A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the House of Representatives should, consistent with long-standing practice and precedent, prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into President Donald J. Trump, vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry and provide President Trump with fundamental constitutional protections.

III 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 378 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the House of Representatives should, consistent with long-standing practice and precedent, prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into President Donald J. Trump, vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry and provide President Trump with fundamental constitutional protections. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. THUNE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BURR, Mr. BAR- RASSO, Mr. WICKER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. PAUL, Mr. LEE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. CRUZ, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. COTTON, Mr. DAINES, Mr. PERDUE, Ms. ERNST, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. MORAN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. SASSE, Mr. TOOMEY, Ms. MCSALLY, and Mr. SULLIVAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that the House of Rep- resentatives should, consistent with long-standing prac- tice and precedent, prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into President Donald J. Trump, vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry and provide President Trump with fundamental constitutional protections. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\SR378.IS SR378 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •SRES 378 IS Whereas one of the cornerstones of the American Constitu- tion is due process: the right to confront your accuser, call witnesses on your behalf, and challenge the accusa- tions against you; Whereas the House of Representatives is abandoning more than a century’s worth of precedent and tradition in im- peachment proceedings and denying President Trump basic fairness and due process accorded every American; Whereas, in our nation’s history, the House has on three oc- casions moved to formally investigate whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach a President, and in all three of these cases, the full House voted on a resolution author- izing the House Judiciary Committee to determine whether to impeach the President; Whereas, in the case of President Trump, a formal impeach- ment process involving debate and a vote by the full House prior to taking each step in the process has been replaced by a press conference by the Speaker of the House; Whereas the proposition that the Speaker acting alone may direct committees to initiate impeachment proceedings without any debate or a vote on the House floor is un- precedented and undemocratic; Whereas the House is denying President Trump due process within the ‘‘inquiry’’ itself; Whereas, for the impeachment investigations of President Richard M. Nixon and President William J. Clinton, the House Judiciary Committee adopted rules of procedure to provide due process rights and ensure fairness; Whereas these rights included— VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR378.IS SR378 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •SRES 378 IS (1) allowing the President to be represented by counsel; (2) permitting the President’s counsel to be present at all hearings and depositions; (3) permitting the President’s counsel to present evi- dence and object to the admission of evidence; (4) allowing the President’s counsel to call and cross-examine witnesses; and (5) giving the President’s counsel access to, and the ability to respond to, the evidence adduced by the Com- mittee; Whereas, by contrast, the House’s current impeachment ‘‘in- quiry’’ provides none of these basic rights and protections to President Trump; Whereas the main allegations against President Trump are based on assertions and testimony from witnesses whom he is unable to confront, as part of a process in which he is not able to offer witnesses in his defense or have a basic understanding of the allegations lodged against him; Whereas all witness interviews that have been conducted thus far in the House have been behind closed doors with lim- ited minority participation; Whereas the House’s current impeachment ‘‘inquiry’’ ignores the procedural rights given to the investigating commit- tee’s minority in previous Presidential impeachments, in- cluding granting equal subpoena power to both the chair and ranking member of the committee; Whereas, the House is denying President Trump the same basic pre-inquiry rights afforded to President Clinton; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR378.IS SR378 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •SRES 378 IS Whereas the Whitewater Investigation involved nearly five years of painstaking investigative work by a special coun- sel and an independent counsel before the House even voted to have the Judiciary Committee open an impeach- ment inquiry; Whereas President Clinton vigorously fought that investiga- tion, including by raising multiple privilege claims and he was permitted to fully litigate those claims through the courts; Whereas President Trump, by contrast, fully cooperated with Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s investigation; Whereas, during the course of the Mueller investigation, President Trump never raised privilege claims, he turned over more than one million pages of documents, he di- rected senior aides to testify freely, including making the White House Counsel available to testify for more than thirty hours, and he agreed to answer written questions on penalty of perjury; and Whereas, rather than giving President Trump the same due process rights that President Clinton had to raise and litigate claims of constitutional privilege, House Intel- ligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has repeatedly threatened to use President Trump’s assertion of his con- stitutional rights as evidence of obstruction and to im- peach President Trump for trying to litigate those claims: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) calls on the House of Representatives, prior 2 to proceeding any further with its impeachment in- 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR378.IS SR378 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •SRES 378 IS vestigation into President Trump, to vote to initiate 1 a formal impeachment inquiry; 2 (2) calls on the House of Representatives to 3 provide President Trump, like every other American, 4 with due process, to include the ability to confront 5 his accusers, call witnesses on his behalf, and have 6 a basic understanding of the accusations against him 7 that would form any basis for impeachment; and 8 (3) calls on the House of Representatives to 9 provide members of the minority with the ability to 10 participate fully in all proceedings and have equal 11 authority to issue subpoenas and other compulsory 12 process. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR378.IS SR378 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS