it's the House, but the President is using bogus emergency authority to sell weapons to the Saudis that are being used to bomb innocent women and children in Yemen. And our resolution that we passed prohibits him from selling those arms to the Saudis. And this is, by the way, as you all know, another indication that the President really kind of likes autocrats. You know, MBS, Mohammed bin Salman, he's not only on this war against Yemen that has left that country totally destitute and with people dying of starvation. He's the guy who set the folks to kill Mr. Khashoggi and brought, literally, a bone saw along the way. Why are we dealing with him? So you're right on this, Richard. And a significant majority of us in the House agree with that and we've backed that up with the force of the House bill and we've got the resistance of Mitch McConnell. But we've got to keep at it and I know you will. One more question. That decision on the F-35s was taken a decade ago and that decision on the F-35s was taken a decade ago and that's a long time. A lot has changed. We're in a cyber war now, not a hardware war and we could admit a mistake and I asked you to do that in some commentaries and unless we admit mistakes we won't get very far. We have to do it. So I would ask you to look at that and if it's true, admit the mistake and let's go on and see if we can make it. Thank you. My name is Edward Giller Jr. I'm from Berrytown. I want to thank you for the support of the F-35 being a veteran, having served in two military branches, September 11th being on a plane but I'd like to get back to what are the high crimes and misdemeanors that you plan to submit in order to impeach President Trump. Well, if you were here you heard me. Yeah, I have but I haven't heard any crimes or high crimes of misdemeanors of any kind. Well, you know that the Constitution does not define it. Exactly. And it delegates the authority to the representatives in the House to proceed with impeachment. So that's why I'm asking though what do you plan to submit as the high crimes and misdemeanors in order to impeach President Trump? Number one, the Constitution requires that we're all subject to the rule of law. Exactly. And the President is acting as though he's above the law and beyond the law when he completely rejects the Article I responsibilities of oversight to the House of Representatives. That's when you have somebody who can act with impunity because there's no check or balance and the heart of our Constitution is limited power of government, not universal power in any one branch or any one person. Second, all of us are equal under the law and entitled to the full protection of the law and we have a President who is treating people who he does not like as though they don't have the same status and privilege as everybody else. You can have a fight about how you disagree but you cannot condemn a person on the basis of their religion, on the basis of their ethnicity. Correct. But I still would like to answer what do you plan to submit? He's protecting the homeland. He's addressing, I've served with many of those members down in all four of those southern states. I did my desert training before I was going to go ship out to Iraq or Afghanistan. Many of those individuals are hardworking and yet it's a never-ending dragging feat. You're not giving them the money in order to help address the problem down there. But I still would like to know what you plan to submit as far as high crimes. You know what? Number one, thank you for your service. Well, I appreciate that. Number two, I gave you my answer. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. But thank you. Yes. Hi, my name is Donna Constantino and I'm from Williston, Vermont. My family came here in 1665 and my ancestors fought in the Revolution of the War to free us from England. Their ancestors fought in the Civil War and I thank anyone who's been in the military because I have military in my family as well. Thank you for finally coming to the table and wanting to impeach. But you're a little late to the table because I have been studying what's gone on. And it's not just in this country. It's a global problem. And it's going to be like Germany when people look back and saw the fascism and they were like, what did you do? This is this time. This is the time where we all have to turn to our family in the future and say, what did you do when fascism was on your door? When little kids were in cages. So yes, we need to impeach. And we have to let go of the fear. Do you think if the Republicans had a stooge like this, they would be sitting back cowering and wondering, oh, what happens under tender consequences if we impeach yet over it? Do the right thing. Thank you. And since people have been bringing it up, I am going to talk about the F-35s. I came from Massachusetts to get away from nukes and like the president of the South Burlington City Council, she did the same and she's a military person. We have to stop the F-35s because if we don't stop it here, where are they going to stop it? It'll be 23 other places or so in the country. The rules of nuclear engagement, if the DOD sends out a plane and says you're going to go pick up a nuclear weapon and you're going to deploy it. First of all, you have one guy in this jet. He could go rogue or she could go rogue. Second of all, in the nuclear wars of engagement, when they drop that bomb wherever the DOD says to drop it, the rules of engagement is then they will retaliate to where that plane, that jet took off from. Guess what? That's South Burlington, Vermont. And I live right over the border in Williston. Do you think that is comfortable for any of us? We have to stop it here. Don't worry that you may end Bernie and Pat Leahy made a mistake in the past. You probably wanted to bring jobs here. However, it has to be stopped now. Thank you. Thank you. We're getting, it's a little after eight and I promise we'll be finished about eight, but let's move on. Maybe hear from a couple of people because I'd like anybody who's standing to have an opportunity to be heard. So maybe you could speak and you could speak and then we'll all answer and then we'll get through over here. Thank you. Go ahead. Thank you. My name is Sylvia Knight. I live in Burlington. I have several things that I'm deeply concerned about. And I do want to, first I want to support you when you're strong and courageous stand on impeachment of this president. He does not deserve to be in that position. So thank you for that. I'm very concerned about the fear we've talked about fear among our citizens and I want to speak to the fear that our immigrant farm workers experience on farms in Vermont. We have an ICE agency on steroids. People are being arrested. They're afraid to go out and get what they need to live. This is a kind of slavery. This is a violence. It's a social violence. And so we need to rein in the powers or do something about ICE. I'm concerned about Secret Service in Vermont because they have powers to arrest people without warrants. That's very concerning to me. So that's the second layer of police power that we are subject to. I also want to speak to the F-35s. I'm very concerned and I know that there's new information, relatively new information and I hope that you will work with people here in this room to see why this new information is important and for us to open our minds and look anew at it because the feature of our county, Tittenden County and Vermont is at stake. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, good. Hello. Yes. All right. My name is Will Alexander. I live here in Montpelier. First and foremost, thank you for this decision. Thank you for the courage required to make this decision. And thank you for the work that you've done at the border because the heartbeat behind everything I've heard tonight and everything I've considered saying is the knowledge that there are camps. There are camps on the border and that there are children dying in them. And every time I hear whether tonight or in national commentary discussions of strategy and timing and worry and whether or not and the possible consequences of doing the constitutional duty, the only thing I hear in the background is that there are camps and that there are kids dying in the camps and I am and my family is Latinx. And we came here as refugees and I am very heartened. Thank you for expressing faith in the speaker of the house. I must say I don't share it. If the democratic leadership nationally cannot sell the American people on the inadvisability of opening even more concentration camps, then what good are they? Any action that happens now and not tiptoeing on eggshells between now and November is something that may help a kid in a cage who might otherwise die. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. My name is Linda Gravel. I am the Democratic County Chair here in Washington County. My goal is to flip red seats to blue seats and to follow your issues to the legislature. I would like to thank Peter for all the service he does, but he cannot do it alone. The Democratic Party has a lot of deadwood in it. We need more activists to get involved. The Democratic Party is having its own election in September in your towns. There will be announcements about these elections. Go and elect people in your towns that will act on your issues. We need more activists in the party. And it is up to you folks to get off the sidelines and do something about it before we have four more years of Donald Trump. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. My name is Kelly Cummings and I am from Fletcher, which is north of here by way of south of here, which is Texas. I've lived here 21 years. I don't sound at all like I have. With that said, I am interested in your stance on Medicare for All. It is my opinion that the private sector, the free market works for some things, but it is brutally obvious it does not work for healthcare. The ACA or also known as Obamacare made some things better, but if it even survives the Trump administration, it is still unaffordable and access is becoming more and more difficult. So we need our elected officials to stand on the side of the people. It's a difficult challenge. We all know this, but it doesn't mean we can close our eyes to this for a minute longer. And something that has inspired me of late, and I'm sure everyone has heard it, you know, 50 years ago, our big moon adventure. And JFK saying we chose to go to the moon not because it was easy, but because it was hard. And I think that we must take the same approach with healthcare. So just really quick, tomorrow there is a Green Mountain Care Board public forum on health insurance rates. Blue Cross Blue Shield is asking for 15.6% rate hike, MVP, 8.5%. It's open for public comment, 4.30 to 6.30. And with an informational picket against the rate hike starting at 3.30, Montpelier City Hall. I was going to ask you if you could come and hear the stories of your constituents, but I think you're headed back to D.C., so I guess you can't. But if you can come, they need to hear your stories. Well, that's great. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. I'm a co-sponsor of Medicare for All. The goal, by the way, is to have a healthcare system where everybody is covered and everybody contributes according to their ability to do that. And Medicare has really worked for folks 65 and older, and that's why that term has such meaning, because if it works for you when you're 65, you sometimes need healthcare when you're 25 or 45. So that's really what I see is the goal of having a healthcare system where we're all covered and we all help pay. One of the bigger challenges we have in healthcare now is the cost is too much. It's pharma drugs. It's the procedures. It's all of these things where there's no governmental agency on the side of the consumer who just has to keep paying and paying and paying. And nobody can afford those. And by the way, even employers can't afford it. And a lot of employers who really care about good healthcare for their employees, they're getting squeezed because they have no control over the healthcare cost. And what happens? They maintain benefits, but at the expense of pay increases. So, you know, a lot of Americans are not earning more money today than they were 30 years ago. So this is a big issue and I'm really glad you're working on it. Thank you. Yes, sir. My name is Christian Bradley-Hubs. I'm from the town of Burke. Something regarding the topic of impeachment that I don't believe we're hearing enough about is the emoluments clause broken by Trump. To my understanding, Trump has received hundreds of millions, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in officials through his hotels and other businesses. And obviously, that money has been used to support the genocide in Yemen. That's what it is. It's a genocide. Right. And I don't think we're hearing enough on the emoluments. We're hearing about, you know, obstruction of justice for the the collusion with Russia. But I think it's on its own. No, you're right. You're right. And you know, by the way, just on your point that Trump hotel in downtown Washington right close to the White House, I mean, there's all kinds of foreign folks coming in, paying big bucks hoping to cozy up to the president. And I have a colleague, one of my favorites. He's on the Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin. He calls that Trump hotel the Washington emolument. But thank you for that. It's a good point. Yes. From Essex, I'm the one who brought this sign. That is great. Show the sign. Carol Conley from Essex. I'm here representing many grandmotherly friends of mine and a large group back to the issue of the border for a moment, please. We're concerned about everyone there, particularly concerned about babies and children. I know that's been slow for people to be able to go in and see the conditions. But once you hear about caged children and you think about them on the floor with foil blankets, it's hard to not think about that pretty much daily as we tuck our own grandchildren into their lovely little beds. And my question is, isn't someone at the federal level of the Department of Children and Families gone to the border and pronounced that as the child neglect and abuse that it is? Because if I had children in my home in a caged room with foil blankets, I would be arrested. Thank you. You're right. You're right. I just want to say something. There are a lot of federal workers down there. This is not what they signed up for. They have a job to secure the borders. But they are beside themselves just like you and I are at what is happening. And they don't have the skills, they don't have the backup. It's not what their job is. This is something where it really is up to the administration that's humane. And it's up to Congress to work. But there's got to be a president who isn't using punitive measures as a way of trying to leverage us to vote for whatever he wants. Pardon me? You know, some of them are there. I got to tell you, the president's got a lot of power. This isn't just a matter of people witnessing because there are people who are there. There's members of Congress who have been there. This is showing some of these horrible scenes. But what's so discouraging for all of us is when you see something that's so transparently is wrong. How does it continue? That's what you're asking. And that is a question from the heart. And it's the right question. And that's why it appalls me that this policy is in your name and ours. In your name and mine. There's nothing to do with it. So thank you for speaking out. Thank you. And you are our last questioner commentator. Thank you. I seem to be the last person standing. Thank you so much for this wonderful session. Can you hear me okay? My name is Robert Lamert and I'm from Berlin. And I am a history nerd. And there are three pieces of history that I would like to share with you very quickly. One is that we just passed a generation of the one-year anniversary of a secret meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and Helsinki Finland where they went behind closed doors without witnesses for two hours and he emerged looking like a steamroller and rolled over him and he proceeded to deny the reports of our intelligence agencies about Russian interference with our elections. That's history number one. One year for that. The other one is 2013 when the gang of eight in the Senate passed a complete immigration bill bipartisan with 17 votes and it went to the house and John Boehner put his thumb on it and killed it. We wouldn't be where we are today had that bill passed. One piece of history is it's been 60 years since we admitted any states and I think the people of Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico need a shake. He's right. Thank you. That was very good. All right. We're going to give you the last word. Whoa. We're going to give you the last word. My legs aren't good so that's why and I don't need them. You were pretty limber there. I want to know. Excuse me. Can everybody hear me all right? I got a voice that carries. I want to know in case I missed it whatever happened to the situation on the electoral vote. I haven't heard a thing about it. What happened is the electoral vote won the presidency for Donald Trump. That's what happened. It could be. I mean look this is serious business. We've got a divided country and we've got radical gerrymandering but that election came down to 70,000 votes in three states. That's how close it was but there's something that I'm concerned about. If we have a really close election that we could have we're going to start hearing President Trump and he comes out on the losing side. He's going to start raising questions about whether it was a rigged election. Heard that before? So we've got work to do and I've said on impeachment but I am foredoing the work that we have to do because a lot of folks who voted for Donald Trump are hurting economically. They don't think governments working for him and in fact a lot of folks who are living in especially in rural communities where we see it tough to keep our schools open where agriculture dairy in Vermont is having a real hard time and it's good people. We come from rural Vermont and we know how good people are in our local communities and they want to help one another. It's a good day when a local banker makes a loan and somebody can get a house their first mortgage where they can expand their business. They care about that. They work on the volunteer fire department and our beef is with Trump. It's not with a lot of people my view mistakenly thought he would help them. He's forgotten them. We don't forget them. There's a lot of goodness in this state and there's a lot of goodness in this country and as bad as the times are now and as worried as I am about the guardrails of democracy these are the times we're in and a couple of people ask what you can do. You get up each day you face that day and you decide you're going to make the best of it and you're going to try to do something that helps your community be a little bit stronger. That's what you do. There's not a big mystery to it. You don't decide when you wake up and it's dark outside figuratively and you don't try. You keep at it and I'll tell you something as hard as it is and it has been harder in this job than it was in times past every time in my own home in Norwich or in Washington I reach out to somebody else and try to listen it always is a rewarding experience. We're not going to persuade by lecturing we're going to persuade more by listening and hearing and trying to find some common ground and you know what it's more fun. We don't like to be angry. You know what I mean? We can be clear-eyed about what's going on but you know what I don't like being angry I don't like being discouraged and the Vermonters I meet look all of us have hard jobs but the two jobs I've seen where it's the hardest Vermont dairy farmers and West Virginia coal miners and you know what they work at it they keep at it and they've got time to help their neighbors we just got to remember that it's worth doing it even though as we do it we have no guarantee of what the outcome is going to be we do it because that's the way we choose to live so I want to thank each and every one of you for being here these are hard times but we're going to face them we're going to move ahead do the best we can we make a mistake we'll adjust we'll move ahead and keep going and remember we are every single one of us we're all in it together thank you all very much