Alexander Mooney

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, for the first time in recent American history, the President of the United States was impeached with only Members of one party voting for it. This has been a shameful, partisan exercise in the U.S. House from start to finish. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's actions yesterday contradicted her previous statements that impeachment should only happen if it has bipartisan support. Since the moment President Trump was sworn into office, Democrats in Congress had made it their mission to remove him and overturn the results of the 2016 election. On January 20, 2017, The Washington Post wrote that the effort to impeach President Donald John Trump is underway--and indeed it was. President Trump did nothing wrong, and these Articles of Impeachment were totally meritless. The American people and folks across West Virginia have been able to witness this unjust and unfair process. Despite a rigged investigation and process, Democrats could still not find any real evidence of an actual crime. I will continue to stand with President Donald Trump as he fights back against this baseless impeachment. I look forward to a fair trial in the U.S. Senate.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, a Rasmussen poll conducted on October 2 of 2019 found that a sky-high 69 percent of independent voters were ``angry'' at the media, and over 60 percent of all voters share that anger. These voters are not upset at the media because they are balanced and fair, they are upset because the media is biased and telling them what to think--or not telling them at all. The results of this astounding poll didn't appear in the Nation's largest newspapers or the most watched TV news programs and was hardly mentioned on social media. The media's credibility is already at a record low. The road back to credibility for the media is to give the American people the truth and let them make up their own minds.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, during the impeachment inquiries of Presidents Nixon and Clinton, the House of Representatives, led, respectively, by Speakers Carl Albert and Newt Gingrich, established the following procedures that are currently not being followed in this rushed process to impeach President Trump. Let me lay them out for you, because I think the American people need to understand this. First, there should be coequal powers to both the chair and ranking member of the committee; All subpoenas are subject to a vote of the full committee; The President's counsel would have the right to attend the hearings and depositions; The President's counsel has the right to present evidence; The President's counsel has the right to object to the admittance of evidence; The President's counsel has the right to cross-examine witnesses; and The President's counsel has the right to recommend a witness list. These are being denied to the President of the United States. If this could be denied to the President, it could be denied to you or your child. This is so wrong. This so-called impeachment inquiry is an abomination.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Grothman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I spoke a little earlier in a 1 minute on this topic, but I was a little pressed for time, and I saw my good friend from Arkansas, Mr. Hill, speaking on this and other important issues, and my friend from Wisconsin, and I thought I would expand a little bit upon my remarks earlier. As the previous speaker just talked about, we have important trade issues and other issues the President of the United States is working on with other countries, and I couldn't agree more that those are important issues to be working on. That is exactly what the President and Congress should be focused on. In fact, it should be focused on that in a bipartisan way, Republicans and Democrats working together. Instead, what we are faced with is this pretty bizarre impeachment inquiry process. I think it is important for the American people to know and understand how this is supposed to work and how it is working. An impeachment inquiry sounds, first, like it is a fair discussion process, but in the past, during impeachment inquiries of President Nixon and President Clinton, the House of Representatives right here, led respectfully at the time by Speakers Carl Albert and Newt Gingrich, established the following procedures that are currently not being provided in this rushed process to attempt to impeach President Trump. This is an important precedent when you are dealing with the President of the United States, who is duly elected by the people of this country. The people of the West Virginia Second Congressional District that I represent voted for Donald Trump for President. This country, in the fair process of the electoral college, put Donald Trump in as President of the United States, and my district voted for Donald Trump for President of the United States. So that is how we choose the leader of our country. I stood there on the steps of the Capitol just a few years ago and watched Donald Trump be inaugurated as President, with the support of all the former living Presidents who attended at the time. Our country has a process that is emulated in this world, admired by the world, that we have a free election and we respect the results of that election. Instead, what we are seeing here, announced by the Speaker of the House, is this so-called impeachment inquiry. However, she is denying this President the same rights that other Presidents were given under this so-called impeachment inquiry. And what exactly are those? I think it is important to understand how this has happened in the past and how it should be happening right now but is not. I think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats in Congress here, would like the American people not to understand what they are doing. But first and foremost, in the past when this was done, the two times it was done in the past, I am going to list the seven things, the seven rights that have always been given to the accused party. In this case, that is Donald Trump, the President of the United States. First, in the committee hearings, there should be given coequal subpoena power to both the chairman of the committee and the ranking member of the committee, which is the minority party. At that committee level, they are given coequal power to subpoena witnesses. Right now it is one-sided. Those who want to impeach Donald Trump are subpoenaing witness after witness after witness, and the other side does not have the power to subpoena witnesses to maybe offer counterinformation. That is how a fair process is supposed to work. Secondly, all subpoenas have been subject to a vote of the full committee at the request of either the chairman or the ranking member. So to avoid a one-person witch hunt, when you want to subpoena somebody, the head of either party here in Congress can request a committee vote, and the committee can vote ``yes'' to subpoena or ``no'' to subpoena. So rather than one person making all the decisions, which seems to be how it is occurring right now, you have at least the committee input. That is how it has been done in the past. That is not happening right now. Third, the President's counsel had the right to attend all hearings and depositions. Can you imagine that? We have hearings and depositions going on right now in the committees, and the President and his counsel who represent him are not even allowed to hear what is being said about him. This is, again, a denial of the basic right in America in a legal process of any kind. The President's counsel has had the right to present evidence, because when you had evidence being presented on one side, unless it is a kangaroo court, you had evidence presented on the other side. That is being denied to the President of the United States. The President's counsel has always had the right to object to the admittance of evidence. Again, another basic legal procedure, a legal right. The evidence being presented, it may have some objections to it, it may not be accurate for a variety of reasons. The President is not there, his counsel is not there. He can't even object to the evidence being presented. In the past, the President's counsel had the right to cross-examine witnesses. This should be familiar. In this country, we have a right to face those who accuse us, the right to face our accuser and the right to cross-examine witnesses. Basic legal precepts in this country. Last, the President's counsel would have the right to recommend a witness list. So, Mr. Speaker, it is important to understand that our President is being denied these seven basic legal rights to defend himself right now. This is not a fair and just system in any way. My mother fled a communist country. When she was 20 years old, she was in Cuba. Fidel Castro came down from the mountains with guns and locked her and her family up. My mother was in prison for 7 weeks. In communist countries, you have to prove your innocence. You are accused first, and then you are stuck with the burden of somehow trying to prove you didn't do something, trying to prove that you are not guilty. In this country, they have to prove you are guilty. You have the right to be presumed innocent. Innocent until proven guilty. Mr. Speaker, it is a disgrace what is happening here. The President is somehow in this court of public opinion with one-sided evidence trying to prove his innocence to people who are assuming he is guilty and haven't presented any real evidence to that fact. Even if a person is not a supporter of President Trump, they still should object to this process. Only imagine if they were falsely accused of something or God forbid their son or daughter was falsely accused of something. They would expect their child to have these same basic rights of legal process to defend themselves. If they can deny these rights to the President of the United States of America, rest assured, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will deny that right to other citizens one day. We should be alarmed at this no matter where we stand on the issue of liking President Trump or not. Mr. Speaker, with that, I again thank my colleague from Wisconsin, Congressman Grothman, for yielding me this time.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on September 18, on rollcall No. 535 for passage of H.R. 4285, the Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2019, I mistakenly voted ``nay'' when I meant to vote ``aye'' in support of the bill.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table H.R. 3401, with the Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment. This bipartisan bill passed the Senate with 84 votes and could be sent to the President's desk for his signature today.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to welcome Reverend Jacob Isaac Pack from Putnam County in my district as the guest chaplain today. Reverend Pack is an ordained minister with the United Pentecostal Church International and currently serves as the pastor of Beckley United Pentecostal Church. Over the 20 years that he has been involved in ministry, Reverend Pack has served local congregations as well as in State and national offices of the United Pentecostal Church. Reverend Pack serves as the West Virginia-Western Maryland District Sunday school director and on the National Sunday School Committee. Reverend Pack is actively involved in the public service sector with his position as the executive director of the Kanawha Public Service District, also in my congressional district. He serves in his local community as the vice president of the Putnam County Planning Commission. Reverend Pack and his fabulous wife, Tiffany, have three wonderful children, Hayden, Jamison, and Juliette.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record, the following obituary for Mr. Bill O'Dell of Putnam County: William Douglas O'Dell William ``Bill'' Douglas O'Dell, 68, of Poca went to be with his Lord on Monday, May 6, 2019. Bill was a graduate of South Charleston High School and Marshall University. He worked at Regional Family Resource Network and was the Director of Putnam Wellness Coalition. He dedicated his life to drug and alcohol prevention. He was a mentor to many. His impact on the youth and the community cannot be measured. He touched many lives at Teen Institute, a leadership program that helps young people become leaders around prevention of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and other critical daily decisions. He was a man of Christian faith, integrity, great humor, positive thinking, a role model to many, a devoted husband, father, grandfather and brother. He will be greatly missed. The family would like to thank his Church, friends, co- workers, the community, our extended family and the Putnam Wellness Coalition for their support, love and prayers. Bill is preceded in death by his parents Dr. Richard Nolan O'Dell and Vera Waldorf O'Dell and father-in-law, Louis ``Gene'' Barnett. He is survived by his wife Judith O'Dell of Poca, daughter Tina (Mike) Shoemaker and his pride and joy, his grandson, Caden of Ona, WV, son Joshua (Kristina) of Charleston, SC; mother-in-law Lorene Barnett, brother Larry (Beverly) O'Dell of Chesapeake, OH; sister Verajane (William) Fish of Savannah, GA, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Adrain and Cindy Jones of Winfield, WV; nieces Wendy (Stephen) Mann, Laura (David) Moir; nephews Keith (Jennifer) O'Dell, Joseph (Marie) Fish, David (Heather) Fish and Logan Jones. A tribute to the life of William ``Bill'' O'Dell will be 2:00 PM Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Gatens-Harding chapel with Pastor Fred Elliott and Pastor Wayne Hooper officiating. Entombment will follow at Haven of Rest Memory Gardens, Red House, WV. Friends may visit at the funeral home 3 hours prior to the service 11:00 AM-2:00 PM on Saturday. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Wilkinson United Methodist Church, PO Box 236, Hometown, WV 25109 or donate to the Bill O'Dell Teen Institute Fund, PO Box 3041, Charleston, WV 25331.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, I would like to include in the Record the following obituary for Mr. Bill O'Dell of Putnam County: Friends and Family Honoring Community Leader in Putnam County Who Suddenly Passed Away (By Taylor Eaton) Putnam County, W.Va. (WSAZ).--A man who dedicated his life to preventing teen substance abuse in Putnam County passed away suddenly on Monday. Bill O'Dell was a community leader in many ways. He dedicated his life to substance abuse prevention across West Virginia. O'Dell passed away while he was swimming in the pool at the YMCA in Teays Valley. Friends and family say he suffered a medical emergency. Most of his work was centered in Putnam County. O'Dell was the director of the Putnam Wellness Coalition, a group that was formed to educate teenagers about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. O'Dell spent his time going into schools to speak to students, setting up fundraising events for the coalition and participating in different promotions around prom and graduation time. That's just to name a few. Evan Young, who worked with O'Dell for many years, says they just wrapped up an event for Cinco de Mayo over the weekend that was geared toward making sure kids had a safe and fun environment. Most of the proceeds from the event went to the Putnam Wellness Coalition.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in remembrance of the eighth anniversary of the Syrian conflict, which resulted in the tragic loss of many human lives and the destabilization of the entire region. This is all because of the dictator Bashar Assad, who is unwilling to step aside and heed the Syrian people's call for freedom. After destroying Syria, Assad is now attempting to attract economic investment. But in addition to killing over 400,000 Syrians of the Muslim faith, Assad has also failed to protect the religious minority of Christians in Syria. Having personally met with the Syrian Christians for Peace, I have heard firsthand how Assad repeatedly targeted Syria's most vulnerable populations. Few Christians continue to live in Assad's Syria, due to brutality by pro-Assad militias. That is why we must support the Trump administration's isolation of the regime and its allies in Tehran and Moscow. That is why the Senate must follow the House and pass the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, this resolution talks about not having more government shutdowns. We don't need a resolution for that. Of course, there shouldn't be government shutdowns. That is why, last year, this body passed a resolution to fund government, including Trump's border wall that he asked for. We passed that out of this Chamber. It went to the Senate. And what did they do? Nothing. The Senate did nothing. They did nothing for over 30 days. They just sat while the government shut down. Why? Because the minority party in the U.S. Senate chooses to threaten to filibuster, and if they don't get everything they want, based on this threat to filibuster, they shut down government until such time as this Chamber or the President or whoever they want to bully around gives them everything. That is not the way government is supposed to work. I had a conversation yesterday with a young man here in D.C. He said: ``How are you going to end these government shutdowns? What is going to happen now?'' Well, gosh, we have appointed a conference committee. That is how it is supposed to work. The Homeland Security conference committee meets today. There are four Republicans and three Democrats, which reflects the makeup of that Chamber. There are 10 from this Chamber, 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans, which reflects the makeup of this Chamber. That is the committee where you meet and you work these things out. That is the system the Founders of our country set up for us here. The problem is we have gotten away from that. We do continuing resolutions like we shouldn't, and we sit here and one side has to get everything they want. Why does it happen that way? Because one side, the Democratic side, wants to get everything they want. If they don't get everything they want, they want to shut down government and then falsely blame everybody else. That is not the way it is supposed to work. I am glad we have a conference committee. My Senator from West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito is actually on that conference committee that is supposed to meet today to work out exactly what we are going to do with the border wall and funding Homeland Security. That is what we should do with every bill. That is why, last year, when we were in the majority, we actually passed the appropriations bills over to the U.S. Senate. Do you know what they did? Nothing. It doesn't take 60 votes to pass a bill. It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture. That is different than passing a bill. The dysfunction in the U.S. Senate cannot continue to reign in this country and cause government shutdowns, particularly when the minority party wants everything.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Actually, Mr. Speaker, I have a point of clarification for the chairman. Is this bill affecting all furloughed Federal workers, anyone furloughed, or anyone affected by the furlough in any way? Any consumer, any American that is affected? Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, in West Virginia's Second District, we have a lot of Federal workers and contractors who are affected.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for clarifying that. Of course, there are a lot of folks in my district who are affected by the shutdown and also affected indirectly because they are contractors and such. I have had them approach me over the last few weeks, wondering if their backlogged projects were going to get funded. It is important to clarify that. Of course, we should backpay people, and the good, hardworking Americans who make this country go around need to get paid. I understand a little bit of an obsession on the other side against a border wall that was mentioned by the previous speaker, when this is really about how government should function and appropriate funds in the appropriate way, and the power of the purse. Frankly, getting bills through the House and the Senate has become quite a problem, particularly with the other Chamber, which doesn't seem to pass anything and then wants us to do just whatever the Senate does. We have a lot of dysfunction, particularly on the other side, and that is what has cost the workers, not this wall. The wall is something the President said he would do. It is not the wall; it is the dysfunction of passing bills around here that has caused these problems. Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader for the extra minute.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to commend the House Appropriations Committee for passing 11 of the 12 appropriations bills out of committee. All the bills except Homeland Security have passed committee. Here on the House floor we have passed four of those appropriations bills. The Senate has passed three. This is what we call regular order, and it is very important to the political process that every Member of Congress in this Chamber and the Senate have a chance to offer amendments, be heard, and speak. Both parties have agreed to this. We need to get all the bills through the House and appoint the conference committees. Those conference committees are where you reconcile the differences. We have fallen away from this here in this Chamber in the past few years. It is about time we got back to the regular appropriations process. I want to keep the positive momentum going and commend us for passing those bills. Let's get that Defense bill passed and fund our troops the way that the American people deserve.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, due to a family member's funeral, I was unable to attend the scheduled floor period on July 10, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 314; and YEA on Roll Call No. 315.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce a new internship program my district office has started. My program is designed to help individuals who are in long-term substance abuse recovery meet their programming requirements of obtaining job-readiness skills. Along with the bills we are passing this week to fight the opioid epidemic, my office has partnered with Recovery Point in Charleston, West Virginia, to help those who have decided to get their lives back on track. West Virginia has been ground zero of the drug epidemic, and it is important to support the important crucial recovery programs that are changing the lives of so many of our people who have fallen on hard times. This internship opportunity will help to prepare these individuals to reenter the workforce. It is important to lead by example and help those who have decided to turn their lives around. I encourage all of my colleagues in Congress to partner with recovery programs in their districts to create similar opportunities for recovering addicts. The interns in my Charleston office have already made a positive impact and are a great addition to our team

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, for 3 years, I have waited for the moment here where I want to commend my colleagues in the Senate, the majority party, for exposing the fallacious argument that you can hold hostage unrelated bills before you pass spending bills. Frankly, we call upon them to pass the appropriations bills to fully fund the government through September. We in this body, last year, had passed all 12 separate appropriations bills, fully funding the military and other government functions all the way through September of this year. That needs to happen in the next 3 weeks, because we have only a 3-week extension that we voted for. I am proud that the American public saw the false arguments that are being used, particularly on the other side of the aisle, where the minority party holds hostage funding bills and demands concessions on other nonrelated legislation. If they want to filibuster stuff over there, first of all, make them do it so the American public can see it, which happened over the last few days, and make it related to the bill on the floor at the time.